X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

Three Fantasy Football Tight Ends You Must Draft in 2024 - Part I

Kyle Pitts - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Three fantasy football tight ends every manager must draft this season. Rob lays out his case for why they will end up outplaying their current ADP in 2024.

The tight end position is deeper going into 2024 than it's been for several years. The top of the position isn't quite as strong, but there seem to be more options for fantasy managers this season. While most fantasy managers will likely get their hands on Sam LaPorta, Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, or Trey McBride, there are several other very appealing tight ends fantasy managers should be excited to draft this fantasy football season. In this new series, we'll identify six tight ends fantasy managers need to be drafting this season. This will be a two-part series featuring three tight ends in each entry.

There's no denying the potential and talent of the four tight ends on top, but there are three other tight ends with the potential to finish in the top three. Does that sound crazy? It may right now, but by the end of this series, you'll be on board with the upside and potential of the tight ends featured in this series. There’s a fourth tight end we’ll talk about who is being drafted as a back-end TE1 but has a good chance of finishing in the top six.

Fantasy football season is in full swing, and it won’t be long before you’re contemplating start and sit questions rather than who to draft. To get an in-depth analysis of these questions, you should subscribe to our premium subscription and get access to all of our premium tools. Use promo code “BOOM” at checkout to get a 10% discount.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:

 

Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons

Fantasy managers can effectively forget everything that’s happened to Kyle Pitts over the past two seasons. Between the ineffective coaching staff and the even worse quarterback play, Pitts has had to endure a situation that would have rendered even the best tight ends irrelevant.

All of that changes this season, however. The Falcons organization hired Raheem Morris, the former defensive coordinator of the Rams, as their head coach. Morris brought with him Zac Robinson, the Rams passing game coordinator since 2022. Robinson has been with the organization under Sean McVay since 2019.

In the 23 full games Matthew Stafford has played with the Rams since 2022, he’s averaged just over 35 pass attempts per game (35.043, to be exact), which equals 595 over 17 games. The Falcons attempted 415 passes in 2022 and 530 this past season.

Now enter Kirk Cousins. Over Cousins’ six years with the Vikings, he’s averaged just over 35 pass attempts per game. 35.011, to be exact. It’s wild just how similar Cousins and Stafford’s per-game-pass-attempt averages are. Needless to say, we can expect a whole lot more passing volume in Atlanta this season. It gets even better. Check out the stats below detailing Cousins’ 2023 stats, Desmond Ridder’s 2023 stats, and Marcus Mariota’s 2022 stats when he was the Falcons’ starting quarterback.

Stat/Quarterback Kirk Cousins Desmond Ridder Marcus Mariota, 2022
Deep Ball Completion % 46.2% 44.4% 23.5%
Pressured Completion % 60.7% 59.7% 40.8%
Play-Action Completion % 59.2% 54.1% 59.6%
Clean Pocket Completion % 72.7% 65.1% 67.7%
Off-Target Rate 12.8% 14.7% 22.5%
On-Target  Rate 82.2% 75.5% 70.6%
Catchable Pass Rate 82.3% 71.4% 75.0%
Yards Per Attempt 7.5 7.3 7.4
Completion % 69.5% 64.2% 61.3%
Touchdown Rate 5.8% 3.1% 5.0%
Quarterback Rating 103.8 83.4 82.5

The differences are endless and significant. When we talk about adding 60-180 pass attempts on top of the increase in efficiency, you can see why fantasy managers should start getting excited. Cousins is a far superior passer than both previous quarterbacks. His pass attempts have been so much higher because of Cousins' success as a passer. Put it bluntly, Cousins is not a liability like Ridder and Mariota.

As a pass-catcher, you depend on the individual throwing you the football. Even in the past two seasons, Pitts' advanced metrics have shown plenty of promise and potential, but he has not been able to capitalize on it due to his quarterback play.

Look at the table below, specifically the last row -- catchable target rate. In the past two seasons, Pitts’ catchable target rates have been 64.0% and 59.3%. Now, jump back to our first table and compare Cousins’ on-target rate to Ridder and Mariota. It’s 6.7% higher than Ridder and 11.6% higher than Mariota.

Stat/Year 2023 2022 2021
Target Share 17.8% (13th) 27.3% (2nd) 20.3% (6th)
Target Rate 19.3% (20th) 34.3% (1st) 23.6 (9th)
Targets 89 (11th) 59 (24th) 110 (5th)
Receptions 53 (16th) 28 (35th) 68 (7th)
Yards 667 (11th) 356 (30th) 1,026 (3rd)
Air Yards 1,012 (1st) 772 (5th) 1,110 (2nd)
Unrealized Air Yards 479 (1st) 541 (1st) 412 (5th)
Average Depth of Target 11.4 (1st) 13.1 (2nd) 10.1 (2nd)
Yards Per Route Run 1.44 (17th) 2.07 (5th) 2.20 (4th)
Yards Per Target 7.5 (14th) 6.0 (32nd) 9.3 (3rd)
Yards Per Reception 12.6 (4th) 12.7 (7th) 15.1 (1st)
Yards Per Team Pass Attempt 1.26 (12th) 1.58 (5th) 1.79 (3rd)
Total Touchdowns 3 (18th) 2 (32nd) 1 (48th)
Catchable Target Rate 64.0% (37th) 59.3% (37th) 79.1% (11th)

It’s not hard to see the fantasy appeal of a good quarterback when looking at his utilization and advanced statistics from the last three years. Keep in mind, too, that last season, Pitts was in his first season back following a torn MCL in 2022. Despite missing time in 2022 and 2023, Pitts has finished first in unrealized air yards in both seasons. It’s not a stretch to think that many unrealized air yards become real yards with good quarterback play.

Prior to that injury, in 2021 and 2022, he posted top-seven marks in yards per route run, yards per reception, and yards per team pass attempt. During those first two seasons, he also posted top-10 numbers in target share and target rate. The last row you should focus on is his total touchdowns. He has just six touchdowns in three seasons on 258 targets. That’s an abysmal 2.3% touchdown rate. That number has the potential to double itself this year.

Fantasy managers have mostly identified Pitts’ potential, drafting him as the TE6 in Yahoo! and Underdog. He isn’t cheap, but make no mistake, Pitts has the potential to be the top tight end in the NFL this season. That is in his realistic range of outcomes.

 

Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills

In 2023, Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis, Trent Sherfield, and Deonte Harty combined for 284 targets, 178 receptions, 2,165 yards, and 17 touchdowns. All four of those players are no longer with the team. In 2022, Diggs, Davis, Isaiah McKenzie, and Jamison Crowder combined for 325 targets, 204 receptions, 2,748 yards, and 22 touchdowns. All four of those players are no longer on the team. In 2023, Davis, Diggs, Sherfield, and Harty combined to have 30 red-zone targets. Diggs and Davis accounted for 26 (!!!) end-zone targets. Both players ranked inside the top 20 in this category among receivers.

Kincaid wasn’t fully unleashed as a rookie. With veteran Dawson Knox, the Bills brought Kincaid along slowly. He finished just 23rd in snap share at 65.6% and 13th in route participation at 82.9%. He had five games with a route share of less than 70%, which will not happen this upcoming season. We should expect his route participation to exceed 85% in 2024 and for him to never drop below 80% on any given week.

He had six games with a route participation rate of 85% or higher. He had seven targets in five of them, five receptions in five, and over 46 yards in four. He averaged 7.6 targets, 5.8 receptions, 58.5 yards, and 0.33 touchdowns per game. He had a 22.1% target share and a 23% target rate. Over 17 games, those per-game averages would amount to 129 targets, 99 receptions, 995 yards, and six touchdowns.

LaPorta and McBride overshadowed Kincaid’s rookie season, but Kincaid still finished with 91 targets, 73 receptions, and 673 yards. Those are some impressive numbers, considering Diggs and Davis were on the team, and Kincaid played just 65.6% of the team’s snaps.

Since 2020, Josh Allen has averaged 591 pass attempts, 4,385 yards, and 34 touchdowns. Based on their current allotment of pass-catchers, fantasy managers should expect Kincaid to lead the way as Allen’s No. 1 and preferred option in the passing game. If we give Kincaid a 22% target share on Allen’s four-year-pass-attempt average, Kincaid would finish with 130 targets.

Like Pitts, fantasy managers have identified Kincaid’s potential and are drafting him as the TE5 on both Underdog and Yahoo! It will require a fifth-round pick to get Kincaid on your fantasy roster, which isn’t a cheap cost. However, Kincaid, like Pitts, could finish this season as the No. 1 tight end in fantasy football. He certainly has the potential to be top three.

 

Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers

Freiermuth is likely a player many fantasy managers have forgotten about, especially after his dreadful 2023 season. Based on early drafting data, Freiermuth is available in the 12th round on Yahoo! and Underdog as the TE16. That makes him one of fantasy football's best tight-end values this season.

Freiermuth struggled with an injury-plagued second season in 2023. He played just 64.0% of snaps compared to 70% in 2022. He had eight games with a snap share below 67% out of just 12 games, a 66.7% rate. In 2022, he had just five games out of 16 contests, a 31.2% rate. Injuries happen, and they can negatively impact a player’s performance. Freiermuth, no doubt, fell victim to that last season, but we shouldn’t forget what he did in 2022, just his second season in the league. Let me refresh your memory...

Target Share 19.0% (9th)
Target Rate 24.9% (7th)
Targets 98 (5th)
Receptions 63 (6th)
Yards 732 (6th)
Air Yards 849 (4th)
Unrealized Air Yards 403 (4th)
Yards Per Route Run 1.86 (7th)
Yards Per Reception 11.3 (13th)
Yards Per Team Pass Attempt 1.35 (9th)
Red Zone Targets 10 (15th)
Total Touchdowns 2 (32nd)
Half-PPR PPG 8.3 (TE9)

He posted top-10 numbers in basically every statistic across the board. Every statistic except total touchdowns, where he posted just two. Just two touchdowns despite having the fifth-most targets, sixth-most receptions, and 15th-most red-zone targets. That doesn't make much sense, but when you consider that his quarterback was Kenny Pickett, who has arguably been just as bad as Zach Wilson, it starts to make a lot more sense.

Since 2000, there have been 36 quarterbacks to attempt at least 450 passes in their first two seasons in the NFL. Pickett's 1.8%  touchdown rate is the worst, and the only player below 2.1%. For goodness sake, Zach Wilson and Josh Rosen are at 2.4%. Pickett had the sixth-worst quarterback rating and fourth-worst yard-per-attempt average. Through his first two seasons in the NFL, Pickett is in the same group as Wilson, Rosen, and Drew Lock. That's how bad he's been.

Freiermuth has had to deal with that in each of the past two seasons, but no more! This offseason, the Steelers signed Russell Wilson as their starting quarterback. Below, you'll see just how big of a difference even Wilson can be when compared to Pickett.

Stat/Quarterback Russell Wilson Kenny Pickett
Deep Ball Attempts Per Game 4.3 2.6
Pressured Completion % 63.6% 53.8%
Red Zone Completion % 62.3% 43.8%
Clean Pocket Completion % 67.6% 64.8%
Off-Target Completion % 13.2% 18.4%
On-Target Completion % 77.9% 71.6%
True Passer Rating 101.0 76.7
Yards Per Attempt 6.9 6.4
Completion % 66.4% 62.0%
Touchdown Rate 5.8% 1.9%
Quarterback Rating 98.0 81.4

The numbers speak for themselves, but pay attention to their red-zone completion percentage and touchdown rate. Looking back at Freiermuth's 2022 season when he had just two touchdowns and a touchdown rate of just 2.0%, it's safe to point a lot of the blame at Pickett. Last season, Wilson's red-zone completion percentage was 18.5 percentage points higher, and his touchdown rate was 3.9 percentage points better. That difference is astronomical. If they each throw just 550 passes, the difference is 22 (!!!) touchdowns.

Wilson will likely be the best quarterback Freiermuth has ever played with in his young season. Even if Wilson falters, Pittsburgh also traded for Justin Fields. Fields helped Cole Kmet as the TE8 last year in half-PPR PPG. Kmet finished with 91 targets, 73 receptions, 719 yards, and six touchdowns. He was eighth in yards per route run and ninth in yards per target. It doesn't matter. Whoever is under center will be better than Pickett.

With Freiermuth fully healthy, we should see the player who started to emerge in his second season. If fantasy managers get that player along with a better quarterback from Wilson, as illustrated in the table above, it wouldn't be a shock to see Freiermuth finish inside the top 12 and possibly even the top 10. He did that already in 2022 with just two touchdowns and Pickett at the helm. Why can't he do it again this season?

Freiermuth is one of the best value picks at the tight-end position this summer, and if you don't want to draft a tight end in the first five rounds, he is the best late-round target for fantasy managers.



Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!

More Fantasy Football Analysis


Check out all of RotoBaller's fantasy football rankings. Staff rankings are updated regularly for all positions and include standard formats, PPR scoring, tiered rankings and dynasty leagues.




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Griffin Conine

To Have Shoulder Surgery On Tuesday
Luke Keaschall

Twins Prospect Luke Keaschall Suffers Broken Forearm
Logan Gilbert

Leaves Friday's Start With Forearm Tightness

Vikings Select Tai Felton To Finish Day 2

Seahawks Select Quarterback Jalen Milroe With The 92nd Pick Overall

Browns Select Dillon Gabriel 94th Overall

Packers Pick Savion Williams At No. 87 overall

Steelers Snag Kaleb Johnson In Round 3

Broncos Select Wide Receiver Pat Bryant With The 74th Overall Pick

Texans Select Jaylin Noel With 79th Pick

Lions Select Wide Receiver Isaac TeSlaa With The 70th Overall Pick
Jack Leiter

To Start On Sunday

Patriots Add Wide Receiver Kyle Williams In Round 3

Browns Draft Harold Fannin Jr. With 67th Pick
Garrett Mitchell

Makes Early Exit
Luke Keaschall

Removed Early On Friday
Blake Snell

Likely Avoids Major Injury
Cole Ragans

Dealing With Mild Groin Strain

Broncos Add RJ Harvey To Backfield With 60th Pick

Raiders Select Jack Bech With 58th Pick

Chargers Add Wide Receiver Tre Harris In Round 2
Detroit Lions

Lions Acquire 57th Pick From Broncos

Seahawks Draft Elijah Arroyo 50th Overall
Carolina Panthers

Panthers Acquire 51st Pick From Broncos
Arizona Cardinals

Cardinals Snag Will Johnson At No. 47

Jets Add A Pass-Catcher With Mason Taylor At No. 42

Rams Select Terrance Ferguson With 46th Pick
Houston Texans

Texans Acquire 48th Pick From Raiders, Draft Aireontae Ersery

Saints Snag Tyler Shough At No. 40
Brenton Doyle

Out For Personal Reasons On Friday
Brandin Podziemski

Not On Injury Report For Game 3
Jimmy Butler III

Warriors Optimistic About Jimmy Butler III Playing Saturday
Jae'Sean Tate

To Remain Out Saturday
Jock Landale

Unavailable For Game 3
Terry Rozier

Out On Saturday
Jrue Holiday

Ruled Out For Friday Night's Game 3 Against Orlando
Kevin Love

To Miss Saturday's Game
Jaylen Brown

Available For Friday Night's Game 3 Against Magic
Gary Payton II

Iffy For Saturday's Action
Jayson Tatum

Officially Available On Friday For Game 3 Against Magic
Will Smith

Back From Injury On Friday
Luke Kennard

Questionable For Game 4 On Saturday
Darius Garland

Listed As Questionable For Game 3
Ja Morant

To Miss Game 4 On Saturday
Rui Hachimura

Available For Game 3 In Minnesota
Aaron Ekblad

Available To Return Saturday
Erik Swanson

Ryan Burr Progressing
Daulton Varsho

To Return On Tuesday At The Latest
Max Scherzer

Takes Positive Step On Friday
Aleksander Barkov

Questionable For Saturday
Gabriel Landeskog

Set For Larger Role In Game 4
Calvin Pickard

To Start Game 3 For Oilers
Randy Arozarena

Resting For First Time This Year
Jonas Siegenthaler

To Play Limited Minutes In Game 3
MLB

Red Sox-Guardians Game Postponed On Friday
Luke Hughes

Remains Out On Friday
MLB

Tigers-Orioles Postponed On Friday
Patrik Laine

A Game-Time Decision Friday
Yainer Diaz

Out On Friday Against Royals
Iván Herrera

Ivan Herrera Hopes To Start Rehab Assignment Next Week
Salvador Perez

Sitting Out For First Time This Season
Jaylen Brown

Questionable For Game 3 On Friday
Brendan Donovan

Back In Action On Friday
Jimmy Butler III

Could Miss Game 3 On Saturday
Coby Mayo

Getting On A Roll At Triple-A
Carlos Prates

Looks To Remain Undefeated In The UFC
Ian Machado Garry

Set For UFC Kansas City Main Event
Cade Cunningham

Collects Double-Double In Loss
Jalen Brunson

Drops 30 Points In Game 3
Karl-Anthony Towns

Leads All Scorers In Game 3 Victory
Zhang Mingyang

Scheduled For Co-Main Event
Anthony Smith

Set For His Final UFC Bout
David Onama

Set For Featherweight Bout
Giga Chikadze

Looks To Bounce Back
Abus Magomedov

Looks For His Third Consecutive Win
Michel Pereira

Returns To Action At UFC Kansas City
Nicolas Dalby

An Underdog At UFC Kansas City
Randy Brown

A Favorite At UFC Kansas City
Andre Muniz

Set To Open Up UFC Kansas City Main Card
Ikram Aliskerov

Looks To Get Back In The Win Column
Sergei Bobrovsky

Shuts Out Lightning In Game 2
Cam Fowler

Finishes Thursday's Win With Five Points
Robert Thomas

Posts Four Assists In Game 3 Win
Pavel Buchnevich

Celebrates Hat Trick During Four-Point Performance
Dylan DeMelo

Battling An Illness
Marcus Johansson

Exits Early Thursday
Aleksander Barkov

Hurt In Game 2
Jrue Holiday

Tagged As Questionable For Friday
Jayson Tatum

Likely Out Again On Friday
Anthony Cirelli

Good To Go Thursday
Andrei Vasilevskiy

Looks To Bounce Back In Game 2
Rasmus Ristolainen

To Miss Training Camp
Jonas Siegenthaler

Returns To Practice
Aliaksei Protas

Traveling With Capitals
Gabriel Vilardi

Still Out On Thursday
Max Pacioretty

Set To Join Maple Leafs Lineup For Game 3
Cam Davis

Looking For Better Fortunes At TPC Louisiana
Adam Svensson

Making Third Apperence At Zurich Classic
Max Greyserman

Aiming For Similar Success At TPC Louisiana
Lee Hodges

A High-Upside Player In New Orleans
PGA

Nico Echavarria Looks To Ride Off Of Elite Putting In New Orleans
Gary Woodland

A Player Worth Watching In New Orleans
Max McGreevy

Returns To The Zurich Classic Of New Orleans
Rasmus Hojgaard

In Search Of Consistency Ahead Of Zurich Classic
Sam Stevens

A Boom-Or-Bust Candidate In New Orleans
Nicolai Hojgaard

Looking To Turn Season Around At Zurich Classic
Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Looks To Sway A Hot Putter In Teams Favor At Zurich Classic
Akshay Bhatia

Looking To Bounce Back At TPC Louisiana
Carson Young

Looks To Turn Things Around At TPC Louisiana
Erik Van Rooyen

Looking For Momentum In Louisiana
Andrew Novak

Making Start At TPC Louisiana After Near Miss At Harbour Town
Ben Griffin

Making Third Career Start At Zurich Classic
Taylor Moore

Competing With A New Teammate In New Orleans
Wyndham Clark

Making Return To New Orleans
Kurt Kitayama

Teeing It Up Again In New Orleans
Collin Morikawa

Back At Zurich Classic For Fifth Time
Thomas Detry

Making Third Appearance At New Orleans Team Event
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF