The NFL in 2019 is a passing league, and this means that tight end is one of the most important positions for your fantasy football team.
New England Patriots legend Rob Gronkowski has retired, taking away one of the most dominant fantasy tight ends in league (and fantasy football) history. Even without Gronk, there still are many quality options to target in your league’s draft.
Let’s go through the top 20 tight ends for the 2019 fantasy football season.
TIER 1
1. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs (Week 12 bye)
Catching passes from a 5,000-yard passer and league MVP makes Travis Kelce the top tight end in fantasy football. In fairness, Kelce was a top-tier tight end before Patrick Mahomes became the Chiefs' starting quarterback. Mahomes did, however, improve Kelce's stats to even higher levels. Kelce ranked second among tight ends in both receptions (103) and touchdowns (10) last season.
2. George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers (Week 4)
Kittle was among the biggest breakout stars of the 2018 NFL season. He led all tight ends with 1,377 receiving yards and tallied five touchdown receptions. We should expect similar production from Kittle with talented 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo returning from major knee surgery.
3. Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles (Week 10)
Ertz is among the most reliable fantasy tight ends. He led all players at the position with 116 receptions in 2018, in addition to tallying 1,163 yards and eight touchdowns. Ertz should once again be among Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz's top targets in 2019.
TIER 2
4. O.J. Howard, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Week 7)
Howard is likely to be the next breakout star at tight end. The University of Alabama product played 10 games as a rookie and tallied 34 receptions for 556 yards and five touchdowns. Four of those scores came in his last six games.
5. Eric Ebron, Indianapolis Colts (Week 6)
Ebron led all tight ends in 2018 with a career-high 13 touchdown receptions, as well as 750 yards and 66 receptions (on 110 targets!). Andrew Luck's retirement hurts, and Ebron probably won't get to 13 touchdowns again, but nine or 10 scores in 2019 certainly is a fair expectation.
6. Evan Engram, New York Giants (Week 11)
Giants quarterback Eli Manning has to throw to someone now that elite wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has left the team, and Engram likely will be the pass-catcher in New York who benefits the most. Engram caught 45 passes for 577 yards and three touchdowns in 2018, and we should expect those numbers to increase substantially now that he's the best target in the Giants' passing game.
7. Jared Cook, New Orleans Saints (Week 9)
Cook was one of the few bright spots in Oakland last season after tallying 68 receptions for 896 yards and six touchdowns. In fact, only four tight ends had more catches than Cook a season ago. Cook now is the No. 1 tight end for legendary Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who, as we saw for many years with Jimmy Graham, loves throwing to tight ends. The Saints offense is loaded, and Cook could benefit with a bunch of 1-on-1 matchups while defenses focus most of their attention on covering wide receiver Michael Thomas and running back Alvin Kamara.
TIER 3
8. Vance McDonald, Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 7)
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has not been afraid to make tight ends a pivotal part of the team's passing attack, and with elite wide receiver Antonio Brown gone, McDonald should be the No. 2 pass-catcher in Pittsburgh behind wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster. McDonald caught 50 passes for 610 yards and four touchdowns last season.
9. Hunter Henry, Los Angeles Chargers (Week 12)
Henry tallied 12 touchdown receptions in his first two NFL seasons before an ACL tear forced him to miss all of the 2018 campaign. Henry is healthy again and will be among the primary targets for one of the most prolific passers in the league -- Chargers quarterback Phllip Rivers.
10. Austin Hooper, Atlants Falcons (Week 9)
Hooper is a great tight end for PPR leagues. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan ranked third in the NFL in pass attempts last season, and he targeted Hooper 88 times. Hooper ranked fourth among tight ends with 71 catches, along with 660 yards and four touchdowns.
TIER 4
11. Kyle Rudolph, Minnesota Vikings (Week 12)
12. David Njoku, Cleveland Browns (Week 7)
13. Trey Burton, Chicago Bears (Week 6)
14. Delanie Walker, Tennessee Titans (Week 11)
15. Jordan Reed, Washington Redskins (Week 10)
TIER 5
16. Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens (Week 8)
17. Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts (Week 6)
18. Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers (Week 7)
19. Jimmy Graham, Green Bay Packers (Week 11)
20. T.J. Hockenson, Detroit Lions (Week 5)
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