The tight end position may be one of the toughest to navigate in fantasy football drafts. I typically wait until the very late rounds to draft my TE. But last year, when I thought a value appeared I took a chance. Waller slipped a couple spots to my pick in the third in a keeper depleted draft. Unfortunately, this plan did not work out. Waller only had five top-12 weeks at the TE position.
With that in mind, there are still scenarios that I would draft a TE early in my fantasy drafts; and others that I love at their ADP.
Early Draft
George Kittle, TE4, 43rd Overall
Last season George Kittle was drafted as the TE3 in fantasy football drafts – in the middle of the third round. Due to injuries, he missed three games. To top it off, he had poor performances during the fantasy playoffs.
This appears to have soured fantasy managers on Kittle, who is now being drafted in the 4th round. I will not be drafting Kittle any earlier than his ADP due to the other players available in front of him. But I think he is well worth a mid 4th round pick.
Even though Kittle missed three weeks, he still finished the season as the TE4. This is mostly due to an impressive stretch after returning from injury. Over that seven week span, Kittle only scored outside of the top 6 at the position once. Even more shocking, over that span he had three weeks where he was the highest scoring TE of the week.
David Njoku had 1.77 Yards per Route Run last season.
— Frank Ammirante (@FAmmiranteTFJ) August 11, 2022
That ranked 8th among TE with 50+ targets, behind:
George Kittle
Dallas Goedert
Mark Andrews
Rob Gronkowski
Kyle Pitts
Travis Kelce
Darren Waller
Austin Hooper is now gone, opening up more opportunity.
Draft Njoku.
With the switch to Lance the offense is clearly going to change. But George Kittle is just too good to leave out of the game plan. I am buying Kittle at his 4th round price and will not let him slip past me in the fourth.
Middle Rounds
Zach Ertz, TE9, 94th Overall
When you get to the 8th and 9th rounds there really aren’t many sure things. You can often find less productive players with good opportunity – or even good players with low opportunity. Either way, this is not ideal.
Zach Ertz is a good player in a good situation to score fantasy football points. Without Hopkins in the lineup, Ertz could become a big focus of the Cardinals early on. Last season when Hopkins did not play, Ertz became one of Murray’s favorite targets. In the last four games of the season, Ertz had at least 10 targets in all but one game.
Zach Ertz
— Nick Skrip (@P2WFantasy) August 1, 2022
Weeks 7-17 = TE4 when moved to Arizona
Weeks 15-18: 11-13-9-10 targets
No D. Hopkins for 6 games
ADP: TE9 / 99 overall
Ertz may have an early 9th round ADP, but I feel confident enough in his early season production that I would draft him with an early 8th. Depending how the rest of camp goes, I may be willing to use a later 7th round pick if it’s at the turn.
Late Rounds
Robert Tonyan, TE21, 168th Overall
Robert Tonyan was able to score 11 touchdowns in his 2020 breakout season. Most fantasy football managers knew that wasn’t likely to happen again in 2021, but there were high hopes. Unfortunately, Tonyan got off to a slow start. He only had 204 yards and. 2 touchdowns through the first eight games. To make matters worse, Tonyan tore his ACL in the Packer’s Week 8 game against the Cardinals.
It seems like the recovery is going well and there is a realistic chance that he is able to get onto the field in Week 1. If he does, he will be in line for a potentially big workload. With the departure of Davante Adams, Rodgers will be looking to the players he trusts.
I do not necessarily think I am comfortable drafting him ahead of his ADP today. But as the season gets closer I am sure his ADP will drop as more camp hype gets out of control. When that happens, I think that Tonyan is still well worth a 14th round pick, especially if you wait till the end of your fantasy football draft for TE.
Undrafted
Brevin Jordan, TE27
Over the past few years I’ve stopped drafting kickers or defenses in order to select an extra RB or two. If the RB has a big jump in value prior to the season I hold them, if no,t I cut them to add my kicker or DST. I have considered using this strategy at TE as well.
If the early draft guys do not fall – or people in your league reach on your middle and late round targets – this might be something you should try as well. If you do this, Brevin Jordan is the perfect guy for you to look for.
Jordan has apparently been having an outstanding camp. He has consistently been making big plays and has really stood out. With a full offseason to build chemistry with Davis Mills this is somewhat expected. Head coach Lovie Smith has noticed the improvement and said that the team will use Jordan all over the field.
Lovie Smith on Brevin Jordan @Brevinjordan 'I love what he did in year one of being a young football player. He's listed as a tight end, but can play in-line, he can move out. It's a tough matchup because he has big wide receiver skills. Just another weapon that we have to use'
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) August 5, 2022
This may just be coach speak. Though with a lack of other weapons it makes sense to get Jordan more involved than he was last season. Jordan did not see the field until Week 8, when he only played 25% of the snaps. At the end of the season, Jordan was playing nearly 50% of the snaps. This number should go up, due to more time to work with the team and get used to NFL football.
Jordan never had any huge fantasy football games. But in his eight games he scored 3 touchdowns. Those 3 touchdowns turned him into a top 12 option in each of those weeks. The Texans are an improved team, and should be in the red zone more often this year.
