While rookies are the hot topic this time of year, there are always plenty of second-year NFL players ready to either break out or continue the hot start to their professional career. Let’s take a look at notable second-year fantasy football players, including rankings and player notes for each.

Player rankings based on our redraft Expert Consensus Rankings for half-PPR leagues.

Notable Second-Year Fantasy Football Players: Tight Ends

Kyle Pitts (ATL): TE3
Kyle Pitts lived up to all of the hype last season. Pitts ranked third in receiving yards and eighth in receptions among all tight ends. In deeper metrics, he was elite, ranking fourth in targets per snap and yards per route run (minimum 50 targets, per PFF). Since 2018 the only rookie tight end to finish their inaugural season with a higher yards per route run has been Albert Okwuegbunam (minimum 15 targets, per PFF). Pitts finished as the TE11 in fantasy points per game as the eyesore of only one receiving touchdown drug down his fantasy value. Pitts has TE1 overall upside if the touchdowns bounce back in a big way in 2022.

Pat Freiermuth (PIT): TE11
No rookie tight end flew up the dynasty rankings more than Pat Freiermuth, who made his case as a fringe fantasy TE1 in Year 1. The Pittsburgh Steelers rookie ramped things up in Week 6 after an injury to Eric Ebron and never looked back. Baby Gronk was the TE7 from that time forward, averaging 11.3 fantasy points per game seventh). He would go on to finish the year as the TE13 overall despite running a route on just 56% of dropbacks. When starting and healthy, Freiermuth ran a route on 67% of dropbacks – a rate that would have ranked 15th-highest at the position in 2021. That’s the bare minimum usage fantasy drafters should expect to see from the Penn State product with Ebron gone in free agency.

Brevin Jordan (HOU): TE26
The Miami product enjoyed a decent rookie season, finishing with a 19% target rate per route run and four top-12 weekly finishes over his last nine games. Jordan also dominated the receiving usage over the team’s last two games, running 40 routes to Pharaoh Brown‘s 18 and Anthony Auclair’s five. It’s a great sign that Jordan should lock down the primary receiving role at tight end in Houston, especially with Jordan Akins signing with the New York Giants this offseason. It’s easy to envision Jordan carving out a solid receiving role in a lackluster/unproven receiving corps behind Cooks. He’s an athletic tight end with YAC-ability that I will gladly draft as my second or third tight end across any squad.

Other second-year tight ends:

• Tommy Tremble (CAR): TE42
• Tre’ McKitty (LAC): TE59
• Hunter Long (MIA): TE73

FantasyPros Staff Consensus 2022 Redraft Fantasy Football Rankings