2019 Rankings Breakdown: Tight Ends

May 22, 2019

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We've released our initial rankings for the 2019 fantasy football season. Typically, they require some explanation. Our process is arduous and time-tested, and while it provides a good starting point, these rankings can and will change significantly throughout the spring and summer as injuries occur, camp battles develop, and rookies (or other young players) emerge.

More Rankings Breakdowns: | QB | RB | WR

In this series, I’m going through the initial rankings and explaining my thoughts about each position as a whole. I’ll also discuss why a few specific players are ranked where they are (relative to the average ADP at DRAFT and Best-Ball 10s). I’ll go over the tight end position in this article, and discuss receivers in an upcoming article.

Longtime readers know that I’m a big believer in the value of a stud tight end. I understand the argument that it’s a “onesie” position—owners only have to start one, so the position isn’t particularly scarce and there are regularly decent tight ends available on the waiver wire. But I love having a weapon at a position where there are so few available. It’s fun to watch Travis Kelce or Zach Ertz garner nine targets a game while my opponent is hoping and/or praying that Kyle Rudolph gets a couple of red zone targets. Sure, there will be weeks where a mid-to-late-round tight end outscores my stud, but most of the time, the stud will prevail.

That’s not to say there isn’t value at the tight end position later on in the draft—there usually is. Last year, George Kittle, Eric Ebron and Jared Cook were all going in the 12th round or later and they all finished in the top five at their position. But only Kittle’s production (213 points in half-PPR formats) approached that of Kelce (243) or Ertz (222). Kelce and Ertz still outscored Ebron (189) and Cook (160) by an average of 3.6 fantasy points per game.