Tight end is typically not a position to neglect in drafts. In the event you do, you might risk having to dig through the waiver wire each week in search of a serviceable starter, a proposition that’s, at best, touch and go.
If you find yourself without one of the tight ends in Michael Fabiano's top-three tiers (that would be, Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, T.J. Hockenson, George Kittle, Darren Waller, Dallas Goedert, Kyle Pitts and Evan Engram), then you might as well wait until the double-digit rounds to address the position. Once there, one of these three sleeper tight ends could provide value week-to-week, if not the occasional spike performance.
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Tyler Higbee, Rams
Higbee finished fourth in targets (108), fifth in receptions (72), sixth in PPR fantasy points (152) and ninth in receiving yards (620) among tight ends in 2022. It was the best fantasy season of his career and his healthiest since 2018. Now, Higbee is available as the TE14, outside the top 130 picks.
Yes, target vacuum Cooper Kupp is back, but so is quarterback Matthew Stafford. In eight games last year with Kupp and Stafford both active, Higbee compiled five top-15 finishes without scoring a touchdown. And the season before, when Kupp won the receiving triple crown, Higbee finished among the top 15 tight ends 10 times in 15 games.
There is very little competition for targets in Los Angeles after Kupp. Higbee has out-targeted Van Jefferson on a per-game basis since he was drafted in 2020 and Ben Skowronek, TuTu Atwell, Demarcus Robinson and rookie Puka Nacua don’t profile as threats to Higbee’s standing as Stafford’s No. 2 option. Unfortunately, Higbee has never been much of a touchdown threat, but he has a higher floor than many of his fellow tight ends because of his sheer target volume.
Juwan Johnson, Saints
Johnson quietly emerged as the Saints’ second-best pass catcher in 2022 behind Chris Olave on his way to a TE15 finish. He didn’t see a ton of targets come his way, but he made the most of the ones that did as he scored on one out of every six receptions.
A former undrafted free agent, Johnson had a slow start to his third season. But after a few games with quarterback Andy Dalton, who took over for the injured Jameis Winston in Week 4, Johnson came alive. He caught five passes for 32 yards and two touchdowns in Week 7, which began a five-week stretch that saw Johnson score five touchdowns and vault to TE3 behind Kelce and Cole Kmet in that stretch. That blistering touchdown pace eventually slowed down, yet he was still the TE7 from Week 7 through Week 18 with five top-eight finishes during that run.
Touchdowns are tough to bank on and Johnson, who’s coming off the board at TE18 in the 13th round, only had two games with more than 50 yards all season. Michael Thomas’s return could further limit his target share, which was already below 15%. However, New Orleans’ new starting quarterback Derek Carr comes from a Raiders offense that led the league in tight end target percentage in 2020 when Darren Waller was a top-three tight end.
Sam LaPorta, Lions
Rookie tight ends are historically unreliable fantasy options. That’s why it can be scary to spend serious draft capital on one. Luckily, LaPorta is essentially free in drafts. He’s available at TE19, outside the top 150.
Detroit selected the Iowa tight end at the top of the second round after trading away Hockenson, a fellow Hawkeye, midseason. LaPorta led his team in receiving in 2021 and ’22 with 50-plus catches and 650-plus yards each year and stood out on some otherwise dreadful offenses.
Jared Goff targeted tight ends at one of the lowest rates in the league in 2022, but the position group still combined to catch 12 of his 29 touchdown passes. The departure of Hockenson, D’Andre Swift and D.J. Chark freed up hundreds of targets in this high-powered offense and Jameson Williams’s six-game suspension moves LaPorta further up the pecking order. There’s a chance the rookie is one of Goff’s top targets early in the year simply by necessity.
