Welcome back to your Fantasy Football center of information. Yesterday, we discussed the top 40 QBs. Today, we’ll be going through Tight End Rankings and tiers for the 2019 NFL season. Again, these rankings are in the order of my personal preference. If I put them within the same tier, they all should be around the same range from a fantasy point projections perspective. Feel free to choose whom you prefer. So, let’s get right to the 2019 Tight End Rankings and Tiers.
Tier 1 – The Elite
Travis Kelce – Kansas City Chiefs
Zach Ertz – Philadelphia Eagles
Greg Kittle – San Francisco 49ers
If you’ve read my articles in the past, you know how big of a fan I am of Kelce. I’ve covered him as a player and he’s a great person to root for. Oh yea, and he gets a boatload of fantasy points. Target him in round 2. Ertz is Carson Wentz’s favorite target and will have a lot of chances to rack up yards. Touchdowns could be hot and cold. Kittle was a deep play threat and came through every week despite bad QB play and no other option on offense. Reminds me of DeAndre Hopkins of Tight Ends.
Tier 2 – Good ones to get later
OJ Howard – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Hunter Henry – Los Angeles Chargers
Jimmy Graham – Green Bay Packers
Evan Engram – New York Giants
This will be the year Howard makes that big jump into being a consistent, top 5 TE. Don’t be late to that party. Henry has all the potential to be a top 5 TE. He’s coming off a series injury, but he’s in a big-time offense where the QB loves throwing to his TE. He also has other weapons on the offense to prevent him from double teams. Graham is my wildcard. I’m banking that the 2nd year with Aaron Rodgers will bring him back to normal. Engram has a very high upside on a team with a lack of quality weapons.
Tier 3 – Starters
David Njoku – Cleveland Browns
Kyle Rudolph – Minnesota Vikings
Greg Olsen – Carolina Panthers
Jack Doyle – Indianapolis Colts
Noah Fant – Denver Broncos
Tight Ends are really hit or miss their 1st couple years, they typically show their true ability by year 3. Njoku has a load of talent an is in an offense where he’ll never be the 1st or 2nd option. He’s worth the risk. Rudolph is a solid player that will also be the 3rd option if a good passing offense. You have to worry about the obvious injury risk with Olsen, but if he is healthy, he has 800 yards and 8 TD potential. Don’t let him drop too far.
Doyle is the forgotten man who got most of Andrew Luck’s attention before getting hurt. He is back and should be, once again, in line for a solid year. One thing to keep an eye on is the health of his Luck. You have to beware of Fant because of what I said earlier, about 1st and 2nd year TEs. However, Joe Flacco likes throwing to his TE, the Broncos offense is perfect for his vertical style. Reminds me of a better version of Njoku.
Tier 4 – High ceilings, but low floors
Delanie Walker – Tennessee Titans
Jared Cook – New Orleans Saints
Trey Burton – Chicago Bears
Jordan Reed – Washington Redskins
TJ Hockenson – Detroit Lions
Eric Ebron – Indianapolis Colts
Walker was a consistent top 10 TE, but I want to be cautious because he coming back from an injury that cost him practically all of last year. He makes for a steal late in drafts. Cook is a player I’m not too high on, but he has a lot of talent and he’s in an offense that typically raises the level of their TEs in New Orleans. Burton will start his 2nd year with Mitchell Trubisky and from the word out of camp, Trubisky has stepped him game up, hopefully his young TE goes with him.
Reed is a TE that disappoints every year due to injury. When he’s on the field he’s so talented, but due to injuries, his backup ended up only 15-20 points behind him last year. Hockenson is a rookie that will probably have a better real football 1st year than fantasy football 1st year. He will be good, but I’d probably wait till year 2. Ebron will go higher than he should this year because he got in a rhythm with Luck, but with Doyle back, Ebron will be back to 30%-35% of the snaps.
Tier 5 – For 2 TE leagues
Tyler Eifert – Cincinnati Bengals
Josh Oliver – Jacksonville Jaguars
Dallas Goedert – Philadelphia Eagles
Gerald Everett – St Louis Rams
Vance McDonald – Pittsburgh Steelers
Jason Witten – Dallas Cowboys
Eifert used to be an every year top 5-10 TE before injuries destroyed his career. He signed a 1-year deal to comeback and show that he’s healthy. The likelihood is that he won’t be, but if he is, watch out. Oliver is my little hidden gem. Beware of the rookie TE rule, but I just have to say, he reminds me A LOT of a Gronkowski minus 15-20 lbs. Goedert would be a top 8-10 TE if he wasn’t behind a top 3 TE in Zach Ertz. He has talent that you can see busting through, even as a backup.
Everett will benefit from being an offense with so many weapons. He’s the 5th option and will probably be the man covered with the worst defense on opposing defenses. McDonald is a TE on a team that will always have a high floor TE. Steelers TE’s will always get you around 400-500 yards and 4-6 TDs, this year won’t be any different. I’m not a fan of Witten and I’d leave him alone, but he does have potential on a team that needs dependable weapons.
Tier 6 – Don’t go there
Cameron Brate – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Austin Hooper – Atlanta Falcons
Mark Andrews – Baltimore Ravens
Darren Waller – Oakland Raiders
Chris Herndon – New York Jets
Vernon Davis – Washington Redskins
Even though I think Howard will be a top 5 TE, Brate is a favorite of Jameis Winston, so if you need a 2nd TE, you can do worse. Hooper doesn’t have too much appeal to me, but he’s the starting TE on an offense that is heavy passing and he will not be in the top 4 main targets. Maybe for a bye week. Mark Andrews is a very talented TE that just happens to be on a team that will try to run the ball 90% of the time. Hopefully, when defenses load up on Lamar Jackson, Andrews can get open for him.
Waller is getting a lot of hype in camp by his coach Jon Gruden. We’ll see if that continues into the regular season. I have a hard time thinking he will have a big impact. Herndon could have a solid impact, but he is unfortunately suspended for the 1st 4 games of the season. If you can get through that, he could be solid in the 2nd half. Davis is here because WHEN, not if, Jordan Reed goes down, you know who to grab to give you, at least, average numbers.
My recommendations on the TE is if you can’t get 1 of the top 7 or so, you may want to wait and just take someone within the top 15. There is a small gap between 9th and 15th, so don’t be a afraid to wait. However, if you do want to have a standout position, guys like Howard, Henry, and Engram make great plays outside of the 1st 4 rounds. With QB’s and TE’s now in the books, we now move on to the RB position, and oh what a position it is.
If you want fantasy advice during the season, you can reach me on twitter @pacman453323 or checkout my weekly fantasy podcast on Youtube (information within my twitter).