In recent years, the tight end position has mostly generated three consistent elite options in Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, and George Kittle. Yet, the influx of talented young pass catchers at tight end has the position projecting as the deepest it has been in over a decade.
Here is a closer look at the fantasy football tight end rankings in a full-PPR format entering the 2024 NFL season.
Ranking the Top Fantasy Tight Ends
FIND MORE POSITIONAL RANKINGS: QB | RB | WR | K | DEF | SF
1) Sam LaPorta | Detroit Lions
2) Travis Kelce | Kansas City Chiefs
3) Mark Andrews | Baltimore Ravens
4) Dalton Kincaid | Buffalo Bills
5) Trey McBride | Arizona Cardinals
6) Evan Engram | Jacksonville Jaguars
7) George Kittle | San Francisco 49ers
8) Brock Bowers | Las Vegas Raiders
9) David Njoku | Cleveland Browns
10) Kyle Pitts | Atlanta Falcons
11) T.J. Hockenson | Minnesota Vikings
12) Jake Ferguson | Dallas Cowboys
13) Dallas Goedert | Philadelphia Eagles
14) Taysom Hill | New Orleans Saints
15) Cole Kmet | Chicago Bears
16) Dalton Schultz | Houston Texans
17) Luke Musgrave | Green Bay Packers
18) Cade Otton | Tampa Bay Buccaneers
19) Chigoziem Okonkwo | Tennessee Titans
20) Pat Freiermuth | Pittsburgh Steelers
21) Hunter Henry | New England Patriots
22) Ben Sinnott | Washington Commanders
23) Mike Gesicki | Cincinnati Bengals
24) Tyler Conklin | New York Jets
25) Juwan Johnson | New Orleans Saints
26) Tucker Kraft | Green Bay Packers
27) Ja’Tavion Sanders | Carolina Panthers
28) Isaiah Likely | Baltimore Ravens
29) Michael Mayer | Las Vegas Raiders
30) Gerald Everett | Chicago Bears
31) Noah Fant | Seattle Seahawks
32) Dawson Knox | Buffalo Bills
33) Tyler Higbee | Los Angeles Rams
34) Jelani Woods | Indianapolis Colts
35) Theo Johnson | New York Giants
36) Logan Thomas | San Francisco 49ers
37) Donald Parham Jr. | Los Angeles Chargers
38) Greg Dulcich | Denver Broncos
39) Zach Ertz | Washington Commanders
40) Jonnu Smith | Miami Dolphins
41) Daniel Bellinger | New York Giants
42) Colby Parkinson | Los Angeles Rams
43) Hayden Hurst | Los Angeles Chargers
44) Kylen Granson | Indianapolis Colts
45) Tanner Hudson | Cincinnati Bengals
46) Lucas Krull | Denver Broncos
47) Will Dissly | Los Angeles Chargers
48) Davis Allen | Los Angeles Rams
49) Josh Oliver | Minnesota Vikings
50) Johnny Mundt | Minnesota Vikings
51) Jared Wiley | Kansas City Chiefs
52) Will Mallory | Indianapolis Colts
Who Are the Best Tight Ends To Draft in Fantasy?
Travis Kelce
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Travis Kelce may be getting a bit long in the tooth by NFL standards, but he is still an incredibly productive player paired with the best QB in the league.
Some could argue the addition of two elite vertical threats could eat into Kelce’s overall target volume. I’d argue this could actually open things up a bit more Kelce than last season — where the likes of Justin Watson, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Skyy Moore failed to strike fears into the hearts of opposing defenses. Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown should fix that problem immediately.
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It is tempting to be a year ahead of Father Time potentially coming to collect rent on Kelce’s fantasy value, but he is still an elite asset at the position entering the 2024 NFL season.
Sam LaPorta
Sam LaPorta’s 86 receptions for 889 yards and 10 TDs helped him finish his first year in the NFL as the TE1 overall in fantasy football. In other words, if you spent a late-round pick on the rookie TE in your fantasy draft, he likely helped elevate your team to the fantasy playoffs last year by vastly outperforming his ADP.
Yet, can fantasy managers expect the same level of greatness in 2024?
When you take a closer look at LaPorta’s positional rankings in some major categories, they certainly suggest he wasn’t a player who simply fell into an outstanding season in a high-powered offense.
Sam LaPorta’s 2023 Stats and Positional Ranks:
- Targets: 120 (fifth)
- Receptions: 86 (fourth)
- Yards: 889 (fifth)
- TD: 10 (first)
- YAC: 358 (seventh)
- Yards Per Route Run: 1.78 (sixth)
LaPorta’s numbers certainly suggest he is a top-five fantasy option at the tight end position, but they fall a bit short of suggesting he should be the unquestioned TE1 overall heading into fantasy football drafts in 2024.
There could be some pitfalls that come with the expectations of TE1 overall. Scoring double-digit touchdowns isn’t easy at any position, which could lead to some regression in that department.
LaPorta’s 15 red-zone targets are certainly a solid mark, but they ranked fourth at the TE position behind Kelce, David Njoku, and Jake Ferguson. Additionally, LaPorta actually saw eight fewer targets than his teammate Amon-Ra St. Brown in the red area last season.
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Outside of that, though, I don’t see how LaPorta’s role gets reduced in any significant way in 2024. The Lions didn’t add any noteworthy target competition this offseason, they brought back their offensive coordinator (Ben Johnson), and a potential significant role expansion for Jameson Williams may not come at the expense of LaPorta’s volume in the offense.
It is also worth mentioning that it is entirely possible LaPorta actually improves as a player from his rookie season to his second year in the league, which makes another overall TE1 finish well within the range of outcomes in 2024.