OWS Fam,

The first ever OWS Daily Dose Draft Guide is now available!

In today’s e-mail, we give you a look at our Draft Guide’s fantasy breakdowns for the tight end position. Read on to find out our expert’s tiers and evaluations for multiple levels of fantasy-relevant tight ends ahead of the 2024 NFL season.

Over the next five days, we will also be delivering the following critical draft-season content directly to your inbox:

8/30 - Mike's Guys

8/31 - Seven Sleepers

9/1 - Five Fades Series

9/2 - Five Fades Series

9/3 - Five Fades Series

To consume the Draft Guide in its entirety, follow this link to One Week Season:
https://oneweekseason.com/the-scroll/drafting-season/

It’s time to lock in Fam!

2024 Draft Guide: TE Tier

By Mike Johnson

Tier 1 – “The Studs”

This TE’s group is supremely talented and should be the primary receiving option in explosive offensive environments. 

• Travis Kelce, KC

  • Death. Taxes. Travis Kelce. Kelce has been the TE1 or TE2 every year since 2017. He is nearing the end of his career, but he was a menace in the playoffs last season and signed a contract extension this summer.

• Sam LaPorta, DET

  • Last season’s TE1 in his rookie season, LaPorta is situated to repeat as a premium option. He has been dealing with a hamstring injury this summer, which bears monitoring.

• Trey McBride, ARI

  • McBride showed he is a top-end talent at the TE position last season. Now, he has much more talent as target competition but a vastly improved offensive environment.

• Mark Andrews, BAL

  • Andrews was knocked out for the season early in his Week 11 game. Prior to that, he was third among all tight ends in fantasy points. The Ravens are an elite offense, and Andrews is arguably their best pass catcher.

Tier 2 – “It Wouldn’t Shock You…”

This tier consists of talented tight ends on good-to-great offenses who should be critical parts of their team’s game plans. It wouldn’t be shocking for any of these guys to emerge from this season as a top-3 tight end – but it will take a bit more going their way than the first group.

• Kyle Pitts, ATL

  • After dealing with abysmal QB play and play-calling to start his career, this is the year we find out who Pitts really is. Kirk Cousins has made tight ends shine throughout his career.

• George Kittle, SF

  • Kittle has been a top-5 tight end in five of the last six seasons and plays on one of the league’s top offenses. If Brandon Aiyuk ends up getting traded, Kittle would join that top group.

• Dalton Kincaid, BUF

  • The opportunity is there for the 2023 first-round pick to become the featured receiving target for Josh Allen.

• Evan Engram, JAX

  • Engram has consecutive top-5 seasons among tight ends and an elite rapport with Trevor Lawrence.

Tier 3 – “Weekly TE1 Upside”

These players have the talent and situation to dominate their position on a given week but will likely be less consistent than the players from the first two tiers.

• Jake Ferguson, DAL

  • Ferguson erupted for 37 PPR points in the Cowboys’ playoff loss last season. He was second on the Cowboys in targets, receptions, and yards in 2023, and if the Cowboys’ defense regresses, he could have some massive weeks ahead of him.

• Brock Bowers, LVR

  • Bowers was one of the more hyped TE prospects to enter the league in recent memory, and reports from training camp have been glowing about his performance and the creative ways the Raiders will use him.

• David Njoku, CLE

  • Njoku was the TE1 during the last four weeks of the fantasy season in 2023 and even outscored all but two wide receivers during that stretch. We will have to wait and see if he and Deshaun Watson can replicate the chemistry he had with Joe Flacco.

Tier 4 – “Don’t Forget These Guys”

This group of tight ends is easy to forget about in comparison to the first 11 players mentioned, but all of them have paths to a week or string of weeks where they put up premium production.

• Dallas Goedert, PHI

  • He is now the fourth receiving option on the Eagles, but if either of the top two receivers ever misses time, he jumps up a tier.

• Dalton Schultz, HOU

  • Similar to Goedert, Schultz has a great passing offense but has to deal with being low in the target pecking order. He will likely have several “duds,” but he should also sprinkle a couple of big games in there.

• Taysom Hill, NO

  • Hill continues to be an anomaly, as he is slated for the biggest role of his career as a 34-year-old. He is expected to be involved as a rusher and receiver and occasionally at QB. He has always had a huge weekly ceiling but should have a higher floor this year.

• TJ Hockenson, MIN

  • Last season’s TE1 through 15 weeks, Hockenson suffered a torn ACL and is not yet cleared for contact. We should expect that he will return somewhere around the team’s Week 6 bye. If he were healthy, he would be in Tier 1. 

Tier 5 – “Solid Streamers”

These players are all the clear top TEs on their teams and should have some strong performances this season, especially in good matchups…..but they will be dealing with inconsistent target shares and/or poor offensive environments.

• Noah Fant, SEA

• Jonnu Smith, MIA

• Hunter Henry, NE

• Pat Freiermuth, PIT

• Tyler Conklin, NYJ

• Cade Otton, TB

• Mike Gesicki, CIN

• Chig Okonkwo, TEN

• Greg Dulcich, DEN

Tier 6 – “Uncertain Situations”

This group consists of players from teams where we aren’t sure how many tight ends will be involved in the offense or what the pecking order will be, along with a couple of guys who will need an injury ahead of them to be playable.

• Isaiah Likely, BAL

  • TE5 over the last six weeks of 2023 while Mark Andrews was out.

• Juwan Johnson, NO

• Zach Ertz // Ben Sinnott, WAS

• Luke Musgrave // Tucker Kraft, GB

• Cole Kmet // Gerald Everett, CHI

• Colby Parkinson // Tyler Higbee, LAR

• Theo Johnson, NYG

• Ja’Tavion Sanders, CAR

• Hayden Hurst, LAC