Beyond the obvious of Las Vegas, Arizona and Kansas City — teams that operate with tight ends as the focal point of their offense — which offenses stand out in production for tight ends? Who helps their tight ends and who crushes their fantasy football value?
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Teams That Favor Tight Ends in Fantasy Football
Cleveland Browns
The Browns have consistently favored tight ends over the past several years. This fact has simply been overlooked due to the combination of using multiple tight ends over the years and inconsistent availability from David Njoku. The Browns had a 26.2% target share to tight ends last year, and they’ve been at or above that mark every year in Kevin Stefanski’s tenure. Njoku is one of the safer volume options at tight end, regardless of the quarterback.
If Njoku’s injury tendencies pop up, Harold Fannin Jr. would have immediate fantasy relevancy. Cleveland tends to lean heavier on 11 personnel, but there are rumors they could increase 12 personnel looks in 2025, so we could see an even greater reliance on tight ends.
Baltimore Ravens
Last year was rough for Mark Andrews. However, while Andrews’ target share dipped, the overall share to tight ends remained consistent and one of the highest in the league at 30.2%. For context, the Ravens had the second-fewest pass attempts in 2024, so the number is a bit inflated. However, they’re still in the top 10 for most targets to tight ends. It was a difficult 20024 season for Andrews because that target share was aggressively split between Andrews (4.1 per game) and Isaiah Likely (3.6 per game).
There’s reason to be more hopeful in 2024. Andrews’ target share was more consistent in the back half of the season, and he was an absolute red-zone monster, finishing the season with the most fantasy points at tight end in the red zone and a whopping 10 red-zone touchdowns. Despite the low passing volume, the Ravens’ offense is one of the most advantageous for tight ends.
Honorable Mentions
- Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins leaned heavily on Jonnu Smith last season, but that was more tailored to Smith than the position as a whole under Mike McDaniel.
- New England Patriots: New England did have a strong target share to tight ends last year, but Josh McDaniels is back, and he doesn’t heavily favor tight ends, unless the personnel calls for it (see: Rob Gronkowski).
Teams That Hurt Tight Ends
Denver Broncos
I hate to write this because I truly want to believe in a bounce-back season for Evan Engram. I want to give Sean Payton the benefit of the doubt. We’ve seen it in the past, and Engram has the athleticism Payton seeks in tight ends. However, we’d be foolish to ignore the reality of the Broncos’ offense. Under Payton, the Broncos have essentially banished tight ends from the offense in a receiving role.
I’m not exaggerating. In 2023, the Broncos had the second-fewest targets to tight ends, and they had the third-fewest in 2024. Engram is more of a true receiving tight end, so it’s possible he could be the piece Payton was looking for, similar to Miami with Jonnu Smith. However, it’s simply not a favorable environment for the position.
Chicago Bears
Chicago’s 2024 target share to tight ends was abysmal, but with new head coach Ben Johnson, we need to look at Detroit’s stats with Johnson as a coordinator to understand the tight end opportunity in Chicago. Johnson served as offensive coordinator from 2022 to 2024. In 2022 and 2024, the Lions had the sixth- and 11th-lowest target share for tight ends. Sam LaPorta‘s rookie 2023 season is the outlier. While it’s possible we could see a repeat of 2023 for Colston Loveland, we must consider the factors that led to a dip in target share from 2023 to 2024 for LaPorta.
The clear and likely cause is the emergence of Jameson Williams. The takeaway here is that Johnson’s offense leans heavily on the receivers when there are multiple top-tier options. Now in Chicago, with DJ Moore and Rome Odunze, we could see a similar scenario where Moore and Odunze garner a heavier workload while the tight ends (don’t forget about Cole Kmet) fall back in volume and become touchdown-dependent.
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