In the 2024 version of this article, we talked about the promise of a brighter future at the TE position. That was before the Raiders’ Brock Bowers shattered the yardage record for a rookie tight end, and before the Cardinals’ Trey McBride produced 1,146 yards on 111 receptions.
Two tight ends were taken in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft. The Bears selected Colston Loveland of Michigan 10th overall, and the Colts took Tyler Warren of Penn State 14th overall.
The infusion of young talent has spruced up a position that has long vexed fantasy managers. You no longer have to go dumpster-diving when acquiring tight ends in a dynasty startup draft.
But that doesn’t mean you have to splurge.
Sure, you could draft Bowers or McBride and feel as if you’re set at tight end for the foreseeable future. But those guys are expensive. Bowers is a first-round pick in most 1QB dynasty startups, McBride a second-round pick. If you play in a TE-premium league, you’ll really have to pay through the nose for one of those aces.
But there might be a case for cutting corners at tight end — even in TE-premium leagues.
Here are all of my other dynasty draft primers:
- Dynasty Draft Strategy, Rankings & Tiers: Quarterbacks
- Dynasty Draft Strategy, Rankings & Tiers: Running Backs
- Dynasty Draft Strategy, Rankings & Tiers: Wide Receivers
Dynasty Draft Strategy, Rankings & Tiers: Tight Ends
Some dynasty leagues use TE-premium scoring. If you’re in a TE-premium league, you might want to place greater emphasis on the position — but not necessarily.
In the TE-premium format, tight ends are awarded more points per reception than players at other positions. If RBs and WRs get 1.0 points per reception, tight ends might get 1.5. If running backs and wide receivers get 0.5 points per reception, tight ends might get 1.0.
TE-Premium Draft Strategies
With the greater emphasis on tight ends in the TE-premium format, there are two possible approaches:
Attack tight end aggressively. With the greater rewards for TE receptions, strength at the position is handsomely rewarded, incentivizing you to acquire a top tight end in the early rounds.
Cut corners at tight end. This might seem counterintuitive. Why cut corners when TE-premium scoring is more heavily weighted? Well, since tight ends come off the board earlier in TE-premium startups, that means good players at other positions are available later in the draft than they would be otherwise. You can scoop up value at other positions while your rivals gobble up tight ends. If you can figure out a way to get adequate tight end production on the cheap, you’ll be ahead of the game.
Dynasty Startup Draft Strategies
Let me repeat something I wrote in earlier articles about how to attack the various positions in dynasty startups: Before you start drafting, you need to chart a course and then build a coherent draft strategy around it. This will affect how you handle the TE position.
Charting a course means deciding when you expect your team to establish its dynastic reign over the league. Here are the three options:
Win Now: Establish your dominance immediately. While your competitors focus on youth in the startup draft, scoop up proven veterans at discounted prices, and build a roster that will be a favorite for the league title in Year 1.
Win in Year 2: Focus on youth but mix in some proven veterans. Your young roster might not have the juice to win right away, but you’ll have a collection of players whose value will likely be higher a year from now, positioning you to contend in Year 2.
Productive Struggle: (Hat tip to Ryan McDowell of Dynasty League Football for coining the term.) Commit to a slow build that will put you in title contention in 2-3 years. Focus heavily on youth in the startup draft and be willing to trade startup picks for picks in future rookie drafts.
You’re probably not targeting George Kittle if you’re taking a Win in Year 2 approach. Kittle is entering his age-32 season. Andrews is entering his age-30 season. But 24-year-old Sam LaPorta or 25-year-old Isaiah Likely (who’s due to become a free agent next year) are nice fits for your longer-term approach.
Tight End Rankings & Tiers
Here are the top 20 tight ends in my dynasty rankings, sorted into tiers, with thoughts on some of the players from each tier.
Young Elites
We discussed these two at the top of this article, but it’s worth underscoring just how good they were last year. Saddled by one of the worst QB situations in the league, Bowers finished third among all pass catchers in receptions (112), behind only Ja’Marr Chase and Amon-Ra St. Brown. As a tight end. At age 21. McBride’s 111 receptions last season were the fourth-most by any tight end in a single season. The 25-year-old McBride had 49 more receptions than any other Arizona pass catcher.
Young Cornerstones
LaPorta finished as the fantasy TE1 as a rookie in 2023, and he provided a solid encore last year with 60-726-7. Loveland, 21, and Warren, who turns 23 in late May, are the newest additions to the NFL’s growing legion of talented young TEs.
Top Veterans
Kittle was the runner-up to Bowers last year in TE fantasy scoring and has been a top-five fantasy scorer at the position in each of the last four seasons. He turns 32 in October. Hockenson played only 10 games last season after sustaining a major knee injury late in 2023. He’ll be entering his age-28 season.
Young and Toolsy
The 24-year-old Kraft was a pleasant surprise last year, with 50-707-7 in a run-heavy Green Bay offense. Likely has been stuck behind veteran Mark Andrews in Baltimore, but seems to shine whenever Andrews misses time. Both Likely and Andrews will be free agents after this season. Pitts and Kincaid have been disappointments thus far in their careers, but are still young enough to pop.
Solid Veterans
With the exception of Ferguson, 26, everyone from this group has to be considered “past peak.” But all are capable of turning in a top-10 or even top-five season at the position. Engram has intriguing appeal for 2025 as the “joker” in Sean Payton’s Denver offense. This could be the final ride for the 35-year-old Kelce, but what a ride it’s been. Although he’s slowing down, Kelce still had 97 receptions last season.
Promising Rookies
All of these guys were second-round draft picks this year except for Fannin, who was a third-rounder. But don’t sleep on Fannin, who had an FBS-leading 117 receptions and 1,555 receiving yards at Bowling Green last year.
Final Thoughts
A few final thoughts about drafting tight ends in dynasty startups:
- In leagues that aren’t TE-premium, there’s nothing wrong with cutting corners at tight end. Sure, it’s great to have a young, productive tight end anchoring the position for you. But if you plow your draft capital into other positions, it’s fine to ham-and-egg it with older but still productive veteran tight ends. You can also cut corners at tight end in a TE-premium league to scoop up value at other positions, but it’s a risky strategy.
- If you don’t have a top tight end, attack the position with volume. Dynasty rosters are usually much bigger than redraft rosters, so you can carry three or more tight ends and hope one becomes a solution to your TE problem. Plus, it’s usually easier to find useful tight ends on the waiver wire in dynasty leagues than it is to find useful running backs or wide receivers.
- Remember: It’s a dynasty league, and dynasty managers generally like to trade. If you’re not content with your tight ends coming out of the startup draft, find the managers with a tight end surplus and start negotiating.
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