Football season has returned!
The 2023 NFL season will kick off later this week when the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs host the Detroit Lions on Thursday.
Buy Broncos TicketsBefore the regular season begins, fantasy football drafts will be wrapping up this week and fantasy managers will all have the same question — who are the sleepers to target this season?
Over the next three days, we will be publishing sleepers at tight end, quarterback, wide receiver and running back for 2023. Today, we’re starting with the tight end position.
Each player is listed in order of his average draft spot relative to his position. We consider a “sleeper” to be a player who we expect to outperform his ADP during the season.
1
Dalton Kincaid (ADP TE11)
Kincaid can barely be considered a “sleeper” at this point, but he’s not currently being drafted as a starter in 10-team leagues. He was the top tight end in this year’s draft and now gets to play with Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who has thrown at least 35 touchdown passes in each of the last three seasons. This isn’t a suggestion to go the other direction and overdraft Kincaid, but TE11 could end up being good value.
2
Chigoziem Okonkwo (ADP TE13)
“Chig” is the sleeper tight end of the offseason after he finished his rookie season on a strong note last year. Okonkwo received at least four targets in six of Tennessee’s final seven games, including three games with five targets and one game with six targets. His touchdown production (three) was modest as a rookie, but Okonkwo is poised to take a step forward in 2023.
3
Greg Dulcich (ADP TE17)
Dulcich will be hurt some by the offseason arrival of Adam Trautman, but there’s no questioning that Dulcich is the best receiving tight end on Denver’s roster — and the team is thin at wide receiver. The last time Sean Payton had a talented receiving tight end, Jared Cook finished as TE7 in 2019 after hauling in 43 receptions for 705 yards and nine touchdowns. Cook’s numbers dipped the following year (37/504/7), but that was his age-33 season. Dulcich is a speedy, 23-year-old tight end poised to have a breakout year.
4
Taysom Hill (ADP TE21)
It feels odd to list Hill as a “sleeper” when he’s such an established household name, but relative to his ADP, Hill truly is a sleeper going into the 2023 season. Hill is listed as a TE on the Saints’ depth chart, but it’s his rushing ability that gives him fantasy value. He is do-it-all player who gets plenty of rushing touchdown opportunities near the goal line. That helped him finish as TE9 last year and with Alvin Kamara suspended for three games, Hill should get multiple goal-line opportunities early in the season.
5
Isaiah Likely (ADP TE32)
Likely had huge production when Mark Andrews was sidelined last year and while there are more mouths to feed in Baltimore this season, Likely is poised get more targets in Year 2. Even if he doesn’t get a huge boost in targets, Likely should be able to easily top his TE27 finish from a year ago, yet he’s being drafted as TE32 leading up to Week 1.
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