Drafts are open on FFPC right now, with a variety of formats from Best Ball through to the managed redraft contests, including the FantasyPros Championship with a $1m top prize. Whatever the format you’re drafting for, on FFPC tight ends score an extra 0.5 points per reception on top of the usual PPR scoring, making the significance of having a good one, greater than normal. Because the scoring rewards tight ends making catches, we want those who see consistently strong volume rather than those who are touchdown reliant. It goes almost without saying that Mark Andrews and Travis Kelce are excellent options on FFPC and warrant their ADP being inside the first two rounds.

• NFL Draft Needs for Every Team
• DBro’s Rookie Advice : Target | Avoid
• Introduction to Best Ball Leagues
• Erickson’s Best Ball Positional Primers

To easily see which teams targeted different positions at different rates, use the FantasyPros ‘Targets by Teams‘ page to see both recent and historic data.

FFPC TE Premium Targets

Darren Waller

After being rumored to be on the trade block for a while now, Darren Waller was eventually moved from the Raiders to the Giants, in exchange for the 100th pick in this year’s draft. The Giants have made a solid start to rebuilding their pass catchers in order to give Daniel Jones the best chance he can to succeed, but outside of Darren Waller, most of the additions are smaller wide receivers who play predominantly from the slot. Brian Daboll helped the Giants take a step forward in 2022, and now with Darren Waller they can make him a key part of the offense and target him heavily, aided by the fact that Waller can be used on the boundary, inside and in the red zone. In 2022 the Giants ranked dead-last in total team targets to tight ends, with 65, but that can change drastically now they have Waller under contract, who has averaged 7.5 targets per game over the last four years and even in a slightly subdued 2022 Waller saw over five targets per game. With only second-year tight end Daniel Bellinger for competition, Waller should rarely come off the field.

Darren Waller joined Daniel Jones, Tyrod Taylor and the rest of the Giants offensive skill players in Arizona pic.twitter.com/FVXJPNxDUP

— Talkin’ Giants (@TalkinGiants) April 7, 2023

Chigoziem Okonkwo

The Titans targeted the tight end position at the twelfth-highest rate in the NFL last year and tight ends have often enjoyed success with Ryan Tannehill under center. The Titans are depleted of pass-catching options, with Treylon Burks and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine the only wide receivers of note and no tight ends worth considering for fantasy purposes on the roster except for Chigoziem Okonkwo, who enters his second year on the back of a very promising rookie season. Between Weeks 12-17, Okonkwo had 2.5 yards per route run, the third-highest amount among all pass-catchers, not just tight ends, with 10 catches or more. Okonkwo is the most athletic tight end the Titans have had since Jonnu Smith left the team and everything is set up for him to have greater success in 2023.

Who's excited to see Chigoziem Okonkwo in 2023? He BROKE out down the stretch. pic.twitter.com/uaRyfi8hpo

— The Fantasy Sanctuary (@TheFFSanctuary) March 2, 2023

Trey McBride

The Cardinals aren’t a team with a lot of certainties in 2023. The future of DeAndre Hopkins is very much up in the air and Kyler Murray‘s return from an ACL and Meniscus injury could easily reach deep into the season, all while the team rebuilds a roster bereft of depth and talent outside of a few star names. Zach Ertz has been the lead tight end for the Cardinals over the last couple of years, but at age 32 and dealing with a torn ACL and MCL that he suffered on November 13th he’s unlikely to be a factor in the same way he used to be. Factor Ertz’s injury in with if or even when DeAndre Hopkins is traded to another team, then a picture becomes clear of a healthy amount of targets that will be available. Trey McBride started his NFL campaign slowly, like many rookie tight ends, slightly hindered by a sprained back in preseason, and it wasn’t until Week 7 that McBride played more than 50% of snaps. After Ertz was injured in Week 10, McBride averaged 7.7 PPR points and 5 targets per game, and even after Kyler Murray was injured, McBride continued to earn targets and play well, averaging 8.2 points per game. Regardless of Murray’s health, McBride looks set to have a chance to shine in 2023.

The Cardinals will undergo one of the biggest offensive transitions in the NFL.

Switching from an Air Raid to likely one of the heaviest usages of 1-2 personnel in the league.

Expect Trey McBride to rarely leave the field. ‘22’s top rookie TE not even pic.twitter.com/UHlpmFevjE…

— Jeff Bell (@4WhomJBellTolls) February 24, 2023

David Njoku

The Cleveland Browns had the kind of miserable end to 2022 that they probably deserved when they signed Deshaun Watson, and offensive efficiency across the board took a big dip, but there are plenty of reasons to believe that can be different in 2023. Watson will be spending this offseason concentrating on matters on the field, as opposed to fighting legal battles, and with more experience of the playbook, things should be easier for him this year. All offseason reports have suggested the Browns intend to be a pass-heavier offense in 2023, and that they trust Watson to improve in his play to warrant being pass-heavier. David Njoku averaged 5.8 targets per game in 2022, which was the eleventh-most at the position and he’s earning the sixth-highest average per year among tight ends with $13.6m. 5.8 targets per game is exactly the type of return that can be rewarded in tight end premium scoring.

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