Well wasn’t that fun? One week into the fantasy football season, frustration and celebration abound. What isn’t there to love about fantasy football? Buckle up, we have 16 more weeks to go. Here come the week 2 tight-end rankings for fantasy football.
Week 2 Tight End Rankings
Tier 1: Lineup Locks
1. Sam LaPorta vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2. Travis Kelce vs. Cincinnati Bengals
3. Trey McBride vs. Los Angeles Rams
Well, bet you didn’t see that trio of tight ends who finished as the top 3 fantasy producing tight ends last week coming. Isaiah Likely, Foster Moreau, and Brock Bowers led the tight ends for fantasy last week. With the likes of Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews not even landing in the top-12. We know the tight end position can be highly unpredictable, and it didn’t disappoint week one.
Watch: Love & Hate List Fantasy Football
I will not overreact completely like some to Likely usurping Andrews significantly in week one usage. Andrews is notoriously just not a good performer against the Kansas City Chiefs. However, I am not sure I can confidently plant Andrews in the top 3 every week right now. For that reason, he slides out, just outside and McBride rolls in thanks to massive volume upside. He led the Cardinals in targets in week one and while Harrison will get his chances, it won’t be at a large cost of McBride’s target share.
Tier 2: Solid TE1
4. Mark Andrews vs. Las Vegas Raiders
5. Kyle Pitts vs. Philadelphia Eagles
6. Brock Bowers vs. Baltimore Ravens
7. George Kittle vs. Minnesota Vikings
8. Dalton Kincaid vs. Miami Dolphins
9. Isaiah Likely vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Brock Bowers led the Las Vegas Raiders in targets last week despite playing only 68% of snaps. That is a 21st-ranked snap share among tight ends, but a top-3 target share among tight ends in week one. Bowers time living in tier 2 will likely be short-lived as he is already showing he will be a focal point of the Raiders offense beside Davante Adams.
As a rookie in his very first game, Brock Bowers:
🔸Earned a 21.2% target share
🔸Ran 77.5% of the routes
🔸Ran 65.5% of them from a WR spot
🔸Blocked on zero pass plays
🔸Had the 2nd most targets of any TE
🔸Had the 2nd most yards of any TEYou can absolutely get excited pic.twitter.com/yLaVMA99M6
— Andrew Cooper (@CoopAFiasco) September 11, 2024
That’s right Andrews and Likely are both in the solid TE1 tier and I foresee this happening in more than one week this year. Andrews was out there for 74% of snaps and Likely for 66% of snaps, both amounting to over 50 offensive snaps each. Beyond Zay Flowers, it wouldn’t surprise me if, by the end of the season, Andrews and Likely make up two of the top 3 target getters in this Ravens offense. Opportunity will be abound for the two tight ends in an offense where they are arguably the top two receiving weapons.
Tier 3: Low-End TE1
10. Colby Parkinson vs. Arizona Cardinals
11. Dallas Goedert vs. Atlanta Falcons
12. Foster Moreau vs. Dallas Cowboys
Tight ends who ran more than 30 routes in Week 1:
Colby Parkinson 42
Mark Andrews 38
Theo Johnson 37
Isaiah Likely 35
Trey McBride 34
Greg Dulcich 33
Brock Bowers 31— Heath Cummings (@heathcummingssr) September 11, 2024
Colby Parkinson stepped into the TE1 role for the injured Tyler Higbee admirably in week one. He presents some intriguing upside the next couple weeks with Higbee on the PUP List. Parkinson played 88% of snaps which was no.6 among tight ends in week one. Notably, he ran 42 total routes, which was the most among tight ends in week one. Now add in that Puka Nacua will miss the next four-plus weeks. All these snaps and routes could start turning into additional opportunities.
Main Photo Credit: Syndication: Detroit Free Press
