The NFL season is finally back! Your drafts are over and now comes the all-important decision of who to start. What matchups to take advantage of? Well, drum roll, please. Here are the week 1 tight-end rankings.
Read More: Week 1 Quarterback Rankings
Fantasy Football Week 1 Tight End Rankings
Tier 1: Lineup Locks
1. Travis Kelce vs. Baltimore Ravens
2. Sam LaPorta vs. Los Angeles Rams
3. Mark Andrews vs. Kansas City Chiefs
There is a lot of upside for a couple of the young tight ends who slot into the solid TE1 category. However, the lineup locks remain for the last three seasons of TE1’s.
LaPorta was last year’s TE1 and he managed 239.3 total fantasy points. His TE1 finish was far from as dominant as Kelce and Andrews who eclipsed 300 fantasy points. What makes his accomplishment so special is he did so as a rookie. As the season goes on we will see if LaPorta has reached his ceiling with his TE1 finish or if this is just the beginning.
Kelce and Andrews, Kelce more specifically, have dominated the top three of tight-end fantasy finishes over the past number of seasons. Kelce is getting older and there is more receiving weaponry than ever in Kansas City, but until Kelce goes off the proverbial fantasy cliff he has warranted his place as a lineup lock.
I keep walking away with a lot of Mark Andrews this year and I’m good with that. pic.twitter.com/jbr41TLiSQ
— Adam Rank (@adamrank) August 21, 2024
Andrews missed seven weeks last season. Despite this, he was a top-five producer at the position in points per game output. His backup, Isaiah Likely, filled in admirably, but Andrews has proven a fantasy force when on the field and should be the Ravens’s lead target-getter. His target share of 22.2% last season was still no.4 among tight ends, despite the games missed due to injury.
Tier 2: Solid TE1
4. Dalton Kincaid vs. Arizona Cardinals
5. Trey McBride vs. Buffalo Bills
6. Kyle Pitts vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
7. Jake Ferguson vs. Cleveland Browns
8. George Kittle vs. New York Jets
I wouldn’t be surprised if Kincaid, McBride, Pitts, and Ferguson find their way into the lineup locks tier as the season goes on depending on the matchup. All three should be high-volume targets on their teams on any given week. Especially, thanks to question marks in most of their teams receiving games.
With George Kittle, there are so many mouths to feed in San Francisco it can be challenging to find the guy for that week. Kittle finished as a top-five tight end seven out of sixteen weeks last season. He also finished with six fantasy points or less on six occasions last season, which put him outside the top 20. Kittle has remained consistent between 85-95 targets over the last three seasons. However, his consistency in being a top weekly tight-end option is becoming a bit more boom-or-bust than it used to be.
Tier 3: Low-End TE1
9. Evan Engram vs. Miami Dolphins
10. Pat Freiermuth vs. Atlanta Falcons
11. Brock Bowers vs. Los Angeles Chargers
12. Zach Ertz vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
This tier is where things will get shaken up more heavily every week. We know the tight end is one of the most volatile positions each week for fantasy managers. You can have your third-string tight end on your bench with a 20-point game, while your starter is delivering a three-point dud performance.
Freiermuth and Ertz are my two favorite options to have big weeks this week. Ertz faces a Buccaneer team that was one of five teams to give up over 1000 yards to fantasy tight end last season. The Commanders traded away their no.2 wide receiver, Jahan Dotson. It would appear after Terry MacLaurin the target field is wide open. Ertz should get the early crack at being the secondary option for Jayden Daniels’s targets.
Pat Freiermuth has a favorable matchup against the Falcons defense 👀
Freiermuth ranks 10th among TEs in PFF receiving grade, and he’s facing an Atlanta defense that ranked 32nd in yards per route run allowed vs TEs last year pic.twitter.com/CfXN5UDlnO
— PFF PIT Steelers (@PFF_Steelers) September 2, 2024
Freiermuth is in a similar situation in Pittsburgh as the Steelers dealt Diontae Johnson in the off-season. Now with George Pickens as the primary receiver and some average or worse options behind him, Freiermuth could be in store for a big season. Targets for tight ends are huge and Freiermuth and Ertz are in line for the early season opportunities.
Main Photo: [Junfu Han] – USA Today Sports
