Nothing seems more frustrating in the world of fantasy football than the tight end position. For years, one lucky person would pay the premium and be rewarded with an elite TE1 season from Travis Kelce, but we saw even the incomparable Kelce take a step back and finish as the overall TE3 last season.
With Kelce now entering his age-35 season, Mark Andrews coming off of an injury plagued season and T.J. Hockenson starting the season on the PUP list, recovering from a torn ACL, the top of the tight end mountain seems murkier than ever save for the ascending Sam LaPorta, who is also already batting a hamstring injury.
Every single tight end comes with some baggage this season, and I really would not blame you if you opted to punt the position entirely over the first 10 or so rounds in favor of loading up at other positions, and then rolling with a late round sleeper. That’s what we hope to help you with here.
Below are four sleepers to consider in fantasy football drafts. First, let’s define who will be considered a sleeper for the purposes of this article. Fantasypros.com has a handy tool which takes the average ADP (average draft position) of three different platforms — Yahoo, Sleeper and RealTime Fantasy Sports — and compiles them into one list.
Every name in this exercise will be outside the top 10 in Fantasy Pros’ compiled positional ADP list for tight ends in the half PPR format, and all are typically available in the double digit rounds of 12-team fantasy drafts. You can find the full list of half PPR tight end ADPs here.
Dallas Goedert – Philadelphia Eagles (Positional ADP: 12th; Overall ADP: 107th)
Dallas Goedert has the talent, the draft pedigree and the historical good production when called upon to be considered a higher end option at the shallowest position in fantasy football, yet he finds himself outside the top 10 in ADP at the position and outside the top 100 overall. The reason for this, of course, has been his environment and role within the Philadelphia Eagles offense.
The Eagles have been a predominantly run based football team, ranking in the top seven in run play percentage each of the past three seasons. Goedert has nonetheless recorded at least 524 receiving yards in each of the past five seasons, as he has aimed to secure his keep in an offense whose staple play is the “tush push.”
Goedert in his best seasons has only ever just barely cracked the top 10 in fantasy points at his position, so what’s the reason for my optimism that this year may be any different? That lies within new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Moore has been an OC in Dallas and Los Angeles over the past five seasons and in three of those years his offense has been in the top half of the league in passing percentage, including last year’s Chargers who were 6th in that category despite having the last quarter of the season started by Easton Stick at quarterback.
The big place of help may be in the red zone, where the Eagles had the highest red zone rushing rate in the league last year, while Moore’s Chargers were in the top 5 in overall pass attempts inside the 10 (again, this is with Stick starting four games).
If the Eagles do throw more overall and especially in the red zone, Goedert will finally have his opportunity at an ascension. Another factor to consider is that he already has quarterback Jalen Hurts’ trust inside the 20, finishing second on the team (behind AJ Brown) and just outside the top 10 among all tight ends in red zone targets despite missing three games to injury in 2023.
Dalton Schultz – Houston Texans (Positional ADP: 14th; Overall ADP: 118th)
Despite missing two games (and getting knocked out of a third early) last season, Dalton Schultz still finished just outside the top 10 in half PPR scoring among all tight ends in 2023.
Overall, when you combine Schultz’s very early Week 12 injury which also knocked him out of weeks 13 and 14, and quarterback CJ Stroud’s own injury which knocked him out of weeks 15 and 16, the tight end had five consecutive weeks down the stretch of last season where he was not catching passes from his Pro Bowl quarterback. This puts into perspective how unlucky Schultz was to have had a stellar fantasy campaign derail late, especially when you consider that he was the overall TE5 in half PPR scoring between weeks 4 and 11 before those injuries to he and Stroud took place.
This season, the Texans added Stefon Diggs to the mix and will hope for internal growth from both Nico Collins and Tank Dell, increasing the target competition for Schultz. What is also expected to increase, however, is Stroud’s own stat line following a prolific rookie season where he threw for 4,108 passing yards and 23 touchdowns in 15 games.
Dalton Schultz, who was given a three-year contract extension this past offseason, has his young quarterback’s trust as a safety blanket of the middle of the field, and is a key component of Houston’s passing offense. He received five targets on 12 Stroud passes in the “dress rehearsal” second preseason game, leading the first teamers with three catches and 39 receiving yards.
If Schultz and Stroud can re-find the connection they had last season before injuries derailed everything, the tight end out of Stanford will be a 10th round steal.
Ben Sinnott – Washington Commanders (Positional ADP: 21st; Overall ADP: 193rd)
Rookie tight ends have historically been an afterthought in redraft leagues, rarely ever scoring enough points to register on the fantasy radar. In recent times, however, there has been a bit of fantasy life extracted from crops of rookie pass catchers with Kyle Pitts finishing in the top 10 at the position in 2021 and Pat Freiermuth joining him as a top 13 option, and San LaPorta finishing as the overall TE1 last season, with Dalton Kincaid also registering a TE1 campaign (defined as finishing ranked in the top 12).
In this year’s draft, Brock Bowers was the latest tight end to go in the first round, but for the purposes of this article my eye is on the other tight end who was selected within the first two rounds — Ben Sinnott.
Sinnott has very strong tools coming into the NFL. He ran a 4.68 40-time at the combine which, combined with his size (6’4, 250 pounds), jumping ability (40 inch vertical) and spectacular run after the catch ability that we saw in college, makes him an incredibly intriguing weapon for second overall pick and reigning Heisman winner Jayden Daniels.
The rookie out of Kansas State will likely not be a starter this season, but the only thing standing between him and the top of the depth chart is the aging Zach Ertz who is coming off a season ending injury. If and when Sinnott does take over the top job, he will do so on a Washington team that has Terry McLauren as its top target and then a large question mark as to who will be Daniels’ second look.
Sinnott feels like a very worthwhile stash for the back half of the season that you can essentially get for free.
Taysom Hill – New Orleans Saints (Positional ADP: 25th; Overall ADP: 195th)
If you really wanted to punt the tight end position entirely and to insert someone into that slot that you can get for near zero draft capital, look no further than the ultimate jack of all trades.
Since 2020 (when Taysom Hill was reclassified as a tight end in ESPN fantasy scoring) there have been two tight ends to finish every season ranked in the top 10 in half PPR scoring — Travis Kelce and Taysom Hill. Hill of course was helped by his thrust into the starting quarterback position for stints in 2020 and 2021, but even over the past two seasons he’s finished as the overall TE5 and TE10 in half PPR.
Hill will remain a symbol of versatility within the New Orleans Saints offense where last season he was third on the team in carries, sixth in receptions and tied for first in number of non-passing touchdowns. With Juwan Johnson recovering from offseason surgery and uncertain for the start of the season, Michael Thomas gone, and the running back room already banged up, Hill could find himself as a key cog in the offense right from the get go.
If you do go the Taysom Hill route, you will have to live with almost maddening inconsistency. In six games last season he was the overall TE6 or better, but in another six he put up a sub 3-point week. The Taysom Hill experience is essentially an exhilarating coin flip but there is not a single other identifiable player at this moment whom you can get for essentially free with the expectation of them having a top 10 season at their position.
