As always, there are so few difference-making tight ends that after the top five of the position, there’s only moderate to mediocre fantasy value in all the rest. But as with the other positions, here are how tight ends fared considering how they stacked up against all other tight ends that faced the same defense.
See Also: Better than average
Quarterbacks | Running backs | Wide receivers
Evan Engram has been the No. 2 and No. 4 fantasy tight end for his two seasons in Jacksonville and yet is drafted as the No. 6 or No. 7 tight end in drafts this summer. This despite how good he played in most games. He was the only tight end that turned in over half of his games as a Top-4 tight end.
The position holds so few difference-makers that this listing shows which tight ends receive enough volume to end with Top-8 games. Newcomer Sam LaPorta shattered what we expect from a rookie tight end, and now has to avoid becoming the next Kyle Pitts. That shouldn’t be a problem since he’ll still have Jared Goff throwing the ball instead of Desmond Ridder who limited Pitts.
It was also encouraging to see how highly David Njoku and Cole Kmet rated in this metric. Trey McBride is popular this season, but his stats were boosted by three big games as the No. 1 for that defense.
LaPorta was dazzling as a rookie, and it wasn’t a case of him being the only receiver for the Lions. Travis Kelce dropped from 2023 when he had six No. 1 performances, and all 17 games were Top-8 against that defense. The fall may have seemed Swift, but he still was No. 2 for those big games.
T.J. Hockenson has been a beast for the Lions but blew an ACL and won’t be up to speed to start the year. The biggest surprise in the No. 1 performances was David Njoku, who ended as the No. 5 fantasy tight end in 2023 and has been going as the No. 8 or No. 9 tight end this summer.
