Chasing late-round TEs is a tradition unlike any other. Every preseason, it feels like there are seemingly 20-plus fantasy-viable TE options when optimism is running rampant, but by October, half of the fantasy GMs in every league are looking to upgrade their starting TEs.
As someone who still has nightmares about unironically thinking Jace Sternberger and Chris Herndon would be good late-round darts back in 2020, I want to be very careful about assuming there will be any utility in waiting until very late to draft a TE in fantasy football.
The misses go on and on, but that doesn’t mean that no late-round TEs will ever hit.
Specifically, 17 out of the 60 top-six performances at the TE position over the past 10 years have come from TEs with a preseason ADP outside of the top-12 TEs. 10 of these top-six TE finishers even had a preseason ADP as the TE18 or later.
As with the QB position, the fantasy industry has consistently done a far better job identifying the top-six finishers at the TE position than at ranking the TE7 through TE12 in terms of preseason ADP.
Where the industry has been less solid over the years is at tiering out the fantasy upside from players with similar volume projections. This has led to me preferring a “first or last” strategy at TE to either land a complete stud TE early in drafts or wait until very late to throw multiple darts in lieu of overvaluing the middle-round TEs.
My favorite builds after completing over 100 best ball drafts have involved getting one of the big-seven TEs in Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, T.J. Hockenson, George Kittle, Kyle Pitts, Dallas Goedert, or Darren Waller, but I’ve been content to wait quite a bit longer to address the TE position in drafts where I've been unable to grab one of those TEs.
This is thanks in large part to the presence of two prime late-round TEs in addition to a plethora of potential every-down options available in literally the very last two rounds of drafts. Here are some prime late-round TE options currently being drafted outside of the top-12 rounds.
Tyler Higbee
- TE15 ADP, pick No. 144.2 overall
Higbee managed to post fantasy goodness with both Matthew Stafford and Baker Mayfield under center in 2022, and he produced early last season even when sharing the field with a then-healthy Cooper Kupp.
There’s actually an argument that the Rams No. 1 TE underachieved in 2022 when looking at expected PPR points per game (PPG):
- Kyle Pitts (-34.5 PPR points below expectation)
- Higbee (-32.9)
- Cade Otton (-29.2)
- Cameron Brate (-24.9)
- Logan Thomas (-24.4)
Dec 25, 2022; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee (89) scores on a 7-yard touchdown reception against Denver Broncos cornerback Damarri Mathis (27) in the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Sometimes scoring fantasy points below expectation is unlucky, and sometimes it’s a sign that the player is bad. Either way, Higbee's target volume was top-five among TEs last year. In fact, only Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, Zach Ertz, T.J. Hockenson, Kyle Pitts, and Dalton Schultz averaged more expected PPR PPG than Higbee last season.
Of course, Higbee’s most productive and volume-happy periods of his career have come during McVay’s worst times as an offensive play-caller, so it’s unlikely that the Rams are planning to build the offense around Higbee in 2023.
Sustained top-10 fantasy TE production seems unlikely for Higbee this coming season, but that’s okay when the man is priced as low as he is. Don’t be afraid to grab this legit every-down TE with a proven track record of fantasy goodness after the top-45 RBs, 64 WRs, and 18 QBs are already off the board.
Gerald Everett
- TE16 ADP, pick No. 149.5 overall
Everett enjoyed career-best marks in targets (87), receptions (58), and receiving yards (555) alike in 2022, and that doesn’t even include his sterling 6-109-1 performance in the Chargers’ ill-fated Wild Card loss to the Jaguars.
It’s hard to overstate just how impressive Everett's performance was in that playoff game. The veteran demonstrated some truly ridiculous yards-after-catch (YAC) ability on multiple occasions during that game, looking like a juiced-up WR with the ball in his hands.
Yes, Everett benefited from both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams missing time in 2022, but it's not like either Chargers WR has exactly been a model of good health over the last few seasons.
And yes, Everett was regularly forced into playing a suboptimal part-time role in an offense that made sure to keep the likes of Donald Parham, Stephen Anderson, and Tre’ McKitty (meow) also involved quite often under ex-offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi.
Chargers tight end Gerald Everett (7) eludes Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Chad Muma (48) as he heads into the end zone for a touchdown during second quarter action. The Jacksonville Jaguars hosted the Los Angeles Chargers in their first round playoff game Saturday, January 14, 2023 at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla. The Jaguars trailed 27 to 7 at the half. Photo Credit: Bob Self/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK
One of the main knocks on Everett is seemingly in reference to the time that he was too tired to make a play against the Chiefs last year, which led to a game-altering pick-six by Justin Herbert. However, it's important to note that this happened in Week 2 of 2022 and didn’t impact Everett’s playing time for the rest of the season.
On top of that, the reason Everett was winded in the first place was due to the fact that he'd just caught back-to-back passes for 33 yards to get the offense down to the goal line, and he literally asked for a breather prior to that play and shouldn’t have been leaned on in that position.
One single PPR point separated the TE9 and TE15 on a per-game basis last season, so the fantasy TE2 landscape is generally a sh*tshow anyway.
Because of this innate uncertainty at the TE position in fantasy, don’t be afraid to wait on someone like Everett, who has YAC playmaking ability and will once again be playing on one of the league’s best offenses heading into 2023.
My most-drafted TE of the offseason, Everett is a full-time role away from vying for weekly top-eight TE production. And even if Los Angeles continues mixing in their other TEs, Everett would still be tough to slide too far down the TE2 ranks thanks to his ability to provide true boom weeks on this efficient Chargers offense with Herbert.
Round 17-18 TEs
Here are some notable TE options currently being drafted in the final two rounds on Underdog:
- Hayden Hurst (ADP of pick No. 197.5 overall)
- Luke Musgrave (198.9)
- Trey McBride (202.2)
- Isaiah Likely (205.6)
- Jake Ferguson (206.7)
- Michael Mayer (209)
- Noah Fant (211.3)
- Jelani Woods (211.8)
- Hunter Henry (212.8)
- Logan Thomas (214.7)
- Cade Otton (214.9)
These TEs are pretty much all legit starting options for their respective teams. While not every one of these TEs is guaranteed to have a true full-time role, there are a few that probably will (Henry, Thomas, and Otton).
The rest are a mix of upside youngsters (Musgrave, McBride, Likely, Woods, and Mayer) and veterans who at least profile as the lead option in a good passing game (Ferguson, Fant, and maybe Hurst).
No other position boasts this sort of depth at literally the very end of drafts.
Whether it's adding a late TE2 to a roster that already has an early-round top-seven TE or grabbing a TE2 and TE3 for a roster that faded TEs early in the draft, it’s great knowing that there are so many viable TE options in Rounds 17 and 18.
While I do love going after Higbee and Everett a bit earlier than this, all these super late-round TEs provide relief against reaching on similar archetypes like Dalton Schultz, Cole Kmet, or Irv Smith among others going multiple rounds earlier.
You can take a few shots on these late-round TEs on Underdog Fantasy, where you can also get a 100% deposit match of up to $100 when you sign up with promo code LIFE! Sign up below and start drafting today!
