Outlook: Cade Otton was certainly under the radar during his rookie season in 2022, finishing with 42 receptions for 391 yards and two touchdowns. In terms of fantasy football, he had his moments, but offered just four games over 10 PPR points with a high of 17.8 coming against the Los Angeles Rams.

With Godwin, Evans and even Gage the first three options in the passing game, Otton's numbers aren't likely to take a huge leap in 2023, especially since Brady isn't throwing the ball. Because of this, Otton is off the radar in fantasy football leagues and probably won't come off the waiver wire either.

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Outlook: Where to begin? Kyle Pitts was one of the few college tight ends this decade that performed better than most receivers. He was a top-10 Heisman Trophy finalist in 2021 and the Falcons selected him fourth overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, yet no one batted an eye at the jaw-dropping pick given his immense talent.

He did exactly what was expected of him during his rookie season, finishing with the sixth-most fantasy points among all tight ends despite scoring only 1 TD. It was presumed that Pitts would only continue to thrive in 2022, but that wasn't the case.

In 10 games, Pitts hauled in just 28 receptions for 356 yards and two touchdowns. His 75.6 fantasy points last season were the 33rd-most at his position. Pitts would continue to be ranked high among his peers as analysts expected him to break out. However, that day never came.

Now entering Year 3, Pitts hopes to return to his rookie form and it's likely that he plays significantly better than last season. Perhaps the addition of Robinson and Hollins will encourage the coaching staff to get a more even balance between the run and pass? The addition of Bijan should also shift the defensive focus away from Pitts, easing the pressure off of him.

Pitts is now going at a reasonable price in fantasy drafts, somewhere in rounds 7-10 range which is a nice discount from his 2022 ADP of 65 overall in PPR leagues. Time to hop on board.

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Outlook: In addition to signing Singletary and Woods this offseason, the Texans signed former Cowboys tight end Dalton Schultz. Schultz is considered to be among the top 10 players at his position, both through the eye test and in fantasy numbers.

Schultz hauled in 57 receptions for 577 yards and five touchdowns in 15 games last season, totaling 144.7 fantasy points -- the ninth-most at his position. The year before, Schultz was third in fantasy points among tight ends with 206.8.

The soon-to-be 27-year-old (July 11), is expected to be slightly worse than the past couple of seasons due to his new team and rookie quarterback. However, new head coach DeMeco Ryans hopes to change the Texans narrative, but that might take a couple of years.

Tight end is arguably the scarcest position when it comes to fantasy football. The top three at the position are light years ahead of No. 7-10. Schultz still falls into the TE1 spot in fantasy lineups, but he's towards the lower end of the group. If Ryans transforms Houston quicker than expected, Schultz may have a shot at rising into the No. 4-6 tier, but that would be his ceiling.

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Outlook: First it was C.J. Uzomah, now Hayden Hurst becomes the latest tight end to bolt the Bengals for a new squad. For the third season in the row the Bengals are forced to turn to a new starter at tight end, but they might have gotten themselves the best pure athlete they've had at the position in some time. Let's keep it real here, Smith was a big bust for the Vikings. Occasionally he flashed that raw natural ability, but was too inconsistent for the Vikings to trust. After struggling to stay healthy last season, Smith was no longer needed after the Vikings dealt for T.J. Hockenson at the trade deadline.

While it never fully came together in Minnesota for the former 2nd round pick out of Alabama, Smith gets a chance to reignite his career on the Bengals. At best 4th or 5th in line for targets, Smith still joins an offense that's been able to get decent production from players with much less athleticism than Smith. The problem here is simply targets. Unlikely to see more than 60 looks, Smith just won't get enough consistent volume to be a starter. Maybe this is the year he puts it together, but that's what fantasy owners have told themselves for a few years, only to eventually cast Smith off to the waiver wire. As a supremely athletic tight end on a dominant offense, he's worth a look late in the draft as a backup, or upside pick on a fantasy team looking to stitch together the position for the season.

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Outlook: The tight end position in Miami opened up this offseason when former 700-yard receiver Mike Gesicki left for New England. This means that the current projected starter is veteran Durham Smythe, whose career high of 357 yards in a season came back in 2021.

While it's significant that Gesicki is gone, many fantasy analysts might be overrating the impact it'll have on Smythe. The tight end quietly already out-snapped Gesicki in 2022. More importantly, however, the Dolphins as a team tied for the league's fewest total targets to the tight end position in 2022. Their offense is dynamic, making use of some innovative concepts, and part of that seems to be leaning much more heavily on their wide receivers to catch passes than it does their tight ends or running backs.

All of this should lead fantasy managers to avoid this situation in anything other than deep leagues where two TEs must be started per week. Smythe, or any other Dolphins tight end, is unlikely to see more than 50 targets this season and that's just not enough to justify a roster spot in normal fantasy leagues

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