Our analysts are here to share a few of the tight ends they are targeting this fantasy football draft season. And be sure to check out their full list of players to avoid as part of our 2022 Fantasy Football Draft Kit.
- Matthew Freedman’s Players to Target
- Derek Brown’s Players to Target
- Andrew Erickson’s Players to Target
- Pat Fitzmaurice’s Players to Target
- Joe Pisapia’s Players to Target
Rankings noted using FantasyPros half-PPR Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR) and Consensus ADP.
5 Fantasy Football Tight Ends to Target
Cole Kmet (TE – CHI)
ECR TE12 | ADP TE13
It’s bizarre to be so confident projecting a tight end breakout, but that’s how strongly I feel about Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet.
Because no tight end should make a bigger leap in 2022 than the third-year tight end, whose upside has been capped by a lack of touchdown equity with veteran Jimmy Graham rearing his ugly head the past few seasons. But Graham’s currently a free agent, opening the door for Kmet to smash in 2022.
Kmet’s eighth-ranked route participation and seventh-ranked target share (17%) from 2021 hardly align with his fantasy production — no tight end finished with more fantasy points under expectation (-36.6) than the Notre Dame product in 2021.
That designation is a sign Kmet is due for a fantasy breakout. It signaled as much for guys like Zach Ertz and Dawson Knox, who scored fewer points than expected in 2020 before contributing in fantasy this past year. Both tight ends finished 2021 as top-10 options at the position in fantasy points per game.
The Chicago Bears hired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy to pair with second-year quarterback Justin Fields. Getsy should be able to build an offense more conducive to Fields’ mobility — something he had success with at Mississippi State as its former OC.
An overall offensive boost should help fuel Kmet as 2022’s breakout tight end. He has the requisite size and athleticism, sporting an 87th-percentile height, 88th-percentile vertical jump, and 89th-percentile broad jump.
Kmet checks off all the boxes for a tight end breakout.
– Andrew Erickson
David Njoku (CLE)
ECR TE24 | ADP TE18
I covet athleticism and target upside at the tight end position, and you should love them too. David Njoku adamantly checks these boxes as we search for a late-round breakout. Njoku utilized his 97th percentile burst score and 81st percentile agility score to post some absurd advanced stat numbers in 2021. Last year he was 11th in yards per route run, fifth in yards after the catch per reception and seventh in slot yards per route run (per PFF). Amari Cooper is the only proven target on this depth chart who Njoku has to fight with for targets. In an offensive scheme that has seen the third and fourth highest target shares to the tight end position over the last two seasons and Austin Hooper gone, it’s Njoku’s time to shine.
– Derek Brown
Adam Trautman (NO)
ECR TE27 | ADP TE30
In fantasy baseball, top prospects who struggle in their early exposure to MLB competition and become less expensive to fantasy managers, as a result, are called “post-hype sleepers.” Trautman profiles as a post-hype sleeper.
The development of NFL tight ends usually takes time. Don’t target rookie TEs. Target well-regarded TE prospects with a year or two of professional experience. A third-round draft pick in 2020, Trautman hasn’t been fantasy-relevant in his first two NFL seasons, but he was a small-school superstar at the University of Dayton, and he’ll be the No. 1 tight end in New Orleans this year.
– Pat Fitzmaurice
Albert Okwuegbunam (DEN)
ECR TE22 | ADP TE15
I’ve been bullish on Okwuegbunam ever since the Broncos traded for QB Russell Wilson and traded away No. 1 tight end Noah Fant.
Last year, Okwuegbunam had just 40 targets, but among tight ends to hit that threshold, he was seventh and ninth in yards per route (2.0) and routes per target (4.2). The target competition will be tough with WRs Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick and K.J. Hamler – but if Okwuegbunam becomes a regular contributor, he will likely smash market expectations.
– Matthew Freedman
Dalton Schultz (DAL)
ECR TE6 | ADP TE7
Before the TE drop-off, Dalton Schultz offers the best combination of value and upside. Schultz will see plenty of targets in the Cowboys’ offense, especially with Michael Gallup out early. He has red zone appeal, and clearly, Dak Prescott has had faith in him since he emerged from the shadows after Blake Jarwin went down early two seasons ago. As a result, he’s a top-five fantasy TE outside the top five in draft capital.
– Joe Pisapia
FantasyPros Staff Consensus 2022 Redraft Fantasy Football Rankings
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