Fantasy Football 2019 Tier Tight End Rankings
By Bill Pivetz
This group features a lot of high-end backups or low-end starters. Both groups can provide owners with value.
Everett saw an increase in targets last season. But that may be due to Cooper Kupp not being on the field. Now with all three Rams receivers at 100 percent, Everett may go back to being the fourth or fifth option for Jared Goff.
He’s worth a look as a bye-week fill in because of the offense he’s on.
Brate will primarily be the backup to OJ Howard in the Bucs offense. However, he may get more playing time than other backups because Howard can’t stay healthy. Brate has played in 61 of the 64 possible games over the last four seasons. Howard has played in 24 of 32 games in the last two years.
Even as a backup Brate caught 30 passes for 289 yards and six touchdowns. Those scores are the only thing that made him a bit valuable. With Adam Humphries and DeSean Jackson gone, there are a few more targets available.
I have Gesicki ranked this high for his talent. The team context may hinder his value for most owners. He scored just 40.20 fantasy points last year, 50th in the league based on NFL.com scoring.
The Dolphins are now led by defensive-minded head coach Brian Flores with either Ryan Fitzpatrick or Josh Rosen under center. The former will throw it downfield 20 times a game while the latter will play it safe. If Rosen is the quarterback, I can see Gesicki getting some targets.
Eifert is recovering from ankle surgery and his questionable for Week 1. Over his career, these are the number of games missed: 14, 2, 7, 13 and 11 (based on 15 games played per season). He is one of the best when healthy, that’s a rarity.
With a new offense in Cincinnati and the competition between AJ Green, Tyler Boyd, John Ross and Joe Mixon for targets, Eifert seems like an afterthought. He’s a good option in best ball leagues for that one breakout game.
According to FantasyPros, “There have been 70 tight ends who’ve been drafted inside the top six rounds of the NFL Draft since 2013. Just one of them went on to finish as a top-12 fantasy tight end…Evan Engram.”
The Lions offense is stacked with Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones and Kerryon Johnson at the important positions. Jesse James is also on the team but he’s expected to be the blocking tight end.
Should Golladay or Jones go down with an injury, Hockenson has TE1 upside.
With Emmanuel Sanders recovering from a torn Achilles, Fant may see an increase in targets over the first couple of weeks. Whether it’s Joe Flacco or Drew Lock under center, they will rely on the tight end a lot.
However, as I just mentioned, rookie tight end very rarely work out for fantasy owners. He’s another best ball or streaming option.
The Eagles have one of the best tight ends in the league. Which is why they traded a second and fifth round pick on Goedert last April. In his first season, he had 33 receptions, 334 yards four touchdowns.
The Eagles offense added another pass catcher in DeSean Jackson. He barely saw five targets per game last season, so this year will be much of the same. However, if you are a Zach Ertz owner, you may want to handcuff him with Goedert.
Herndon had a great rookie season. That will likely not continue this season for two reasons. One, the Jets completely overhauled their offense. Two, he’s suspended for four games. That’s actually not a bad thing though.
If you expect Herndon to slot right back in the offense when he returns, then you won’t likely have to draft him. He’ll be sitting on the waiver wire for the first three games before someone adds him as a stash.