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Fantasy Football Week 1 Tight End Rankings

Tight End Rankings

The start of the NFL season means that it’s time to rank the strangest fantasy football position: Tight end. In no other position is there such a clear difference between the top players and the bottom-end starters. However, it is also a position where many players are projected to score roughly the same number of points. Here are the Week 1 tight end rankings to help fantasy managers decide which tight ends to start in the first slate of NFL games.

Read More: Week 1 Running Back Rankings

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Week 1 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings: Trust Travis Kelce?

Tier 1: Week Winners

  1. Travis Kelce*
  2. Mark Andrews
  3. T.J. Hockensen

Travis Kelce is TE1 whenever he plays. However, that is very much in doubt for Week 1. If Kelce plays, even at 75-80 percent, he will easily be a top option. If he misses this game, Mark Andrews becomes the top dog in the tight end rankings. The Baltimore Ravens have a new offensive coordinator who will throw the ball more often, and Andrews looks to reap the rewards.

T.J. Hockensen is a step above the rest of the field and earns the final spot in this tier. He showed last year that he has real week-winning upside, and being Kirk Cousins’ number two receiver gives him a higher floor than the tight ends in the tier below him.

Tier 2: Solid Starters

  1. Dallas Goedert
  2. Darren Waller
  3. George Kittle
  4. Kyle Pitts

Dallas Goedert has been extremely efficient when targeted over the last two seasons and plays on a great offense. The main concern is that A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith cap his upside by taking targets away from him in a run-first offense. The new tight end in New York, Darren Waller, is a great talent, but the limited passing upside of quarterback Daniel Jones will make it hard for Waller to have boom weeks.

George Kittle is a fantastic talent but shares touches in an even more extreme way than Goedert. His offense includes a plethora of talented pass-catchers such as Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and Christian McCaffrey, and Brock Purdy has not shown that he will pass for enough yardage to support all of those weapons. Kyle Pitts is another player with immense talent, but his quarterback is a question mark, and his team is extremely run-heavy, a theme of players in this tier of tight-end rankings.

Tier 3: Back-end TE1s

  1. David Njoku
  2. Evan Engram
  3. Tyler Higbee
  4. Dalton Schultz
  5. Chigoziem Okonkwo

David Njoku is coming off his best performance in years. However, he’s another tight end in a run-heavy offense, and Deshaun Watson did not look good in his return last season. Evan Engram was a consistent starter last year and has a very good quarterback, but could see stiff target competition this year, especially with Calvin Ridley returning to football this season.

Cooper Kupp’s injury should let Tyler Higbee see a boost in targets for the next week or two. Dalton Schultz is downgrading at quarterback but was a very consistent target for Dak Prescott over the last few years. Chigoziem Okonkwo should see an increase in targets this year in a TE-heavy scheme now that Austin Hooper is no longer a Titan.

 

Tier 4: Streaming Options

  1. Pat Freiermuth
  2. Juwan Johnson
  3. Gerald Everett
  4. Cole Kmet

Freiermuth could benefit from Kenny Pickett improving in his sophomore season, but Pittsburgh is a run-heavy offense and Freiermuth is the third option. Juwan Johnson flashed at times last year but was very inconsistent from week to week. Gerald Everett is athletic and plays on a prolific passing offense, but is behind Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Austin Ekeler in target share. Cole Kmet finished last year strong and could take a step forward if Justin Fields improves as a passer.

Tier 5: Dart Throws

  1. Sam LaPorta
  2. Greg Dulcich
  3. Hayden Hurst
  4. Dalton Kincaid

This tier of tight end rankings is for fantasy football teams that are desperate for a deep sleeper. A rookie, Sam LaPorta has a chance to score against Kansas City, as the Detroit Lions will need to throw the ball more than normal to keep up with the Chief’s high-powered offense. Greg Dulcich is a good receiver but is behind Adam Trautman on the Denver depth chart. Hayden Hurst is a veteran target for rookie Bryce Young, but he’s been an inconsistent year-to-year producer. Dalton Kincaid is a very talented first-round pick but as a rookie tight end, he will struggle early in the season.

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Main Photo: Joe Camporeale – USA Today Sports

Nic Cunningham

Nic Cunningham

Nic writes about Fantasy Football for Last Word on Sports, and has written about baseball, basketball, and track and field on other sites. He attends Eastern Washington University and plans to major in Exercise Science.

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