The Ultimate TE Rankings for 2026 Fantasy Football
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
58 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 4, 2026
Published
Fri, September 4, 2026
32
Player insights
28
Players mentioned
Topics
Tucker KraftDallas GoedertKyle PittsAJ BarnerAustin HooperBrenton StrangeBrock BowersChigoziem OkonkwoColston LovelandDalton KincaidDalton SchultzDarren WallerGeorge KittleGreg Dulcich
Player analysis
Player insights
AJ Barner
PositiveSleeper50:34
JJ Zachariason highlights AJ Barner as a sleeper who could see increased involvement if the Seahawks' passing volume rises or if JSN misses time. Barner is a strong blocker who stays on the field for nearly all snaps, and Zachariason suggests he could surprise with a high touchdown total.
Insight pageAustin Hooper
PositiveRole19:18
Austin Hooper is projected to potentially be a top-two target in the passing game, with JJ Zachariason noting that the tight end is a primary read in Drew Petsing's offense.
Insight pageBrenton Strange
PositiveValue48:11
JJ Zachariason considers Brenton Strange an underappreciated talent. Despite the presence of other wide receivers in Jacksonville, Strange finished as the TE10 in points per game from week 12 onwards last year. He is viewed as a potential top-12 finisher if he can capitalize on red-zone and check-down opportunities.
Insight pageBrock Bowers
PositiveProjection4:03
JJ Zachariason and Hayden Winks rank Bowers as their TE1. He is an all-pro talent averaging 65 yards per game through his first two seasons, a mark that historically precedes a year-three breakout. The Raiders' offense, under Clint Kubiak, is expected to be explosive, and with a mediocre defense, Bowers should benefit from high-volume fourth-quarter passing situations. He is viewed as a potential second-round value who can produce in the same range as top-tier wide receivers.
Insight pageChigoziem Okonkwo
NegativeRole51:57
JJ Zachariason believes Chigoziem Okonkwo will play more snaps than expected, noting that the coaching staff may view him as a key receiving threat. However, he expresses concern about the presence of strong blockers like John Bates, which could limit Okonkwo's consistency in 11-personnel sets.
Insight pageColston Loveland
PositiveBreakout10:18
Zachariason and Winks are high on Loveland, noting his dominance in 13 personnel and his ability to function as a primary pass-catcher. With DJ Moore removed from the roster, Loveland has a path to lead the team in receiving categories. He is a 21-year-old mismatch who averaged 97 yards per game in the playoffs, and the analysts suggest he could potentially be drafted ahead of Trey McBride.
Insight pageDallas Goedert
NegativeProjection38:37
Dallas Goedert is unlikely to repeat his career-high 11 touchdowns from last year, as the team is expected to adjust their usage of the 'tush push' play near the goal line.
Insight pageNegativeProjection38:49
JJ Zachariason projects Goedert to see a decline in touchdown receptions due to the team adjusting their 'tush push' strategy. While he finished as the TE5 last year, Zachariason expects him to perform closer to a TE9 or TE11 this season, noting that his receiving ability is showing signs of decline at age 31.
Insight pageDalton Kincaid
PositiveBreakout31:25
Dalton Kincaid is considered a 'super smash' if his snap share increases, as he led all tight ends in yards per route run over the past two seasons, trailing only George Kittle.
Insight pageDalton Schultz
NegativeValue47:21
JJ Zachariason identifies Dalton Schultz as a high-floor TE2 option. Despite the Texans' offense struggling at times last year, Schultz maintained consistent production. He is viewed as a safe, albeit unexciting, option for those who punt the tight end position.
Insight pageDarren Waller
PositiveValue54:39
JJ Zachariason notes that Darren Waller was signed by the Panthers to provide downfield explosiveness. He believes Waller moved well last year and could be a valuable late-round dart throw, especially if the team cuts other depth tight ends to clear his path to snaps.
Insight pageGeorge Kittle
PositiveValue28:54
George Kittle is a preferred target over the Browns' tight ends due to his role in a top-10 offense, his efficiency, and his high end-zone target share (33%) when sharing the field with Brock Purdy.
Insight pageGreg Dulcich
PositiveRole54:12
JJ Zachariason reports that Greg Dulcich is receiving positive buzz in OTAs and is expected to be an every-down player. The addition of Will Kazmerich as an inline blocker should free up Dulcich to focus on receiving duties.
Insight pageHarold Fannin
NegativeValue26:48
Harold Fannin is viewed as a talented player with a solid floor, but JJ Zachariason is lowering his ranking due to increased target competition from Casey Concepcion and Denzel Boston in the Browns' offense.
Insight pageHunter Henry
PositiveValue52:16
JJ Zachariason views Hunter Henry as a reliable producer who remains involved in the Patriots' offense. Despite the team adding other weapons, Henry's history of production and the coaching staff's tendency to utilize tight ends keep him relevant as a steady option.
Insight pageIsaiah Likely
NegativeRole33:57
Isaiah Likely is expected to be the Giants' number two pass catcher, but JJ Zachariason notes a firm ceiling on his production due to his limited usage as an every-down player and the team's run-focused approach.
Insight pageJake Ferguson
NegativeRole43:46
JJ Zachariason views Jake Ferguson as a contingent-only asset who is buried in his rankings. Ferguson was highly inefficient last year when CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens were healthy, functioning primarily as a check-down option. He only becomes relevant if one of the primary receivers misses time.
Insight pageJuwan Johnson
PositiveSleeper40:05
JJ Zachariason ranks Juwan Johnson as his TE12, highlighting his high snap share (72-90%) and route participation. Johnson finished as the TE5 in yards per game and TE8 in receptions per game following the Rashid Shaheed trade last season, making him a viable 'punt' tight end strategy target.
Insight pageKenyon Sadiq
NegativeProjection53:27
JJ Zachariason expects a slow start for rookie Kenyon Sadiq, noting he will battle for targets and snaps with other receivers. While he has high-end upside, Zachariason suggests leaning toward Mason Taylor in the early part of the season.
Insight pageKyle Pitts
PositiveBreakout22:55
Kyle Pitts is viewed as a high-upside target at his current draft price, with the potential to break the position due to his health, age (25), and ability to move like a wide receiver.
Insight pageNegativeUsage24:51
JJ Zachariason highlights that Kyle Pitts' production was heavily dependent on Drake London's absence last season, noting that Pitts averaged only 43 yards per game in the first 10 games before London missed time.
Insight pageMark Andrews
NegativeProjection36:17
JJ Zachariason ranks Mark Andrews as the TE15, expressing significant concern about his remaining talent and recent training camp reports. While he acknowledges a potential rebound if Andrews is fully healthy, he notes that the team's decision to extend him over Isaiah Likely was surprising given Andrews' poor performance last season.
Insight pagePat Freiermuth
PositiveBreakout56:32
JJ Zachariason notes positive training camp buzz surrounding Pat Freiermuth, suggesting he could be a sleeper in superflex formats. With Arthur Smith gone and Aaron Rodgers reportedly praising him, Freiermuth is viewed as a potential riser despite a likely slow start to the season.
Insight pageSam LaPorta
PositiveProjection15:36
LaPorta is viewed as a positive regression candidate for touchdowns in a Lions offense expected to be high-scoring. The analysts highlight his fit in Drew Petzing's scheme, which historically funnels a high percentage of targets to tight ends. With the Lions' secondary expected to struggle, LaPorta should see significant volume as a primary or secondary read.
Insight pageT.J. Hockenson
NegativeProjection52:25
JJ Zachariason notes a lack of positive news regarding T.J. Hockenson during training camp. He suggests that Hockenson has not regained his pre-injury explosiveness and faces too much competition for targets in the Vikings' offense to be a reliable fantasy asset.
Insight pageTerrance Ferguson
PositiveBreakout41:01
JJ Zachariason is high on Terrence Ferguson, viewing him as a potential breakout candidate in the Rams' offense. He notes that Ferguson is being used in diverse roles, including as an isolated X receiver, and suggests he should be a final-two-round pick in all formats, potentially even moving ahead of Jake Ferguson in rankings.
Insight pageTravis Kelce
PositiveValue37:01
Travis Kelce remains a viable fantasy option, finishing as a top-6 tight end in points per game when Patrick Mahomes was healthy last year, and is currently undervalued at his TE12 ADP.
Insight pageTrey McBride
NegativeRole6:54
While McBride was a league-winner last year due to massive route volume, Zachariason and Winks expect a regression. Increased target competition from Marvin Harrison Jr., Michael Wilson, and a new running back room, combined with a likely shift in offensive philosophy under the current play-caller, suggests he will not repeat his 10-target-per-game pace. He is viewed as a late-round three or early-round four value.
Insight pageTucker Kraft
NegativeInjury19:41
Coming off a torn ACL, Tucker Kraft is expected to play in Week 1 but will likely be on a snap count for the first month or two of the season, making his current price tag a source of concern.
Insight pagePositiveInjury19:44
Following a significant injury last year, reports indicate that Tucker Craft is on track to play in Week 1.
Insight pagePositiveProjection20:48
JJ Zachariason notes that Tucker Kraft's 11.4 yards per target and high yards-after-catch production last year are unsustainable, suggesting inevitable regression regardless of his talent.
Insight pageTyler Warren
PositiveUsage13:17
Zachariason and Winks rank Warren as their TE4, projecting him to lead the Colts in receiving. Shane Steichen frequently manufactures touches for him via screens and play-action. Despite being a rookie last year, he ranked 11th in red-zone targets among all pass-catchers. He is considered a strong value in the fifth round.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00It's tight end time. Yes, one of the onesies here and I actually think the position that requires the most strategy when you're drafting.
0:07We talked through the Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, Tyler Warren, Colson Loveland tier at the top.
0:11Then the mid-round players, some are avoiding them. Some, I think, might pop up here as potential league winners.
0:17And then just how many of you have won your fantasy leagues in the past.
0:21Really late round picks, including one special name that you might not hearing enough about this training camp, this preseason.
0:27Hint, he plays for the LA Rams. Stick around for this episode of Yahoo Fantasy Football with Josh and Hayden coming up next.
0:33It's onesie time. Today, our final rankings for tight ends.
0:36I can't wait to talk about this group because obviously there's a number going in the top three or four rounds.
0:42In the past, one of our favorite strategies has been to Dr.
0:45Frankenstein the position. I think that's more difficult now than ever, Hayden, because we've become better at identifying later round tight ends
0:51and because more and more people started doing that.
0:54And I think like actually this group of mid-round tight ends is kind of interesting.
0:58At least one or two of them might be on your fantasy league championship team this year.
1:03I think it's a very exciting group to talk about.
1:06I think there's huge error bars for these tight ends as well because so many of them are under 25 years old and we know that they're good.
1:14We don't know if they're like going to be elite guys or if this is going to be kind of one of
1:20those situations where a couple things don't break their way and they end up busting.
1:24Because this is a position that a lot of times with like the fifth round fantasy tight ends like typically bust out.
1:30I just think the difference here is that all these guys are really good and they're like 23, 24 or even sometimes even younger than that.
1:38Right. And where the cycle of the NFL is right now, tight ends are imperative for many of these rosters across the
1:44league to the point that pure blockers are being selected in rounds two and rounds three.
1:49And if these teams are in 12 personnel and especially 13 personnel with three tight ends on the field, that means one
1:55of the tight ends is the secondary pass catcher in the lineup and they're going to get funnel targets.
2:00And so we're going to bring up all that stuff because then that guy is going to get peppered with a whole
2:06bunch of stuff and be very fantasy relevant for us.
2:09And my last note is if you miss out on the young tight ends, that could be the top pass catcher, second pass catcher on their team.
2:17Then you get into the range of now we're talking about 33 year old tight ends.
2:21Like, can they still play football? And like now we're talking about a different cliff of like they just might not have it anymore as well.
2:29So it's kind of like the entire position can go up and down.
2:32Five years ago, those guys were being selected in the first and second round.
2:36You know, it shows you how quickly things change.
2:39And I think that's very evident here at tight end, maybe more than any other position.
2:43Okay, we kick things off with Brock Bowers, who is around the 18th overall pick right now.
2:48He's both of our tight end ones. When you talk about the Raiders, you almost have to talk about the Seattle Seahawks
2:54on top of it because of what Clint Kubiak is bringing to this team.
2:58The Seahawks were fifth in the NFL and pass success rate last year.
3:02Second in the rate of pass plays that gained 10 or more yards.
3:06I mean, Kubiak Saints offense was also one of the most explosive in the NFL.
3:10And Hayden, what stands out to me is none of those teams, either of them were expected to be that before Clint Kubiak showed up.
3:17And you could say the same thing about this Raiders team.
3:20And that's why we like Brock Bowers so much this year.
3:23Yeah, last year he was my tight end too.
3:26And then this year I did not even blink twice.
3:29He was like easily going to be my tight end one this year because I think Trey McBride has a lot more target competition and Brock Bowers.
3:36It's just going to be him out there. It sounds like Trey Tucker is kind of like run away with the wide receiver one job for the Raiders.
3:44He's never going to be a high volume guy and doesn't seem like they're getting that much out of Naylor, Besh, like those type of guys.
3:52So all these explosives that you talk about, I think a lot of it's going to be with Brock Bowers.
3:57They have two quarterbacks that they can go to between Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza.
4:01And the defense, they just lost a key player.
4:04And I think that their defense is going to be pretty mediocre.
4:07So I think there's going to be a lot of fourth quarter receptions here.
4:11Brock Bowers, if you watch the game, you guys know that he's an all pro level talent.
4:16But the most receiving yards per game through the first two seasons since at least 2000 at 65 yards per game.
4:22Remember, he was doing that on one leg last year on top of that.
4:26And the other tight ends who are in that mix through the first two seasons, they tend to get better in the year three.
4:33And I think that's what's going to happen with Brock.
4:36Yeah, I mean, he's almost in a tier of his own in this group because you really have to make the determination
4:42in round two if you're going to start with a running back or a wide receiver in that spot.
4:47And that's one of your players that you're going to ride with all season long versus, again, this onesie guy.
4:53It makes sense and it will really pay off if we get one of the Travis Kelsey seasons of old.
4:59Like 2020 Travis Kelsey, that was incredible. 17.4 points per game.
5:02The next closest is at 14. But what stands out to me was the tight end five that year was at 9.4.
5:08So that's not even talking about like the tight end 10 or tight end 12 that you're going up against on a weekly basis.
5:15That was the person in your league that had the fifth best tight end for the entire season.
5:20You had an eight point advantage on any given week.
5:23So if we get that or if we get even five points, like so many of your matchups come down to that
5:29difference that he would be a huge difference maker in that.
5:32And like Kelsey was then going in the first round the next year.
5:36Yeah, I would say that the big difference between Kelsey and Bowers is just the amount of points that the offense is going to score.
5:43So I think you can do. I'll give you guys the receptions and the receiving yards for Travis Kelsey.
5:48I think that's well within the range of outcomes.
5:51If it was six touchdowns instead of 12 touchdowns, like that's where I think the difference between where I think he's probably
5:57going to be a second round value. This year and not probably be a first round value.
6:02That's totally fine. The math, how it kind of works is like he pretty much has to be in the same range
6:08in like raw points as the wide receivers that kind of go in this mix.
6:12You're talking about three wide receiver start league. And I think that he can go one for one for like AJ Brown and Drake London.
6:19I feel like it's not that big of difference.
6:22I think that we have them graded properly here.
6:24Full PPR redraft leagues. I think 16th overall somewhere in that makes sense.
6:28Yeah. The tight ends right after him, excuse me, the wide receivers right after him, Nico Collins, George Pickens, AJ Brown.
6:34I'm basically using Brock Bowers as like that tier maker after all those running backs and then right before all those wide receivers.
6:40But then when I'm on the clock, sometime I'll lean that wide receiver.
6:44Sometime I'll leave the tight end. It just depends.
6:47Okay. That brings us to Trey McBride, who is going as the first pick of the third round right now on Yahoo.
6:53We know that he was your number one tight end last year.
6:56One of the players that you couldn't stop drafting and that paid off in a big way.
7:01Namely because he ran 120 more routes than the next closest tight end out there.
7:05That is basically four extra games worth of routes that Trey McBride had over the competition.
7:10Yeah. 15.1 expected points. He averaged just that as well.
7:1310 targets per game, 7.4 reception, 73 yards per game.
7:15That's a ridiculous stuff. I have a number. It's fantasy points over replacement per game.
7:20This is how I can compare different positions and then half PPR scoring.
7:23That season made him the 19th overall player. So I think that's kind of what I'm shooting for with my Brock Bowers
7:29rankings, like what kind of like what Trey McBride did last year.
7:33And then this year, I would just not expect Trey McBride to repeat that.
7:37There's a couple of reasons why. Number one, we're not sure if we're going to get Jacoby Brissett the entire season.
7:43And I think that that was a pretty scammy offense, what they were doing late in the season.
7:48The defense was a complete train wreck and they were number one in neutral pass rate.
7:52Uh, and I just don't think that LaFleur wants to be number one neutral pass rate.
7:57In fact, I'm going to guess that they're even below average in that number.
8:01Yep. And I think even when they are losing games, I don't think that they will do the scam stuff that they were doing quite last year.
8:08Marvin Harrison missed some time last year. Uh, now we know that, uh, they, they just paid Michael as well.
8:14Uh, and then you have, uh, Jeremiah love the third overall pick.
8:18So I think there's more competition now. And I think that's going to squeeze training pride marginally here.
8:23Just to add to that point over the final nine games, according to retreat bar, the Cardinals led for just 47 offensive snaps.
8:29That was only better than the Raiders and the jets.
8:32So people will say when they look at, you know, the Cardinals and lowest projected offense and the tough schedule that they
8:38have, that they'll just be able to do that again.
8:41But what you're saying is I agree with like, I doubt it.
8:44Again, they had no running backs last year. I think the leading running back had a hundred carries.
8:49Now they have two, uh, plus, you know, Marv and Michael Wilson, hopefully healthy on top of this, plus a play caller.
8:56Who's not going to make the primary trade McBride kind of like what your passing did in every situation last year.
9:02So I kind of like where his ADP has settled versus almost, you know, about four or five picks earlier.
9:07Like it was this summer. Um, however, I'm still not drafting Jimmy private.
9:11Yeah. Yeah. In our Yahoo expert league, he went in the middle of the fourth round and there was a lot of wide receivers.
9:18I think both of us, we drafted a jet.
9:20You, you grabbed pre-sall. I grabbed Garrett Wilson over tree McBride.
9:23Um, so I think that he's a late round three kind of early round four value.
9:28It just kind of depends on the exact league format that you're going for.
9:32The more wide receivers that you need to start.
9:34That's when I would start moving the wide receivers up.
9:37If you're only in the league with only two wide receivers, then I would put training right, like at the top of the tier.
9:44So like break ties for whoever you, whoever you guys enjoy watching for my money, training bride's one of the most fun players to watch period.
9:51Um, I think he's awesome in every department. A hundred percent.
9:54We already have shows like this on running backs and tight ends.
9:58So if your draft is this weekend, uh, you could have avoided everything that happened this summer, not paid attention to us
10:04in May, June, and July, and instead just tuned into these three plus the quarterbacks episode that drops tomorrow.
10:09And you have an entire four months of content on your plate.
10:13So go and cram sesh, study hard. And, uh, we wish we could have done the same.
10:18Okay. Next is Colson Loveland. Our tight end three going as a tight end three.
10:22I mean, this one's pretty straightforward. I mean, beginning in week 15, the bears played over half their offensive snaps with two
10:28plus tight ends on the field during five of their final six games after only doing so one time in their opening 13.
10:35We talked about Colson Loveland heading into the season and heading into his NFL career that he could be a primary piece of an NFL passing game.
10:42Uh, at some point in his career, he will be the number one scoring tight end.
10:47It's that simple. Yep. Totally agree. And I think that could happen this year if everything kind of breaks his way.
10:53So from week eight on, that was his first game above 75% of the snaps.
10:57If you include the playoffs when he went absolutely berserk, he was the tight end four on tight end three expected points,
11:0365 yards per game, which is the exact number that Brock Bowers is averaging his first two seasons.
11:08If you only look at the playoff games, he averaged 97 yards per game on 18 expected half PPR points.
11:14He was absolutely dominant on that. He could block, he could run the routes and he can be involved underneath.
11:20He can work down the field. He is a mismatch for everybody.
11:23Like every, I think he will be the best tight end in football.
11:27And he was doing that as a 21 year old, 21.
11:30So this is a position where these players get better year after year early on.
11:34There's a lot going on. He missed some of the training camp last year because of a shoulder injury.
11:39He's healthy. Now you remove DJ more. Um, and I didn't, uh, Colson Loveland has a chance to like lead this team
11:46and just all the receiving categories straight up. Uh, and I think that he's going to be one of the best tight ends in the game.
11:53So I think anywhere in the fourth round, totally fair game.
11:56And if somebody wanted to get bold enough and say that he's just go ahead of training McBride, I think that's like a totally reasonable take too.
12:04Yeah. He's only a three or four pick gap.
12:06Excuse me. Training McBride is only a three or four pick gap between Brock Bowers.
12:10And then you have a full round between train McBride and Colson Loveland.
12:14The gap in the latter two should be tighter.
12:17Yes. Then it is now, if that makes sense.
12:19And that's what happened in our, in the expert league.
12:22I think Colson Loveland went to just a couple of picks after train McBride and Brock Bowers went way, way earlier than that.
12:29So that's how I have in my rankings. I think that's more of the consensus ring where you can actually probably put Bowers in his own tier.
12:36And then I'd say these two guys in the next tier, and then we'll get to everybody else.
12:41Yeah. And the bears added a tight end in the draft and Sam Rauch, who's mainly a pure blocker.
12:47Like he is just a wrestler out there, uh, athletic, but incredibly short arms.
12:51Yeah. Maybe that is to get the cold commit stuff in 2027, but at the same time when they're in 13 personnel
12:57this year, and I'll be able to have to take Romo Denze or Luther burden off the field.
13:02Uh, Colson Loveland is going to feast in those situations.
13:05I mean, in 13 personnel last year, he had 4.66 yards per route run with a 53.
13:10market share in terms of receiving yards. So good.
13:12So good. It's going to go crazy. Okay. I love our tight end four and I'm drafting him often.
13:17And that is Tyler Warren. Um, I think he leads the Indianapolis Colts in receiving this year.
13:22He led the team in targets as a rookie last year.
13:25And now the only guy that was close to him in targets, Michael Pittman, Jr.
13:30one behind is gone. Um, I think Tyler Warren is fearless.
13:33I think he's strong. I think he absorbs contact.
13:35I think he wants to be the hammer with the ball in his hands.
13:39And when you watch the games, Shane Sykin absolutely loves to dial up receptions manufactured for him on first and second down.
13:45I think he's the best screen guy. Uh, there's a bunch of split flow action and play action stuff on top of it.
13:52And he already had, you know, the 11th most red zone targets of any wide receiver or tight end during his rookie season.
13:58So while he might not be as elegant of a player as Colson Loveland, uh, I still think that there's a shot
14:05that Tyler Warren, uh, even outscores him this year potentially.
14:08Yeah, I could see it. Uh, in the first 13 games and Daniel Jones was healthy.
14:12He averaged 54 yards per game. He was a PPR is tight end six on tight end three usage.
14:17They can get them going like leak routes, little screens, that type of stuff.
14:21Very easy guy to manufacture touches for. I don't think that's going to change at all.
14:26Uh, it just kind of comes down to like how good are the Colts going to be this year?
14:31But, uh, even if Daniel Jones is out there, they're not quite as dominant.
14:35Maybe they have to pass them all a little bit more this year.
14:39I think that'll ultimately help them out. So I think that he's firmly the tight end four.
14:44And then everyone else is trying to catch up to him.
14:47Uh, we're the lowest amongst the Yahoo rankers. Everyone else kind of has in the fourth round.
14:52In a lot of the drafts that I'm in, you can get him late round five.
14:56And I think that's, there's kind of like a tear break from the wide receivers.
15:00Like once you get to like, you know, Devante Adams and Mike Evans and Tyler Warren, uh, before you get to Cardinal
15:07Tate, I think that Tyler Warren slots in very nicely right there.
15:10So, uh, no qualms if you take him some time in round five.
15:14Yeah. I have him 48 overall right now on Yahoo.
15:16He's being selected ahead of like Garrett Wilson, for example.
15:19Um, that's right. I don't think I can take him ahead of Garrett Wilson.
15:23Yeah. Yeah. I think there's a clear tier difference between, you know, I was even saying like the Parker Washington's, uh, Roma
15:29Dune Zay types, uh, over Tyler Warren, but, uh, you guys can disagree.
15:33Okay. Next. And this is where we still agree on tight end five.
15:37And then it gets interesting after that, that's Sam Laporta here.
15:40I don't know if I've talked you into this as the, you know, off season has gone along, but Sam Laporta to
15:46me, we could look back on week nine and be like, man, he had a really sneaky opening eight weeks and wasn't
15:52getting enough love heading into the season. I see the same way.
15:56First of all, I think that the lions are going to get absolutely cooked in the secondary this entire season, the, their matchups are ridiculously difficult.
16:03Their, uh, Ben Solick was just talking with Nate ties from Yahoo and, uh, his stat was that all their starting, uh,
16:09defensive backs are 29 years or older. That hasn't happened in over 15 years.
16:13Um, and they're all injured. Uh, so dome environment, I think that there's going to be a chance where everyone gets home
16:20and it's kind of in the years past has been like JMO or Sam Laporta.
16:24I think part of that was because we also had to deal with David Montgomery in the backfield and that that lions defense was respectable.
16:31Once you remove, uh, um, David Montgomery and you account for like how bad the secondary could be and how good the
16:37rest of the division is like Kyler Murray, Caleb Williams, uh, and Jordan love.
16:41I think it's going to be JMO and Sam Laporta.
16:44And I think that all those stats are going to go away.
16:47And Sam Laporta is awesome at football. Um, and he's been a top five tight end before.
16:52So I got the number one tight end. Now that was an awful season in terms of scoring during his rookie year.
16:58It was like 7.9 points that he had per game, but he was a tight end one that season.
17:04Yep. Uh, he also is like a positive regression candidate when it comes to touchdowns, which is also like something you would
17:10not think is happening, but that is, that is happening with Sam Laporta.
17:14So amongst that tier break at wide receiver that I was talking about, I'm just like plugging my nose, Jimmy, Sam Laporta,
17:20I'll circle back to the wide receiver sleepers that I like.
17:23And he's been somebody I've been drafting a whole lot more of.
17:26You were ahead of me earlier this off season, but, um, the fact that he's healthy and this offense is, I think
17:32going to be number one in scoring this year and yardage and Jared Goff while you lead the dang NFL and passing yard to do that.
17:40Sam Laporta and JMO are going to get there.
17:42We were at that five, six turn and I didn't like any of the wide receivers on the board.
17:48And I was just like, I'm going to wind up with Sam Laporta at this spot because I believe in him and
17:54I'm not optimistic about any of these other pass catchers at that point.
17:58Um, I also think tight end is one of those positions where the play caller really matters.
18:02Like some play callers historically factor those guys in more than any others.
18:06They make them the primary read or the secondary read more so than other where they're like kind of an afterthought and
18:12they build things around the wide receivers and the running backs.
18:15And this Norv Turner, Kevin Stefanski, Drew Petsing tree really values tight ends.
18:19I mean, over the last two seasons, the quarterbacks attached to Stefanski and Petsing have led the NFL in percent of passes directed to tight ends.
18:26Now you can say that those guys had David and Joku and Trey McBride throwing the football.
18:31But again, I think this is like a foundational thing to the point where Drew Petsing had the third most plays of
18:3713 personnel over the last two seasons, including the second most passing place out of those sets and tied for the most
18:4415 plus yard passing place out of it. And Laporta, if you run 12 is perfect for that, which by the way,
18:50the lines really don't have a wide receiver right now on the roster.
18:54And he can kind of line up wide motion in go into stacks and it's kind of one of these movable pieces.
19:00So I love Laporta's fit in a Drew Petsing office.
19:03As you're talking about that, I went back to Drew Petsing with the Browns and Austin Hooper in back-to-back years when he
19:09was involved on that team, he was second in targets.
19:12Like you don't think of Austin Hooper as someone that's a top two target getter, even with Petsing, he also someone like
19:18Austin Hooper could be top two in the past game.
19:21So I think he's going to go crazy this year.
19:24I've talked with McCoy who spent a training camp with Drew Petsing.
19:27He's like, yeah, man, the tight end is a primary read and a whole bunch of stuff.
19:32So obviously it's going to be, I'm on Rossi Brown a lot of times and JMO could blast off this year too,
19:38but don't overlook Sam Laporta in this offense. Okay.
19:41We have Tucker Craft up next and it's been an interesting month for Tucker Craft coming off a gruesome injury last year.
19:47It sounds like he's going to play in week one, which is fantastic.
19:50He even made comments that he was going to be in a bit of a snap count.
19:55Yes. The problem with that is they really don't have a tight end too.
19:59I mean, they just signed Johnny Smith off the street.
20:02Luke Musgrave has been missing this entire time. So he is a unicorn in how he almost gets and produces his fantasy points.
20:09Uh, and I can't wait to see him as a full participant in games.
20:12He said that's going to be like through like week eight or so, which would be exactly a calendar year.
20:18He tore his ACL, uh, in week nine of last year.
20:21So I agree. He's going to play in week one.
20:24I also agree that he is going to be on a snap count to some degree as he goes through the first month or two in the season.
20:32Now that could be, you know, 60% of snaps instead of 90% of snaps, or it could be even less than that.
20:38So I will say his price tag does make me a little bit nervous because of that.
20:43Like if he's coming back from that injury, he's probably not going to be quite as explosive.
20:48One of my favorite stats is, uh, last year he had 11.4 yards per target.
20:52His ADOT was 4.5 yards per target. So he was adding a ridiculous amount of his yards only after the catch.
20:58That's like impossible to do again. And, uh, even, even when you are Tucker crafts, who's awesome at football, he was going to regress no matter what.
21:06Um, and I think that the rest of the receiving group is pretty dang good.
21:10Um, so I haven't been drafting Tucker craft that much.
21:13I've been drafting Laporta over craft. And I think a lot of people have that, uh, ranked the opposite way there.
21:19I just think that the first month of the season or so like could be like a legit ramp up period.
21:25Now we have some solutions we'll get to later on.
21:27And I think craft plus somebody that we'll talk about in a little bit, it's a good pairing to get you through
21:34the season, but across the whole season, I would take Sam Laporta straight up and passing points.
21:38What I mean by unicorn at the position is that craft was averaging a league high 15 and a half yards per
21:45catch with also the most yards after the catch.
21:47So basically this is the best tight end in the league with the ball in his hands and he's still creating explosives even on check downs.
21:55So you'll see because the Packers are really ambitious downfield throwers, Christian Watson, Matthew golden this year, really push down the field.
22:01And then when that's not open, you just have Tucker craft almost like leaking out into the flats with coverage way off.
22:07And all he has to do is run over a safety or a cornerback or outrun a linebacker.
22:12And he does. And then there's 15 yards for you.
22:15It's really cool. Yeah. Yeah. He's a, he's a phenomenal athlete, phenomenal athlete.
22:19This is how you like, you draw them up.
22:21So I, I hope I'm wrong here because when he's just destroying everyone, it's like some of the funniest plays you'll ever see.
22:28Uh, but it's asking a lot for somebody coming off of a tour in ACL at the same time.
22:33We just watched Christian Watson go berserk last year coming off a tour in ACL.
22:37So maybe something's in the water. I don't know if I've ever used, heard you use the word phenomenal before.
22:43You're going to get some comments on that one.
22:45Um, don't ask me to spell it. Phenomenal. I love it.
22:49It's, it's, it's nightmare and phenomenal. I'm adding these to the Rolodex.
22:52Um, okay. This is when we really start to disagree.
22:55Okay. Uh, cow pits is next. And this is all you little cow pits here as we can see.
23:00Um, talk to me. Why are you into cow pits this season?
23:03Uh, he's been absolutely nuts last year. He was supposed to be a guy that could be like breaking the position.
23:09He's not priced. Like he has the chance to break the position.
23:13He's 25 years old. He's fully healthy. You just watched him in the preseason.
23:17I thought that he looked pretty solid for somebody that's as big as he is.
23:21I thought last year he was able to, uh, she changed up his route tree because I think that he can actually break this year.
23:28And I watched him run past defenders. And like the whole point of him is like, you can use it as a
23:34slot wide receiver, almost like an outside wide receiver because he can move like a wide receiver for multiple years.
23:40That was false. I think we're back to the point where that could be true.
23:44The Falcons defense is going to be a complete train wreck.
23:47Their top has a top edge rushers out for the year.
23:50Their other one is, I mean, should be in jail, but, uh, he's going to miss for, uh, eight, um, games this season to start it out.
23:58He went crazy with Drake London or without Drake London last year in the games with Drake London did not have as successful as a season.
24:05I just think that he's got this generational upside that I'm just blindly going to say, what if, uh, because the price tag is so low.
24:13So he kind of fits a nice spot in the draft where I don't love the wide receiver still.
24:18And I'll plug my nose. They don't have Sam Laporta or Colson Loveland and I'll just take Kyle Pitts.
24:23The wide receivers going in the sixth round, which Kyle Pitts right now is the 11th pick of the sixth round, uh, just before him is Mike Evans.
24:31Uh, and then right after him, according to Yahoo, I know you're going to drop Parker Washington over cow pits a lot.
24:38Yes. And then it's like Marvin Harrison, Jr., Carnell Tate, Brian Thomas, Jr.
24:41And then the running backs are like Jalen Warren and we're Mondre Stevenson and then Tony Pollard, for example.
24:47Um, I agree with you that Kyle Pitts looked healthier last year than he did ever before.
24:51It's still though, it's on my radar that he needed Drake London to miss like for this final seven games for him to actually have a respectable season.
24:59Like over the opening 10 games, he averaged 4.7 catches for 43 yards per game with one touchdown in 10 games.
25:05And then over the final seven games with Kirk cousins, again, he went berserk, right?
25:1041 catches, 494 yards, four touchdowns. But again, Drake London played and did not play in four of them.
25:15And then only play like 60% of the snaps in the fifth one.
25:19So, um, it's interesting. I, I just can't get there with like three Atlanta Falcons in the top 71 overall.
25:24And I guess I'm leaving out cow pits with that.
25:27Yeah. I've lowered B John to fourth overall. And then I moved Drake London to the bottom of this tier.
25:33And that's how I can justify my Kyle pits ranking there.
25:36Um, even if it is just like, he's very mediocre and then Drake London or B John goes down and then that's
25:42how he becomes a top three tight end. At least he has that in this range of outcomes.
25:47Like Harold fan and somebody that it's like Harold fan in her pits.
25:51I'm not sure if Harold fan and just like has the range of outcomes to be like a top three tight end
25:57this year, just because he's in a equally bad situation.
26:00Uh, but I just think that Kyle pits like very direct, like it's Drake London, Mrs.
26:04Time B John this time. He's going to go absolutely berserk.
26:08Um, and we did get that screen in the preseason for him too, which, um, that's a Stefanski special.
26:13I will add as well that cow pits has beaten the 11 and a half personnel allegations.
26:18Like last year, in terms of snap counts, he played the most snaps of any Falcons tied in, I think in every game, but one last year.
26:25So, um, it should stay in the field because of you.
26:28We have Harold fan and as the next tight end as the tight end eight, I am lower than that.
26:34Go ahead. Um, I'm neutral on Harold fan. And I love watching him play.
26:38Loved him as a prospect. He was sensational. He's one of the best yards after the catch threats in the NFL.
26:44Um, last year, he was a tight end 10 splitting time with David and Joku.
26:48Uh, now I think that, I think that the coordinator is still good for tight ends.
26:53It's not the Stefanski tree, if you will. But Todd Malkin knows his thing or two about tight ends.
26:58Just look at the Ravens, look at Georgia. So I feel still pretty solid about that.
27:03I just do think that the upgrades with Casey Concepcion, Denzel Boston and Jerry Judy versus Jerry Judy, and then whoever else
27:09they were trotting out there at wide receiver is pretty substantial when it does come to, um, just target competition.
27:15I think the quarterback play offensive line will be just as bad as it was before, uh, last year.
27:20He was a tight end 10 on tight end eight usage.
27:23I think he'll repeat that. Um, I'm not sure if he's going to be like a top five tight end this year,
27:29but if he was falling in drafts, I would like not say it was, he's a bad pick.
27:34He's just not somebody I'm like going out of my way and targeting, even though like I absolutely love watching him play.
27:41Yeah. 43 of his 76 receptions were called less than five yards on the field.
27:45And then per PFF 53 of his 76 receptions were first read targets.
27:48Uh, I don't think he's going to be a first read as often as he was last year.
27:54I think that's Casey Concepcion. And so, yeah, that that's the main thing.
27:57The Browns, I can only push these guys so far.
28:00And if the easy button is now Casey Concepcion and I'm ranking a much higher than where he's being drafted, uh, then I have to lower someone.
28:08And I think that's Harold Fannin for me, even though it, you know, if you zoomed out and you said a guy
28:14who had a ton of production, very young in college, and then absorbed a bunch of targets his first year is probably pretty good at football.
28:21I agree. I think Harold fans good at football.
28:24It's just environmentally. I really don't think two pass catchers are going to get home this year.
28:29Yeah. I think that they'll both be fine. Like I, I draft Casey Concepcion because he goes so late.
28:34I'm not expecting Casey Concepcion to be like a top 20 fantasy wide receiver.
28:38I think both of them could be like finished as like the 80th overall player.
28:42And they both kind of split these duties and both of them end up being like decent enough picks.
28:48I guess my point with that is in relation to other tight ends, because I actually have George Kittle as the tight
28:54end seven and consensus has him as a tight end nine.
28:57And I'm assuming you're around the same area. Um, I would just rather make the George Kittle bet despite his age, despite
29:03the injury, because he's on a fantastic offense that he has produced on over and over and over again, versus the Cleveland Browns tight end bet.
29:10Um, George Kittle was on pace to play in week one.
29:14He was the tight end three in terms of receiving yards when on the field last season, 32% over the past two seasons.
29:20Um, and then when Kittle and Brock party share the field together, he has received a team high 33% of, uh, end zone targets.
29:27So yeah, this is perennially a top 10 offense every single season.
29:30And I have been drafting a ton of George Kittle and expecting to play in week one.
29:35And now that he is, that makes me feel even better.
29:38Yeah. I think this is very similar, uh, situation to Tucker craft where it's awesome that he was able to get back there.
29:45He's going to play in week one. We'll see if he's a full-time player, if there's going to be a ramp up,
29:51uh, period for George Kittle and like Tucker craft, he's been the best, uh, like efficiency player there is.
29:56And we'll see if he can do that as a, what 32 year old coming off of torn Achilles.
30:02So, um, he can easily finish the top five tight end.
30:05Everyone knows that I I'm maybe taking more of like a nihilist, like maybe realist perspective of just like how I will
30:11say like back from Achilles other than stripling, you have a 33 year old Mike Evans, who is quad groin, all this stuff.
30:17And then retirement toward Debo Samuel. So it's not like it's clean around him that he's dealing with targets competition.
30:23I definitely agree. Definitely agree. He's never been like Mr.
30:26Target hog. He's like, you know, 16 to 20% target share finishes like, you know, tight end 10 in targets.
30:32Uh, and then he's just the most efficient player on those targets.
30:35Like, I think it would be surprising if he got more targets this year than he has previously.
30:40Um, can he keep up like how explosive he's been yards after catch wise?
30:44I think that's where I'm discounting it. Um, but I agree with your assessment, like him versus Harold Fannin, who has a
30:50better chance of being a top five tight end.
30:53Like, I think it is George Kittle who has a better chance to be a top 10 tight end.
30:58I think that Fannin's floor is a little bit higher, but you know, I'm, I'm, I'm okay with people taking the swing on Kittle.
31:05I think it makes sense. Their games two through five are quite nice.
31:09It's the bills defense, the jets defense, the Panthers defense and the Cardinals defense.
31:13Nice. That's nice. So I think Kittle through week five, even if he's only playing 65% of snaps or something could still
31:19be excellent based on some of those defenses that he's playing.
31:22All right. Don't think Cade is our tight end 10.
31:25Um, he did not have a single game last season over 55% of snaps.
31:29Now, is that due to hamstring and PCL or do they simply like to rotate mix and match Dawson Knox, Jackson halls and Don?
31:35Yeah. Uh, that is the question that we need to get right because if he does play more, he is an absolute super smash at this spot.
31:43He led all tight ends and yards per route last year over the past two seasons.
31:48Only George Kittle is ahead of him. So whenever he's on the field as a receiver, he's excellent at that.
31:53Um, I think there's a couple, I think the most likely is, uh, scenario is he doesn't really play that much more.
31:59And like, he just always will be a very efficient tight end 10 in fantasy.
32:04And like, that is what it is. Um, but Sean McDermott leaving, maybe that's enough of a wrinkle here where he's going to play a little bit more.
32:12Maybe that injury, like you said, is the reason why he wasn't playing more last year, or maybe he put on a
32:18little bit more weight and they feel a little bit better about him, uh, this year, um, blocking or there's a screw.
32:24We're just going to drop back all the time with Josh Allen, screw this balanced offense.
32:29And then we just want Dalton Kincaid out there no matter what.
32:32So I think there's like more reasons this year to say, what if this changes?
32:36Uh, and I think that this ADP is kind of like assuming it's not going to change, right?
32:41Like he always finishes kind of around this range anyways.
32:44Like even all those, like he only plays 60% of the snap stuff.
32:48And then he finishes like as a tight end 10 to tight end 12.
32:52That's where we're drafting him. So like worst case, it's like kind of this, the same old thing with him.
32:57And the, the, what if is kind of exciting.
33:00Yeah. He's kind of been an underlying metrics King, you know, a per route guy.
33:04Uh, it's never truly happened as a fancy difference maker for even like a long stretch of the season.
33:10I feel like, um, I was in Buffalo last weekend.
33:12The first advertisement I see when I get off the airplane is Josh Allen, Dion Dawkins and Dawson Knox on it.
33:18And not, yes, I, I swear to you, I swear to you.
33:22Dawson Knox got a big, nice smile though. To be fair.
33:25I looked at each other and we were like, uh, got it.
33:28Not good. Don't get down the ball. That is boots on the ground stuff from you.
33:33I like it. Um, the 11 and a half personnel stuff when, you know, they drafted him, they said they were going
33:39to be, that just hasn't really worked out very well.
33:42Um, but if they run the ball less, then I guess they can get done.
33:46The other part is they, they drafted Duncan gate to be like the difference maker for them in the passing game.
33:52And now that's DJ more. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Okay.
33:55Isaiah likely is our tight in 11 because of you.
33:57Take it away. Uh, if we're sorting by who's most likely to be the number two target on their own teams, I
34:04think Isaiah likely passes that, uh, with ease. It's going to be like Malachi fields and Darius Slayton.
34:09And then Theo Johnson was dealing with a little bit of an injury.
34:12We'll see where that's at. As we go into week one here, sign a three year, $40 million contract, um, to be
34:19the, I think the number two receiver on this team.
34:21Um, and at least he has some familiarity with Harbaugh.
34:24Um, so we'll see in the preseason, he did not play a lot of the running downs, but he was out there for every single drop back.
34:32We'll see if that was kind of like a black and white thing that they were doing in the preseason and maybe
34:38it's a little bit more gray area as the season progresses.
34:41Um, I think that the offensive line is actually in decent shape.
34:45And I think that Jackson darts a little bit better than people think.
34:48So maybe I'm just grading a little bit more positively than that.
34:52I do think that there's a pretty firm ceiling on what Isaiah likely could bring because of how limited he is.
34:58He's like a worse version of Dalton Kincaid in the worst offense.
35:01So like, to me, there's a pretty big difference between Kincaid and Isaiah likely here.
35:05Um, but I don't think that even he doesn't play every single passing or every single snap this season.
35:11I still think he finishes up fringe, uh, tight end one.
35:14Yeah. It's interesting. He never played more than 60% of the offensive snaps in a season for the Ravens.
35:19And then that only allowed him to run a pass route on 49.5% of the team's dropbacks.
35:24So it's one of those cases where, um, he wasn't trusted as an every down player.
35:28And then that limited him in the passing game.
35:31Obviously, as you said, he played what? Like it was that one preseason contest and it was nine dropbacks for Jackson Dart.
35:37And he was in for all nine of those.
35:40And then wasn't in for the seven rushing snaps.
35:42Yeah. Um, this team has a ton of tight ends and fullbacks, you know, it's like you mentioned, Theo Johnson, there's Chris Manhurts there.
35:49They also brought in Patrick regards. They're going to kind of mix and match this thing.
35:54I definitely think he's going to be the second best pass catcher for the, uh, giants.
35:58Um, I just wonder how impactful that's going to be for fantasy football.
36:02Every third and six, he's going to be in the slot.
36:05And that's what you're just banking on is like that type of profile.
36:09I think he's a little bit better maybe in PPR than half PBR.
36:12Um, because I think they're going to be pretty run focused, uh, inside the five yard.
36:17We saw that with the Ravens. I will always say with this type of player, it's hard to like say, Oh, he didn't like surpass prime Mark Andrews.
36:25Like, like maybe it was like, well, it's hard to pass prime Mark Andrews.
36:29And now that he doesn't have prime Mark Andrews in front of them.
36:32Now you can actually play a little bit more.
36:35It's kind of like what we're doing with like there are there too.
36:38Yes. And Kohler, like it's going to be the starter for the, for the chargers.
36:43Like I, I do think that you can like, you can't fully, um, just throw those things aside, but like, I think
36:49applying some cause, but yeah, you didn't beat out the pro bowl tight at the, so what now the Ravens never had
36:55a second wide receiver ever, ever, ever. Yes. Travis Kelsey is next and going through research, Travis Kelsey was a tight end
37:01four and points per game when Patrick Mahomes was healthy last year.
37:05Yeah. Hey, the longer this month goes on, the less like one standout Kansas city wide receiver fails to make that leap.
37:11Like the more and more, I think that Travis Kelsey has one last season in him to be the chiefs pass catching leader.
37:17And we are able to draft him as a tight end 12 in every single contest.
37:22Yeah. He's a fascinating one. 14 games with, with Mahomes.
37:25He was a tight end six and full PPR tied in five receptions tied in three and receiving yards on a per game basis.
37:32And then he was also second in success rate on his targets.
37:35Now, if you, it's like the, it's like the run game, he was successful.
37:39Did he add anything to make an explosive? He did not, but he would made that successful play.
37:44Um, and that's all he can do at this point.
37:47But like you said, like that might be enough to have another top 12 season here.
37:51So, um, I think he's actually kind of like interesting with Kittle and with Tucker craft.
37:56Like I think old reliable as where she rice gets kind of, um, integrated back coming from his own injury.
38:02Like I wouldn't be surprised if Travis Kelsey starts as like the tight end eight in the first couple of weeks here,
38:08I would still rank him ahead of Isaiah likely.
38:10Um, but I also think there's like this argument you could make that where she rice and Travis Kelsey can't necessarily like coexist at the same time.
38:18I've got something on, on that, uh, 4.3 receptions, 19% target rate, um, uh, for Kelsey, uh, with rice, uh, without him 5.6 reception.
38:25So more than a reception per game, 23% target share without rice.
38:28So those are the margins. Let's get some olds continue on.
38:31Uh, Dallas Goddard is our tight end 13. Um, you know, no clear secondary pass catcher other than Devante Smith.
38:37However, it felt like 50% of Dallas Goddard's production last year where it was on the tush push alternate near the goal line.
38:43They would just flick it out to him and he would score some one, two, three, four yard touchdowns.
38:49Yeah. I have the same notes here. Seven straight seasons between 3.7 and 4.6 receptions per game.
38:54So let's say he catches four passes per game last year.
38:57He caught 11 touchdowns, a career high. Most of the time that's, you know, five, six, seven, eight touchdowns here.
39:02So I would guess team is probably adjusting to that tush push alternate here.
39:06And he's not going to have as many touchdown receptions this year that they needed last year.
39:11I feel like an expected, uh, PPR points per game last year.
39:15He was a tight end nine. He finished as the tight end five.
39:18I think, you know, he can be the tight end nine on tight end 11 usage this year.
39:23That would not be surprising to me at all.
39:26He was, I think still a good player as a receiver last year.
39:30He was not quite as good as he once was.
39:32I think he's one of these guys where you can kind of see it come kind of coming apart a little bit.
39:39Um, but I will say they could have easily gotten rid of him.
39:42You know, they like worked hard to find a contract that would make sense.
39:46Now there are no other tight ends basically on the roster.
39:49So it makes sense. But I kind of wish we got one of these seasons when Dallas Goddard was 26 years old
39:56versus 31 years old of him being like the clear second best pass catcher.
39:59Cause he could have had an awesome year for that.
40:02Uh, okay. I have Jawan Johnson as my tight end 12.
40:05I like it. And I feel great about it.
40:08He's anywhere from 72 to 90% of snaps player and offense.
40:11He's going to be out there all the time.
40:14He ran the fourth most routes at the position last year with an 18% target share, which was good for tight end seven.
40:20He can be drafted much later than this. And if you really want to push it, I would be fine going into
40:26week one through week six, maybe even to week eight with Jawan Johnson as my starting tight end.
40:31Yep. I definitely can see this happening. He was a tight end five in yards per game, tight end eight in receptions
40:38per game after the Rashid Shaheed trade. That's pretty much the same exact depth chart that he finds himself in.
40:43Now those are mostly Tyler Shuck games on top of that.
40:46So the pathway to being a top 12 tight end is like right there.
40:50He just did this over like an entire last half of the last season.
40:54I love Jawan Johnson. If, especially if you drafted Tucker craft or if you've drafted, um, George Kittle, or if you punted
41:01the position and you want to go with Jawan Johnson plus Terrence Ferguson, something like that.
41:05I think that this kind of like punt tight end strategy became viable again because of Jawan Johnson's like recent projections.
41:11So I think over the course of the season, he's probably going to finish as like the tight end 14 or whatever,
41:17because Jordan Tyson will start to eat into this.
41:20But the beginning part of the season, he will like in my week one ranking.
41:24So probably be my tight end, you know, eight.
41:27I'm right there with you. I mean, he's on the offense.
41:30That's going to probably have the most snaps per game, dropbacks per game, potentially.
41:34So, uh, I'm excited. I really liked Jawan Johnson.
41:36Like you said, the Jordan Tyson injury made him almost like a skeleton key.
41:40I think of the tight end this year. I don't want to overstate it, but, uh, I kind of feel that way.
41:46Yep. Mark Andrews is our tight end 15. Does he have anything left?
41:50Cause if he had something left, this would be a much easier conversation.
41:54Yeah. I just don't know how much he has left.
41:57Um, now we're talking about potentially the number two target on Lamar Jackson offense.
42:00So if we're wrong, we can be really, really wrong.
42:03And so I've sprinkled him in like just based off like, Hey, what if I, what if my eyes are lying to
42:10me and he's just back to normal and he's dealing with injuries last year.
42:13Uh, training camp has not been nice to him or the stuff I've been reading.
42:18So I think that's a continuous trend of like where his game is evolving to now the Ravens did extend him for
42:24some reason last year and like let Isaiah likely go, which I thought was a pretty fascinating move.
42:29So, so maybe there was like something that was happening last year that they knew he would eventually get over, but it
42:35was not a pretty, pretty season for him last year.
42:38He's the tight end 27. Um, a lot of that was with, without Lamar Jackson, but, um, I think there's a chance for a rebound.
42:45It's just not, it has not been my favorite way to play the odds.
42:49Yeah. Um, over the last two years, you can get more different in terms of his end zone target converting into touchdowns.
42:55And this is what we always talk about with regression in 2024.
42:59He caught nine of 10 end zone targets for scores.
43:02And then last year he caught three of 10.
43:04Jake Ferguson is the tight end 16. Uh, I mean, down the seam, Jake Ferguson over and over and over again.
43:10Uh, he just will go through a stretch of the season also being like the top seven tight end two.
43:16It happens. Uh, it happens every single year, five games without CD lamb, eight targets per game, 7.5 receptions per game, only
43:2251 yards, but he was a tight end two on tight end two usage over that stretch, small sample size, but he
43:28needs Pickens or lamb to move out of the way.
43:31Then he becomes relevant. Unfortunately, when lamb was healthy next to George Pickens, he was the tight end 20 on tight end five usage.
43:38He was one of the least efficient players in football last year.
43:41Um, and what happened last year is he caught more check downs and like hitch routes.
43:46Like when you think about like Jason Witten, his last two seasons where everything was just like a three yard curl for like no going nowhere.
43:53That's what Jake Ferguson turned into last year because they have two receivers to throw the ball to.
43:58Plus I think for no, he's a real player.
44:01Um, so I got drafted a bunch of Jake Ferguson.
44:03I think he's like, he's pretty much a contingent only tight end who I will have buried in my weekly rankings until lamb or Pickens goes down.
44:11But yeah, if lamb goes down, then Florida plays on the outside and then you just have the slot over the middle
44:17stuff to Jake Ferguson all the time. All right.
44:20Another Ferguson makes this list. Yes. Terrence Ferguson. This was my guy coming out of Oregon.
44:24Absolutely loved him. Uh, and then what we got during his rookie season is that he replaced to do out well, like
44:31half of his targets this past year were 20 plus yards on the field.
44:35Truly a one of one profile. When we talk about tight ends, uh, from my view, the Rams always kind of shock us with someone, right?
44:42A couple of years ago, it was Kyron Williams popping up as a starting running back.
44:46And there you go. Top 10 running back. Then it was what?
44:50Fifth round rookie Puka Nakua being a top nine wide receiver.
44:53Instantly. Instantly. Instantly. Who is that going to be this year?
44:56Is there going to be another one? Um, and if there is, and in this offense that we want pieces of, that's
45:02most likely Terrence Ferguson, who is their wide receiver three and maybe potentially more.
45:06We'll see. This is one. I love him in redraft.
45:09And I drafted him. I think the last pick of the expert, uh, league because we'll learn in week one, if he's
45:15a huge part of the offense or not. Like if he's running 50% of the routes and they're doing the leak pattern
45:21stuff and they're doing three tight end stuff and he's isolated as the backside X receiver in those formations, then he's going to be a super smash.
45:29Uh, and I think there's a 50% chance of that happening.
45:32And there's a 50% chance that it's the same old Terrence Ferguson role and it goes nowhere.
45:37But I like this call a lot. Uh, I've really warmed up to it recently.
45:41Even like Jordan Rodrigue who covers the Rams, like sometimes when they're talking about Terrence Ferguson, I can kind of feel that
45:47she's like not saying something on purpose. Exactly. They're cagey, mysterious, you know, they like to shock the world.
45:53Last year was with the 13 personnel. And by the way, that was a lot of the T Ferg stuff.
45:58Yes. But what we're getting also from beat writers that have attended camp is that they're trying to get the football to him much quicker.
46:06So he can, you know, be stronger than safeties and quicker than linebackers.
46:09And so if we get the gimmies on top of the downfield stuff, yeah, again, that is massive.
46:14He should be a final two round pick for you in every single league.
46:18And if you're in super flex, he's basically a must draft, like a must draft in what round?
46:23Like from 11, like to me and redraft, like I would just draft Terrence Ferguson ahead of Jake Ferguson.
46:29Like Jake Ferguson's not going to move the needle, uh, until an injury and Terrence Ferguson could just like start moving the needle right away.
46:36So I think he's one of the sharpest, maybe it's not the sharpest, the guy who thinks he's the sharpest, which is why I drafted Terrence Ferguson.
46:43So I might call it a slappy. Yes. Uh, but they're onto something, the Devante Adams trade talks.
46:49Like, I think that you could read into a pro Terrence Ferguson thing.
46:52And then like when they were facing the Cowboys for their joint session, he's got like six or seven passes and none
46:58of the other tight ends caught anything. So like, this is the, like what's going on over there, Sean.
47:04And, uh, they also have the contingent value for just like Jake Ferguson has.
47:08Again, every couple of years, they have one guy that comes out of nowhere and becomes a mainstay in fancy rosters.
47:14And I could see that being Terrence Ferguson. Move him ahead of the other Ferguson.
47:18I'll change my rankings after the show. Let's, let's move them.
47:21Dalton Schultz is up next. Is this simply because they have no wide receiver to Houston Texans?
47:26Yep. Kayshaun, I think it's going to be their wide receiver too.
47:29And maybe in a little bit of a rotation, but he's never been a target volume guy.
47:34And Dalton Schultz, you know, last year he was a tight end 16 on tight end 11 expected points, like copy paste that he's finished ahead of that.
47:42At times that Texans offense was terrible. He still held the line here.
47:46It's like, to me, he's one of the highest floor tight end twos.
47:49If you've completely pundit this position and it's like, literally you have Dalton Schultz and Terrence Ferguson, you're just hoping for something.
47:56I, you know, you can get away with it.
47:58Okay. Britain strange is up next. I actually have him as my tight end 14, but here he is, is our tight end.
48:0519. Um, he had moments last year and he actually had great moments despite all of the wide receiver talent on the
48:11field, like from week 12 and on when Jacoby Myers, Parker Washington and Brian Thomas Jr.
48:15were basically on the field. He was still the tight end 10 in points per game with a minimum of three games played across the league.
48:23And that was often injury for him. So they want to run 12 personnel on top of this.
48:28That's why they drafted Nate Borkercher in what the second round.
48:31I think Britain strange is one of the more underappreciated tight end talents across the league.
48:35And for how much, you know, how many other pieces were drafting this Jaguars team?
48:40I think too many are getting a mind of, Oh, they have to pass to those three guys and strange isn't going to get anything.
48:47Meanwhile, I'm just gobbling up this Britain strange value in my mind.
48:50Yeah. I think it's a good call. Uh, sixth and scoring fifth and neutral pass rate last year.
48:55That was Jacksonville. It's like, that's how like kind of everyone can, can get home.
48:59It doesn't sound like they feel very great about their run game.
49:03Just like you listen to them. They seem like they're a little bit hesitant on what that's going to be this year.
49:09They just want three yards of carry. That's it.
49:12They have not said a positive thing about basal to in a while.
49:15It feels like, uh, that's for another podcast. Um, we're going to do that podcast.
49:19Yeah. I already buried them. Strange, uh, check downs, red area type of stuff.
49:23You can get them leaked out. He's over the middle.
49:26He can do a little bit of everything. I don't think he's excellent at anything, but he is like, your average NFL
49:32starting inline tight end with a little bit more than that.
49:36So, um, he can get, he can get lucky with touchdowns and he can score 10 touchdowns this year and finish the top 12 guy.
49:43I think it's possible. I like strange season more than you do.
49:46Apparently. Okay. I think you do. Britain strange was there.
49:49AJ Barner is next. A great call from us on this very show last year.
49:53Uh, he is the standard. Hey, if you're a good blocker and you're out there for all the snaps on a team
49:59that runs a bunch of play action, there's a chance you score a bunch of touchdowns.
50:04And that's exactly what he did last season. That is a tight end inline tight end jawline by AJ Barner there.
50:10If you zoom in on that, that is a monster of a man, uh, as a 23 year old, 95%, 90% snaps
50:16when they were in the NFC conference championship and then the super bowl.
50:20So everything's on the line. He doesn't come off the field.
50:23He's could be a run blocker. He's kind of one of these guys where like, what happens if like JSN goes down?
50:29I think Barner would become very involved. What happens if the Seahawks have to pass the ball more?
50:34We talked about this, that the new offensive coordinator wants more guys out in the route that the biggest takeaway is for running backs.
50:41The second biggest takeaway is for the tight ends.
50:43I think that AJ Barner, it's, it's more of like a play action type of guy.
50:48He's not like routing guys up, but a good athlete, huge, huge, huge, huge player.
50:52Uh, and he's one of these guys that if he caught eight touchdowns this year, I don't think anyone should be too surprised.
50:59No, he did it last year on top of it.
51:02Uh, okay. Chigo Kwankwo is next. What a fun player to draft in June.
51:05Less fun to draft in September. Now I did a September.
51:09What happened to this summer? Let's see. Yeah. Um, I still think he's going to play more snaps than people believe.
51:15Like I really do think that David Blau looks at him as his version of Sam Laporta.
51:19They're almost the same exact size and that he's still going to be out there in run blocking sets in single tight end sets.
51:26And like Jake Bates is going to be that tied into more inline presence.
51:30Now, does that mean a lot? Like we know Stefan Diggs was signed and maybe by the slot.
51:35It sounds like, but, uh, Chig will have his moments this year.
51:39I think. Yeah. I think they're going to be down in games and that he's gonna have to step up.
51:44Uh, was not my favorite click. Uh, John Bates is like a legit awesome blocker.
51:48That's that makes me a little bit nervous that he's like, not that Chig's not going to be out there in like
51:5511 personnel stuff, but maybe I'm wrong. I think that will determine if he is like a streamable tight end to, or
52:01if like it's impossible to know when he's going to catch his six pass of the game, whatever happened to Ben Senate,
52:07I mean that guy like Dunzo, that was a second round pick from just a couple of years ago.
52:12Like he does not even get brought up in the discussion anymore.
52:16That's crazy. Hunter Henry is next and TJ Hawkinson.
52:18Let's just do these two guys together. Uh, I actually think there's kind of a tear break between these.
52:24I literally have not heard a single word uttered about TJ Hawkinson, this training camp, not one.
52:29No, I don't know what there is. There is to say he's been the same player since that injury, like whatever explosiveness
52:35he had before that injury, he just hasn't had it.
52:38And then with the Vikings, you have too many other threats that there's no point of throwing Hawkinson the ball.
52:43So it sucks, but he's also 29. Like his, his career is just like came and went.
52:48Like I remember him being as like the God prospect, like he's going to be a hall of famer.
52:53And then it just didn't material up. So meanwhile, Hunter Henry was drafted around the same range at the like one, two turn in the NFL draft.
53:01And yet he continues to produce. He is still part of it.
53:05Josh McDaniels loves using tight ends. They're going to get Eli Raritan involved, but they kept Hunter Henry for a reason.
53:10He was actually Drake Mays on his first ever fancy football team.
53:14Hunter Henry was. Wow. Wow. Wow. That matters. Um, tight end 17 on tight end 16 usage last year.
53:19Discount that because they added AJ Brown and Romeo Dobbs.
53:22Uh, and then Eli Raritan, Eli Raritan, just you guys are in the dynasty league still.
53:27That's the guy to draft. Okay. We had to put Ken Sadiq on here somewhere and here he is.
53:32I think it's going to be really slow start.
53:34Yeah. And hopefully at some point he catches up.
53:37He's still just, is going to battle if Adnan Mitchell does and stays in the field, Omar Cooper for targets and snaps.
53:43Yeah. Yeah. Um, no, but I would not be surprised if Mason Taylor outscores him straight up.
53:48And I think in the beginning part of the season, I would, um, I would lean on Mason Taylor.
53:53I just think that it's going to be hard for Mason Taylor to become a top 12 ish tight end.
53:59Like in theory, you know, 10% of the time Sadiq is, he is Vernon Davis and like, he just all of a sudden like gets in there.
54:07So I think you saw the draft Kenyon city, but you know, in projections, I would have them very similar.
54:12Okay. Let's go quickly. Greg Dulcich was getting a lot of buzz in OTAs.
54:16Um, it sounds like he's still going to be on the field as an every down player.
54:21And that has been difficult for him in the past.
54:24Like, yes, he's like, you know, he's jig. He's the rest of these guys, you know, but it sounds like he's going
54:30to be actually on the field as like, yes, they also dropped a pass.
54:34Will Kazmerich to be the inline blocker type and that frees him and receiving aspects to him.
54:39Yep. Darren Waller was just signed by the Panthers like last week.
54:42Uh, I think it was in response to their wide receivers being hurt and Chris Brazel going down and then Xavier Leggett
54:49being in a walking boot, uh, because they were like, Oh, we have to have some explosion, some downfield ability.
54:54I think that also means that your David and Sanders can be inactive on game days too.
54:59Okay. That would be helpful because it is a deep tight end room.
55:03And I was like waiting to figure out exactly how many snaps.
55:06I mean, it's deep in like, there's names. I was 50, 50 is going to get cut.
55:11Yeah. Okay. That would make it a lot easier for Darren Waller to get home.
55:15I thought Darren Waller was actually moving well last year.
55:18Like it wasn't just like he got some touchdowns.
55:20It was the high rocks. Now, unfortunately he didn't compete against my brother.
55:24So there's, I can't actually compare. I wonder who.
55:27Yeah. Well, my being of my brother is that's no walk in the park.
55:31So like credit to Darren Waller for, for competing there.
55:33Um, I thought he moved around really well last year.
55:36And I think that he can do that this year.
55:39Um, and I've been, unfortunately I dropped some from Bryce young in basketball and I'll throw in Darren Waller in the last round as well.
55:46Um, they need like, you know, this body type, they need more of it.
55:50Could Charlie Kolar pull an AJ Barner? Yes, absolutely.
55:53I think that people are overthinking the Charlie Kolar stuff though.
55:56He has, he hasn't caught any passes in the NFL.
55:59Yes. He was behind Isaiah likely and Mark Edgers who are awesome.
56:02Like with the third tight end actually going to catch a bunch of passes.
56:06Like probably not. I think he's going to be on the field a lot.
56:10He's going to be a better version of will disley.
56:13He might have the AJ Barner season. I agree.
56:15Gunnar Helm, Aranda Gadsden and like Pat Fryermuth close us out.
56:18There has been some Steelers buzz for Pat Fryermuth.
56:21I was going to say the same thing on the radar as well.
56:25Like Aaron Rodgers keeps talking them up. Uh, we know this is McCarthy and not Arthur Smith.
56:29Johnnie Smith is also gone. Darnell Washington is a sixth offensive lineman.
56:33So Pat Fryermuth is an interesting, um, super flex tight end for me.
56:37I have noticed the same reports that you have with Fryermuth.
56:40It's kind of like making me like, what's going on over there?
56:43Like I'm starting to believe that he's, he said that Michael Pitt is going to come off as like, it's going to
56:49be a slow start to the season. Yes. But it's like, okay.
56:53Cause we have Fryermuth. I was like, what is going on?
56:56I don't remember Pat Fryermuth like being this much of a baller, but they must've gone on like the darkness tours this off season.
57:03And then Pat Fryermuth and Aaron Rodgers. That's potentially, I can see that.
57:06Uh, okay. That's going to do it. We're going to finish this one within the hour.
57:11All right. This onesie is done. We have quarterbacks tomorrow.
57:14And most importantly, the water Seaworth and running backs.
57:16Plus we went through every single rookie 32 of them on a separate video.
57:20Go and watch that again to get ready for your fancy draft.
57:23This is the cram. Just go and watch five hours of content that we posted this weekend.
57:28All right. Weaves and Mo show shout out to them for putting the things together behind the scenes and all of you
57:34for watching, subscribing, liking, thumbs up, all that good stuff.
57:37We'll see in the next video.
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