Jordan Akins, CLE (Bye: 5) |
44 | Height: 6’3” Weight: 237 DOB: 1992-04-19 Age: 31
College: Central Florida Draft: 2018 Round 3 (34) |
Season | Team | Game | Rec |
Yard |
TD | FPts | FPts/G |
2020 | HOU | 13 | 37 |
403 |
1 |
46.7 |
3.6 |
2021 | HOU | 12 | 24 |
214 |
0 |
21.7 |
1.8 |
2022 | HOU | 15 | 37 |
495 |
5 |
79.5 |
5.3 |
2023 (Projected) | CLE | | 22 |
228 |
2 |
34.8 |
|
|
Mo Alie-Cox, IND (Bye: 11) |
56 | Height: 6’5” Weight: 267 DOB: 1993-09-19 Age: 30
College: None Draft: - |
Season | Team | Game | Rec |
Yard |
TD | FPts | FPts/G |
2020 | IND | 15 | 31 |
394 |
2 |
51.4 |
3.4 |
2021 | IND | 17 | 24 |
316 |
4 |
55.6 |
3.3 |
2022 | IND | 17 | 19 |
189 |
3 |
36.9 |
2.2 |
2023 (Projected) | IND | | 14 |
140 |
1 |
20.0 |
|
|
Mark Andrews, BAL (Bye: 13) |
2 | Height: 6’5” Weight: 256 DOB: 1995-09-06 Age: 28
College: Oklahoma Draft: 2018 Round 3 (22) |
Season | Team | Game | Rec |
Yard |
TD | FPts | FPts/G |
2020 | BAL | 14 | 58 |
701 |
7 |
112.1 |
8.0 |
2021 | BAL | 17 | 107 |
1,361 |
9 |
190.1 |
11.2 |
2022 | BAL | 15 | 73 |
847 |
5 |
115.5 |
7.7 |
2023 (Projected) | BAL | | 73 |
887 |
7 |
130.7 |
|
Outlook: Quarterback injuries and his own painful shoulder injury contributed to a "down" season for Andrews last year. Despite the struggles, his 73 receptions easily led the team, and were the 2nd most of his career. He was one of only four tight ends in the NFL to see over 100 targets and despite the addition of OBJ, and the change in offensive scheme, Andrews remains in the top-3 conversation at tight end. While his epic 2021 season will be an aberration in his career, he's still the most talented and refined pass catcher on this offense, and has the most rapport with Jackson. He's a good bet to once again lead the team in receptions, and offers the highest positional floor of all the Ravens skill position players.
|
Daniel Bellinger, NYG (Bye: 13) |
53 | Height: 6’5” Weight: 253 DOB: 1999-09-22 Age: 24
College: San Diego State Draft: 2022 Round 4 (7) |
Season | Team | Game | Rec |
Yard |
TD | FPts | FPts/G |
2022 | NYG | 12 | 30 |
268 |
2 |
45.0 |
3.8 |
2023 (Projected) | NYG | | 18 |
185 |
1 |
24.5 |
|
|
Harrison Bryant, CLE (Bye: 5) |
59 | Height: 6’5” Weight: 243 DOB: 1998-04-23 Age: 25
College: Florida Atlantic Draft: 2020 Round 4 (9) |
Season | Team | Game | Rec |
Yard |
TD | FPts | FPts/G |
2020 | CLE | 15 | 24 |
238 |
3 |
41.8 |
2.8 |
2021 | CLE | 13 | 21 |
233 |
3 |
41.3 |
3.2 |
2022 | CLE | 17 | 31 |
239 |
1 |
30.7 |
1.8 |
2023 (Projected) | CLE | | 11 |
117 |
1 |
17.7 |
|
|
Tyler Conklin, NYJ (Bye: 7) |
24 | Height: 6’4” Weight: 240 DOB: 1995-07-30 Age: 28
College: Central Michigan Draft: 2018 Round 5 (20) |
Season | Team | Game | Rec |
Yard |
TD | FPts | FPts/G |
2020 | MIN | 16 | 19 |
194 |
1 |
25.4 |
1.6 |
2021 | MIN | 17 | 61 |
593 |
3 |
77.3 |
4.5 |
2022 | NYJ | 17 | 58 |
552 |
3 |
73.5 |
4.3 |
2023 (Projected) | NYJ | | 54 |
526 |
3 |
70.6 |
|
Outlook: Veteran tight end Tyler Conklin joined the Jets in 2022 after spending four years with the Vikings and he immediately made an impact. Conklin scored a touchdown in his first game with his new team and proceeded to see 24 targets over his first three games of the season. While many of the top tight ends were struggling to start the season, Conklin was looking like a potential difference-maker at the position after just a few weeks with his new team... and then reality hit.
Conklin would catch just 19 passes over the Jets' eight-game span from Week 5 through Week 12. This horrendous stretch was followed up by a mediocre end-of-the-season run as well, which resulted in Conklin finishing outside of TE1 range and miles away from being an actual difference-maker at the position. At this point, we know what Conklin is-a starting-caliber NFL tight end who has his moments, but is way too inconsistent to be relied upon for fantasy purposes.
Some have pointed to the Jets' quarterback upgrade as being a reason to be back in on Conklin as a late-round tight end and while it's hard to deny that the rising tide of Aaron Rodgers joining the team should lift all boats, it's also true that Rodgers hasn't historically targeted his tight ends at a very high rate. Robert Tonyan and Jermichael Finley have both had outlier seasons in the touchdown department when playing with Rodgers, which isn't out of the question for Conklin, but neither player scored more than five touchdowns in any other season other than their one standout campaign.
There are just too many other options with higher upside than Conklin for him to be considered in normal fantasy drafts.
|
Will Dissly, SEA (Bye: 5) |
40 | Height: 6’4” Weight: 267 DOB: 1996-07-08 Age: 27
College: Washington Draft: 2018 Round 4 (20) |
Season | Team | Game | Rec |
Yard |
TD | FPts | FPts/G |
2020 | SEA | 16 | 24 |
251 |
2 |
37.1 |
2.3 |
2021 | SEA | 12 | 21 |
231 |
1 |
29.1 |
2.4 |
2022 | SEA | 15 | 34 |
349 |
3 |
52.9 |
3.5 |
2023 (Projected) | SEA | | 26 |
267 |
2 |
38.7 |
|
|
Greg Dulcich, DEN (Bye: 9) |
21 | Height: 6’4” Weight: 243 DOB: 2000-03-26 Age: 24
College: UCLA Draft: 2022 Round 3 (16) |
Season | Team | Game | Rec |
Yard |
TD | FPts | FPts/G |
2022 | DEN | 10 | 33 |
411 |
2 |
53.1 |
5.3 |
2023 (Projected) | DEN | | 49 |
546 |
4 |
78.6 |
|
Outlook: A year ago, Albert Okwuegbunam had some buzz entering 2022 as the heir apparent to Noah Fant, who'd been traded away in the Wilson deal. He opened with five catches in Week 1 but did little after that and ended up being a healthy scratch for much of the season. A tight end did start to emerge last year, however, and that was Dulcich, a third-round pick.
Despite appearing in just 10 games as a rookie, Dulcich managed to finish third on the team with 411 yards on 32 receptions and two touchdowns. On the downside, he bookended his first year on Injured Reserve, missing five games with a hamstring injury to open the season and then missing the final two with a similar issue.
After some initially cryptic remarks from Payton about Dulcich's future in Denver, the new head coach seems to have warmed to the UCLA product, lauding his versatility in terms of what he can do and where he can line up. There's a lot of intrigue with Dulcich, who could be targeted as a borderline TE1 with top-10 potential.
|
Evan Engram, JAC (Bye: 9) |
9 | Height: 6’3” Weight: 234 DOB: 1994-09-02 Age: 29
College: Mississippi Draft: 2017 Round 1 (23) |
Season | Team | Game | Rec |
Yard |
TD | FPts | FPts/G |
2020 | NYG | 16 | 63 |
654 |
1 |
80.0 |
5.0 |
2021 | NYG | 15 | 46 |
408 |
3 |
58.5 |
3.9 |
2022 | JAC | 17 | 73 |
766 |
4 |
101.9 |
6.0 |
2023 (Projected) | JAC | | 63 |
666 |
3 |
84.6 |
|
Outlook: For his first five seasons in the NFL (all with the Giants), Evan Engram was known as an inconsistent tight end who had dropped the ball far too often. In fact, he led all tight ends in drops with 13 during his rookie season and finished second in 2020 with 10 - not the category you want to be leading in. His rookie year would be a high-water mark in New York, finishing 5th among all tight ends in PPR fantasy points, but the Giants chose to let him walk prior to 2022 after many ups and downs the following four seasons.
In 2022, his first season in Jacksonville, Engram corrected his shortcomings. Thanks to a strong final six weeks that included two 100-yard receiving games, he became one of the better tight ends in the league, posting career highs in receptions (73) and yards (766) and once again finished 5th in total fantasy points among tight ends.
There's a very thin line between great and average tight ends in the NFL, and Engram is that thin line. The Jaguars have plenty of pass-catching weapons, especially with the addition of Calvin Ridley this season, so target share could be a concern as we head into 2023. While he's unlikely to see enough volume to crack the Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews tier, he definitely has the ability to be in the mid-range TE1 tier on a weekly basis due to his explosive playmaking ability and should be among the top 12 taken at the position in most redraft leagues.
|
Zach Ertz, ARI (Bye: 14) |
36 | Height: 6’6” Weight: 252 DOB: 1990-12-10 Age: 33
College: Stanford Draft: 2013 Round 2 (3) |
Season | Team | Game | Rec |
Yard |
TD | FPts | FPts/G |
2020 | PHI | 11 | 36 |
335 |
1 |
39.5 |
3.6 |
2021 | ARI | 17 | 74 |
763 |
5 |
106.7 |
6.3 |
2022 | ARI | 10 | 47 |
406 |
4 |
64.6 |
6.5 |
2023 (Projected) | ARI | | 36 |
344 |
2 |
46.4 |
|
Outlook: Ertz caught 47 passes for 406 yards and 4 TDs in 10 games last season before, you guessed it, suffering a season-ending injury. In his case, it was an ACL/MCL injury that required surgery. The veteran says he hopes to be ready for Week 1, though at age 32 and with 10 seasons on his odometer that may not be realistic since he sustained the injury in mid-November.
Even if he is healthy, Ertz is likely staring down a diminished role with Trey McBride coming off a promising rookie season. At a shaky position like tight end, though, that's still enough to give the veteran borderline top-20 value. He also figures to be a possible in-season trade target for an Arizona team that's expected to be among the league's worst.
|
Gerald Everett, LAC (Bye: 5) |
18 | Height: 6’3” Weight: 239 DOB: 1994-06-25 Age: 29
College: South Alabama Draft: 2017 Round 2 (12) |
Season | Team | Game | Rec |
Yard |
TD | FPts | FPts/G |
2020 | LAR | 16 | 41 |
417 |
1 |
53.9 |
3.4 |
2021 | SEA | 15 | 48 |
478 |
4 |
73.8 |
4.9 |
2022 | LAC | 16 | 58 |
555 |
4 |
79.5 |
5.0 |
2023 (Projected) | LAC | | 50 |
503 |
4 |
74.3 |
|
Outlook: Playing for his third team in as many seasons last year, Everett matched or established career highs across the board in 2022 with 58 receptions, 555 yards, and 4 touchdowns. While not a field-stretching threat, the veteran was a reliable presence underneath for Herbert, who threw a ton of short passes. Despite his numbers trending up, there are reasons to be down on Everett for 2023, most notably the hiring of Moore, who figures to install more vertical routes, and selection of Johnston, who gives Herbert an exciting group of receivers on the outside.
If you're in a large enough league and are looking for a steady backup tight end, Everett is someone to consider. In standard formats he's more of a watch-list candidate in case his role turns out to be larger than expected under the new offensive coordinator.
|
Noah Fant, SEA (Bye: 5) |
17 | Height: 6’4” Weight: 249 DOB: 1996-00-00 Age: 28
College: Iowa Draft: 2019 Round 1 (20) |
Season | Team | Game | Rec |
Yard |
TD | FPts | FPts/G |
2020 | DEN | 15 | 62 |
673 |
3 |
85.3 |
5.7 |
2021 | DEN | 16 | 68 |
670 |
4 |
91.0 |
5.7 |
2022 | SEA | 17 | 50 |
486 |
4 |
72.6 |
4.3 |
2023 (Projected) | SEA | | 53 |
529 |
4 |
76.9 |
|
Outlook: A borderline fantasy starter his last two seasons in Denver, Fant was a bit of a disappointment with the Seahawks last year, finishing with 50 receptions, 486 yards, and 4 TDs. While the touchdowns were on brand, it was 18 fewer catches than the previous year alongside a career low in receiving yardage. What's arguably more distressing for his outlook is that he finished third on the club in all three categories; it's simply that the Seattle passing game is all about the receivers, and the addition of Smith-Njigba pushes Fant further down the pecking order. He's not worth drafting.
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