Rookie Tight Ends: Michael Mayer, Luke Schoonmaker, Darnell Washington (2023 Fantasy Football)

Dynasty drafts are happening everywhere. Here is Thor’s look at the rookies at tight end. Here are his full rankings and notes.

Thor’s Dynasty Rookie Draft Advice: Sleepers | Target | Avoid
More Dynasty Articles & Advice
Dynasty Rookie Primers: QB | RB | WR | TE
Dynasty Rookie Draft Simulator

Thor Nystrom’s Rookie Notes & Player Comps

Here are my notes and player comps for rookie tight ends.

Michael Mayer | Raiders | 6044/249 | RAS: 7.57

Player comparison: Jason Witten A former consensus five-star recruit, Mayer posted a 180-2099-18 receiving line over three years on campus. Mayer’s 12 missed-tackles-forced tied for No. 5 in this TE class last season. On the flip side, Mayer is not explosive, and he doesn’t create much separation. #MayerTruthers argue it doesn’t matter because he’s so good in contested situations. We’re about to find out if they’re right. Dynasty Outlook: Mayer is an every-down tight end who’ll command targets in the passing game early. He only has Austin Hooper to contend with this year for playing time in Las Vegas. Jimmy Garoppolo‘s anemic arm will hone in on Mayer in the intermediate area.

Luke Schoonmaker | Cowboys | 6050/249 | RAS: 9.85

Player comparison: Dalton Schultz Schoonmaker is a true inline tight end. He comes from a tight-end factory, and he gives supreme effort as a blocker. He surprised during pre-draft testing by posting a 98th-percentile size-adjusted athletic composite. You only sporadically saw that athleticism poke out its head when he was running routes at Michigan. In addition, he has a poor feel for timing along his route path, and Schoonmaker’s ball skills are wildly inconsistent. Dynasty Outlook: Schoonmaker is a collection of disparate parts that have never coalesced as a receiver. And he’ll be 25 in September. The opportunity is ideal. But I’m not going hog-wild on the rest. Long-term TE2 projection for me.

Darnell Washington | Steelers | 6065/264 | RAS: 9.88

Player comparison: Martellus Bennett Washington’s 81.3 PFF run block grade last year was elite for a TE prospect. Washington never graded below 72.4 in any season on campus – several TE prospects in this class never earned a 72.4 run block grade during any collegiate season. He’s a third OT on the field at all times. Unfortunately, he’s a mediocre receiver. Over his career, Washington only had three catches 20+ yards downfield and only forced 14 missed tackles. That latter number is less than Dalton Kincaid and Sam LaPorta each individually had last season alone. Dynasty Outlook: Washington’s issues as a receiver were no secret to the NFL. Because of that and his medicals, the Steelers got something of a freeroll on Washington’s blocking ability. Don’t pick him in your draft unless he freefalls even deeper than he did in the NFL Draft.