2023 Fantasy Football TE Tiers

2023 Fantasy Football TE Tiers

Yes, the NFL season doesn’t start for basically another six months. Also yes, fantasy football never sleeps, and it’s always a great day to be great.

What follows is the first edition of my 2023 fantasy football RB tiers. The players are ranked in order within their specific tiers, but realize that the disparity is far wider between tiers as opposed to individual rankings.

Check out Fantasy Life’s ADP tool for updated average draft position data throughout the offseason.

Tier 1: The Fantasy TE GOAT (TE1)

TE1: Chiefs TE Travis Kelce

• Underdog ADP: TE1 (6.1)
• Key question: Is Kelce’s age high enough to be a concern at this point?

Meh. While Travis Kelce will turn 34 years old in October, there have historically been more elderly fantasy stars at the TE position than at RB or WR.

Nothing about Kelce’s underlying data in 2022 seemed to indicate there will a true drop-off in performance for him next season. The man remains plenty capable of putting even the league’s best corners into a blender.

Kelce has been the overall PPR TE1 in six of the last seven years.

Read that sentence again. That kind of elite production and consistency is madness. Continue to fire up Patrick Mahomes’s undisputed No. 1 pass-game option as the top-overall player at the TE position in fantasy.

Tier 2: Overall TE2 upside (TE2-6)

TE2: Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson

• Underdog ADP: TE3 (43.9)
• Key question: Just how good was Hockenson with the Vikings?

Pretty, pretty, pretty good. T.J. Hockenson played 10 full games with the Vikings after being traded in early November:

• Week 9: 9-70-0 (9 targets)
• Week 10: 7-45-0 (10 targets)
• Week 11: 5-34-0 (9 targets)
• Week 12: 5-43-1 (6 targets)
• Week 13: 4-33-0 (6 targets)
• Week 14: 6-77-0 (8 targets)
• Week 15: 3-33-0 (9 targets)
• Week 16: 13-109-2 (16 targets)
• Week 17: 7-59-0 (12 targets)
• Wild Card: 10-129-0 (11 targets)

His per-game stats with Minnesota last year would've put Hockenson on pace for a 117-1,074-5 stat line on 163 targets over a 17-game season. Not too shabby!

The release of Adam Thielen was also good news for Hockenson’s chances to continue demanding an awful lot of targets.

New No. 2 TE Josh Oliver has caught just 26 passes in 35 career games, so Justin Jefferson is the only player projected to see more weekly pass-game volume than Hockenson in this offense heading into 2023.

Hockenson's 1.73 yards per route run (YPRR) ranked 10th among TEs last season, and his 76.4 Pro Football Focus (PFF) receiving grade ranked ninth (including playoffs).

He's a very good real life talent with one of the position’s most fantasy-friendly roles, making Hockenson my overall TE2 at the moment, as the next two players on this list below have much more uncertainty at QB.

TE3: Ravens TE Mark Andrews

• Underdog ADP: TE2 (41)
• Key question: Was last year a blip on the radar or a sign of things to come?

I lean towards the former. While Mark Andrews’s 2022 campaign was widely viewed as a disappointment, he did still finish as the TE3 in PPR points per game (PPG).

The extended absence of Lamar Jackson as well as lingering knee and shoulder issues didn’t help, as Andrews fell well behind Kelce in fantasy production just one season after having snatching away the TE1 fantasy crown in 2021.

Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews (89) can't haul in a touchdown reception as Jacksonville Jaguars safety Andre Cisco (5) defends during the fourth quarter of a regular season NFL football matchup Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022 at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville. The Jaguars edged the Ravens 28-27. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] Jki 112722 Nfl Ravens Jags 56

Still, Andrews’s status as the Ravens’ clear-cut No. 1 pass-game option continued to yield far more fantasy-friendly opportunities relative to everyone at the TE position outside of Kelce. Only six TEs averaged at least 11.0 expected PPR PPG last season:

1. Kelce (17.2 expected PPR PPG)
2. Andrews (14.0)
3. Zach Ertz (13.0)
4. Hockenson (12.9)
5. Dalton Schultz (11.0)
6. Kyle Pitts (11.0)

Fast forward to 2023, and so far, the only newfound target competition for Andrews is…Nelson Agholor.

While I would take George Kittle ahead of Andrews in a real-life NFL Draft, Andrews figures to see far more volume on an otherwise rather depleted passing attack, making him the better option in fantasy.

TE4: 49ers TE George Kittle

• Underdog ADP: TE4 (54.9)
• Key question: Will Kittle ever get the target volume that he deserves?

Probably not, but that’s life on arguably the NFL’s most-loaded offense. Here was the target distribution in the five games where both Brock Purdy and Deebo Samuel were fully healthy:

• Samuel: 34
• Brandon Aiyuk: 26
• Christian McCaffrey: 26
• George Kittle: 21
• Jauan Jennings: 15

Credit to Kittle for making the most out of his opportunities during that stretch – he’s really good at football – but he needs to play like a complete world-beater in order to maintain top-three fantasy TE production.

Overall, Kittle was just the TE12 in expected PPR PPG despite having finished last season as the TE2 in actual PPR PPG. The only TE even close to Kittle in terms of fantasy points above expectation last year (+55) was Taysom Hill (+43.8), who I maintain shouldn’t even be listed as a TE in the first place.

It’s generally a good idea to have incredible real-life players on your fantasy football team. Just realize that Kittle’s lack of projected target volume is enough to keep him out of my top-three players at the TE position.

TE5: Eagles TE Dallas Goedert

• Underdog ADP: TE6 (70.4)
• Key question: Does Goedert have the same talent as the other top-five TEs?

Yes. Here are Dallas Goedert's PFF receiving grades and YPRR marks over the last five years:

• 2022: 81.7 PFF (No. 4), 1.82 YPRR (No. 4)
• 2021: 90.5 PFF (No. 3), 2.34 YPRR (No. 2)
• 2020: 76.4 PFF (No. 11), 1.63 YPRR (No. 9)
• 2019: 78.9 PFF (No. 9), 1.64 YPRR (No. 16)
• 2018: 70.5 PFF (No. 15), 1.44 YPRR (No. 17)

Feb 12, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, US; Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert (88) makes a catch against Kansas City Chiefs cornerback L'Jarius Sneed (38) and safety Bryan Cook (6) in the third quarter of Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Similar to Kittle and the 49ers, the only thing holding Goedert back from a top-three ranking the fact that the Eagles' roster is similarly loaded with talented receivers who demand targets.

It’s unlikely that he will ever get truly ridiculous target volume like Kelce or Andrews have, although Goedert was on pace to see a respectable 98.6 targets last year over a 17-game pace based on his per-game stats during his 15 full starts.

Goedert, is an injury away to A.J. Brown or DeVonta Smith from making a serious push to leapfrog both Andrews and Hockenson. Like Kittle, he deserves to be ranked in Tier 2 due to having demonstrated baller ability that should help provide some boom weeks even if ideal volume doesn’t come along.

TE6: Giants TE Darren Waller

• Underdog ADP: TE7 (81.3)
• Key question: Is Waller’s new landing spot enough to push him back into the weekly upside TE1 conversation?

My Magic 8 Ball said that the outlook appears good.

One of the biggest moves during free agency landed Daniel Jones arguably the most proven pass-game weapon of his young career. The Giants used the third-round pick they received from the Kadarius Toney trade in order to acquire Waller.

The 30-year-old TE is one of the league's top receiving threats at the position when healthy, having put up blistering 90-1145-3 and 107-1196-9 receiving lines in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Alas, injuries have prevented Waller from replicating those feats over the past two seasons, as ankle, knee, and hamstring issues have limited the one-time Pro Bowler to just 20 regular season games since 2021.

While Waller might be a bit long in the tooth, his NFL career really never got going until 2019 due to off-field issues, and the TE position historically does a better job producing elderly high-end fantasy assets than any position other than QB.

The real allure for Waller in fantasy comes down to the pristine landing spot, as New York ranks in the top five in both available targets and air yards. Even though the Giants re-signed much of their 2022 roster at WR, they still don't have much proven pass-catching talent returning for 2023.

In fact, two of their top projected WRs, Sterling Shepard and Wan'Dale Robinson, are both returning from ACL tears, and neither might be 100% healthy in time for Week 1.

Although Jones hasn't put up the biggest numbers through the air over the years, the potential for Waller to lead this team in targets this coming season vaults him back up into this tier of fantasy TEs that could be true difference-makers in 2023.

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Tier 3: Capable of making a top-five leap (TE7-10)

TE7: Jaguars TE Evan Engram

• Underdog ADP: TE8 (86.7)
• Key question: Can Engram keep on keeping on after a rather awesome 2022 season?

Evan Engram’s bounce-back season in 2022 featured career-best marks in receptions (73) and receiving yards (766), and he was only one of seven players at the position to catch at least 15 passes that gained 15-plus yards.

In fact, Engram was only charged with three drops last year after having logged 12 drops during his final two seasons with the Giants. The former first-round pick was the latest TE to put up big-time fantasy numbers under Doug Pederson, and he looked good while doing so.

Yes, Engram failed to gain more than 30 receiving yards in nine of 17 regular-season contests, and an awful lot of his production came in one majestic 11-162-2 performance in Week 14.

But to be fair, that's the sort of blow-up performance fantasy GMs would occasionally expect and want from a 6'3, 234 lb. freak athlete with the ability to run a 4.42 40-yard dash.

The Jaguars' ascending passing attack is more crowded than ever with Christian Kirk there and Calvin Ridley returning from suspension to replace Marvin Jones, but that doesn't preclude Engram from deserving a top-eight TE ranking in fantasy.

The better question might be whether or not it’s worth attacking the middle tier of TEs in general when it's been difficult to predict production for TEs drafted in that range in recent years.

Ultimately, Engram will be a staple in the later rounds of traditional redraft formats, and his high weekly ceiling makes him an awesome stacking partner with Trevor Lawrence in best ball formats.

TE8: Browns TE David Njoku

• Underdog ADP: TE11 (102.7)
• Key question: Can Njoku replicate his 2022 success following the QB change?

David Njoku is in a similar boat as Amari Cooper. Both Browns pass-catchers saw success with Jacoby Brissett under center, but their 2022 seasons ended on a bit of a sour note once Deshaun Watson returned late in the year.

Here are Njoku's receiving lines in his five games with Watson under center:

• Week 14: 7-59-1 (9 targets)
• Week 15: 3-28-0 (6 targets)
• Week 16: 2-14-0 (5 targets)
• Week 17: 1-21-0 (3 targets)
• Week 18: 4-42-1 (5 targets)

His performances in Week 14 and Week 18 were enough to produce a top-six weekly fantasy finish, but Njoku's poor showings from Weeks 15 to 17 weren't enough to even crack a top-24 weekly fantasy finish at TE.

The silver lining is that Njoku at least played over 90% of the offense’s snaps in all five of Watson's starts, so there’s no doubt as to who the Browns’ clear No. 1 TE heading into 2023.

The issue is that Watson was really bad in 2022 outside of his intermediate passing accuracy per Player Profiler:

• EPA per play: -0.16 (No. 37 among 38 qualifying QBs)
• Yards per attempt: 6.5 (No. 33)
• Accuracy 0-10 yards downfield: 62.4% (No. 36)
• Accuracy 11-20 yards downfield: 74.4% (No. 3)
• Accuracy 21+ yards downfield: 20.0% (No. 38)

Some context is needed, though. Watson’s pass-catchers posted a top-10 drop rate once he got under center in Week 13 (including three dropped TDs against the Saints in Week 16), and it would make sense if his head wasn’t exactly in a great spot following one of the more ridicule-filled offseasons in recent memory.

It's good news for both Watson and Njoku that one of Matthew Berry’s 23 most interesting things he heard at the NFL Combine stated that the Browns “are really going to open up the offense. Go five wide. Pass a lot. This is going to be Deshaun Watson's offense, not Nick Chubb's. They will pass a lot more than folks expect.”

Ultimately, Njoku is deserving of top-eight TE status and has the potential to leap into the top five TEs sooner rather than later should Watson return to form and look more like the guy we saw in Houston from 2017 to 2021.

TE9: Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth

• Underdog ADP: TE10 (110.1)
• Key question: What was the Steelers’ target distribution like with Kenny Pickett under center?

There's pretty good news for all the Pat Freiermuth truthers out there. The target distribution in Pickett’s 11 full games played was as follows:

• Diontae Johnson: 92
• Freiermuth: 67
• George Pickens: 58
• Najee Harris: 38
• Chase Claypool: 27
• Zach Gentry: 19
• Jaylen Warren (18)
• Steven Sims (17)
• Connor Heyward (10)

The 24-year-old TE only found the end zone twice but saw fairly high target volume, which is rare at the position, especially considering that Freiermuth only played more than 75% of the offense’s snaps in five games last year.

More TDs in 2023 isn’t guaranteed for Freiermuth, but it’d make sense if Pickett were to grow a bit as a passer during his sophomore season.

Freiermuth ranked top-seven among TEs in both PFF receiving grade (78.3) and YPRR (1.68) and fits the mold of an ascending young talent on a passing offense with nowhere to go but up. He could flirt with making it into the second TE tier in a hurry if Pickett were to emerge as even an average signal-caller.

TE10: Falcons TE Kyle Pitts

• Underdog ADP: TE5 (63.4)
• Key question: Does Pitts need to be an absolute superstar to make up for the overall lack of volume in this offense?

Kinda sorta. On the one hand, Kyle Pitts did average 11 expected PPR PPG, which was tied for the fifth-highest mark among all TEs last season. Additionally, Pitts's 26.5% targets per route run (TPRR) led all TEs in 2022.

On the other hand, no TE scored fewer PPR points below expectation than Pitts (-34.5) on the season last year. That’s pretty disappointing but in line with expectations for a TE in an offense with objectively a bottom-five QB room.

Pitts also led all TEs in unrealized air yards (411.2) by a large margin, as many of his incomplete targets were deemed uncatchable, which is especially annoying given that Pitts boasts the largest measured wingspan of any NFL TE or WR in the last 20 years.

Minimal scoring upside has been a big knock on Pitts’s fantasy profile as well. Overall, he ranks dead last in percentage of PPR points to come from purely TDs (7.1%) among 31 TEs with at least 150 targets since 2020 (and are still in the NFL).

If Desmond Ridder or Taylor Heinicke is the answer, then I really don't want to know the question.

Pitts is still just 22 years old and deserves credit for already having logged a 1,000-yard season, but it’s plenty possible that he'll continue to work as the No. 2 pass-game option behind Drake London on the most run-heavy offense from 2022.

Every TE listed so far has flashed high-end real-life talent at one point or another in his career. I’m not sold on Pitts being innately that much better than the rest of these TEs, so he's not worth drafting ahead of them considering his rather large potential deficits in projected volume and offensive environment.

Pitt will be a fade for me as at his current positional ADP as a top-five TE.

Tier 4: TE1 upside (TE11-18)

TE11: Bears TE Cole Kmet

• Underdog ADP: TE13 (133)
• Key question: Is Kmet poised for even bigger things in 2023?

A whopping five of Cole Kmet’s seven TDs occurred in a three-week stretch last season, so fantasy managers weren’t able to consistently fire him up as a top-12 TE option with much confidence.

That said, Kmet was the man at TE in Chicago last year, playing over 80% of the snaps in every game and surpassing the 90% mark on all but three occasions. It’s hard to score fantasy points when not on the field, and the Bears gave Kmet more snaps than just about any other player at the position, so the opportunity was there.

Kmet is just 24 years old, and TEs almost always take a few years to get grooving. He didn’t put rank very highly in PFF receiving grade (66.1, No. 26), YPRR (1.27, No. 25), or TPRR (16.1%, No. 32), but his relatively cheap ADP makes up for his poor showing in those metrics.

The addition of Robert Tonyan gives Kmet some target competition, but it's not a huge concern given that the ex-Packer signed a small one-year, $2.65 million deal with just $1.25 million guaranteed.

I’m not going out of my way to land Kmet in fantasy this coming season, but he’s tough to keep out of the position’s top-12 options thanks to his expected every-down role on an offense tentatively expected to improve with a better overall supporting cast and potential third-year leap from Justin Fields.

TE12: Chargers TE Gerald Everett

• Underdog ADP: TE20 (181)
• Key question: Is he the late-round TE of 2023?

Gerald Everett is certainly my personal favorite late-round TE of 2023. The sixth-year veteran enjoyed career-best marks in targets (87), receptions (58), and receiving yards (555) 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.

Yes, Everett benefited from both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams missing time last season, although that could happen again this coming year, as neither WR has exactly been a model of good health during their respective careers.

Also yes, Everett was regularly forced into playing a suboptimal part-time role in an offense that made sure to keep the likes of Stephen Anderson, Donald Parham, and/or Tre’ McKitty (meow) also involved under former 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. [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union] Jki 011423 Bs Jaguars Vs Chargers Playoff 47 Photo Credit: Bob Self/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

But with the hire of new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who helped enable a far less explosive TE in Dalton Schultz to rather great fantasy heights during their time together in Dallas, Everett has new life.

One single PPR point separated the TE9 and TE15 on a per-game basis last season. The TE2 landscape is generally a mess, so don’t be afraid to wait on someone like Everett, who might just have the best overall offensive environment of the later-round TEs.

TE13: Rams TE Tyler Higbee

• Underdog ADP: TE18 (172.1)
• Key question: Can he replicate his volume-induced goodness in 2023?

It’s hard to rule out, particularly considering that Tyler Higbee managed to post fantasy goodness with both Matthew Stafford and Baker Mayfield under center.

His early-season numbers were impressive despite sharing the field with Cooper Kupp, and the rumored possibility of Allen Robinson playing elsewhere in 2023 would only open up even more target potential for the 30-year-old TE.

Of course, the most productive stretches of Higbee’s career have come during Sean McVay’s worst times as an offensive play-caller, so it’s unlikely that the Rams are planning to use Higbee as the focal point of their passing offense.

But at this point in fantasy drafts, what other players are available who have even briefly demanded enough targets to work as legit upside TE1 options?

There’s actually an argument that the Rams No. 1 TE underachieved in 2022. Only Kyle Pitts (-34.5) had more PPR fantasy points below expectation than Higbee (-32.9) did last season.

A player scoring fantasy points below expectation is sometimes due to being unlucky, and it’s sometimes can be a sign that the player is bad. Either way, Higbee had the volume of a legit top-five option at the position last season, so he carries upside despite his relatively low ADP.

TE14: Texans TE Dalton Schultz

• Underdog ADP: TE11 (127.4)
• Key question: Does the change in scenery nuke his fantasy value?

The Texans gave Dalton Schultz a one-year, $9 million deal. That's not exactly the sort of big-money deal that Schultz was perhaps hoping for after racking up 17 TDs for the Cowboys over the past three seasons. 

Still, he ranked 14th in YPRR and 19th in the percentage of routes to be considered open or wide open by PFF over the last two seasons. Schultz’s sometimes-elite fantasy numbers haven’t been backed by the same level of underlying efficiency.

Dallas Cowboys tight end Dalton Schultz (86) brings in a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans during the third quarter at Nissan Stadium Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. NFL Dallas Cowboys At Tennessee Titans Photo Credit: Andrew Nelles / Tennessean.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

Of course, volume has a way of curing middling efficiency, and absolutely nobody has more available targets or air yards than the Texans entering 2023. Schultz is one of a few TEs with a realistic opportunity to lead his offense in targets.

Target volume is far from guaranteed, and poor efficiency is possible for Schultz as well, since he could be playing with a rookie QB on an offense that hasn't done much of anything right for the better part of the last two seasons.

The ex-Cowboy isn't someone to go out of your way for in the middle rounds of drafts, but he displayed upside after finishing last year as the TE9 in PPR PPG. Any ADP outside of the top 12 TEs could make Schultz a value.

TE15: Bills TE Dawson Knox

• Underdog ADP: TE12 (129.3)
• Key question: Can he get back to partying like it’s 2021 again?

Dawson Knox is quite literally the most TD-dependent TE in the NFL.

The good news is that he’s made a habit of scoring a lot of TDs over the past two years. Since 2021, only Kelce (21) and Kittle (17) have caught more TDs than Knox (15).

The bad news is that Knox has been in an awesome offense pretty much devoid of a proven No. 2 pass-game option, and he hasn’t managed to demand targets at a high rate.

Perhaps things could change in his fifth season, as the Bills (again) haven’t made any major additions to their pass-catching corps thus far in the offseason. However, there's no reason to suggest that Knox will earn targets at a higher rate when he's failed to do so thus far in his career, keeping him in borderline TE1 territory at best.

TE16: Titans TE Chigoziem Okonkwo

• Underdog ADP: TE14 (138.8)
• Key question: Was 2022 just a fun small sample size or a sign of major things to come?

The Titans were getting Chiggy with it in 2022 (I’m sorry).

Seriously though, the fourth-round rookie was arguably Tennessee's most consistent pass-catcher all season long. While Chigoziem Okonkwo played more than half of the snaps on offense in just two games last year, he worked as one of the league’s most efficient TEs in just about every metric:

• PFF receiving grade: 84.6 (No. 2 among 47 qualifying TEs)
• YPRR: 2.61 (No. 1)
• Yards per reception: 14 (No. 1)
• Yards after the catch per reception: 7.8 (tied for No. 2)
• TPRR: 26.2% (No. 2)
• Passer rating when targeted: 125.1 (No. 7)

Draft capital aside, Okonkwo profiles as a poor man’s Kyle Pitts, essentially a WR who is designated as a TE on a run-first offense. Pitts has the QB advantage for now, but Okonkwo could actually contribute more as a receiver in 2023 and beyond.

Maybe the departure of Austin Hooper leads to more of a full-time role for Okonkwo this coming season, but even if not, Okonkwo is still a reasonable dart with middling TE2 ADP who has TE1 upside.

TE17: Broncos TE Greg Dulcich

• Underdog ADP: TE15 (142.1)
• Key question: How good was his rookie season relative to past first-year TEs?

Not too shabby. Hamstring injuries plagued Greg Dulcich both at the start and end of his rookie season, but he had five weeks of top-12 PPR finishes at the TE position for fantasy GMs to remember fondly.

Dulcich profiles more like a WR than a TE, and the Broncos didn't shy away from featuring the rookie on a near-every-down basis. He played at least 70% of offensive snaps in all but three of his healthy games and never finished under the 59% mark.

Dec 4, 2022; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Denver Broncos tight end Greg Dulcich (80) runs after the catch during the second half against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

It also helps that the will be led by longtime-Saints head coach Sean Payton in 2023, as Jimmy Graham once thrived as an elite TE in fantasy under Payton.

Then again, Graham was the only Saints TE to have averaged 12-plus PPR PPG in a single season during Payton’s tenure from 2006 to 2021. The only other TEs who even came close were Jared Cook with 11.96 PPR PPG in 2019 and Ben Watson with 11.90 PPR PPG in 2015.

On a scale from Jimmy Graham to Coby Fleener, I’m nervous about Dulcich landing closer to the Watsons and Cooks of the world than Graham.

Dulcich ranked as the third-worst TE in PFF’s run-blocking grade in 2022 among 103 qualifying TEs, so he doesn’t profile as an every-down option, even if he does wind up leading all of Denver's TEs in receiving stats. Lack of playing time or target volume are both concerns for Dulcich heading into next season.

TE18: Bengals TE Irv Smith

• Underdog ADP: TE28 (221.3)
• Key question: Is he a sneaky late-round bet as the likely No. 1 TE in Cincinnati?

Irv Smith flashed during his first two seasons in the league while working behind Kyle Rudolph. At 6’2 and 242 lbs. with a 4.63 40-yard dash time, Smith possesses true sort of seam-stretching ability that's rare in TEs, and he's still just 24 years old.

Of course, Smith joins an already loaded roster of pass-catchers as the No. 4 pass-game option, at best. The Bengals simply haven’t made a habit of keeping their TEs overly involved in the passing game with Joe Burrow under center:

• 2020 C.J. Uzomah: 10.7 expected PPR PPG (TE10)
• 2021 Uzomah: 6.3 expected PPR PPG (TE27)
• 2022 Hayden Hurst: 8.4 expected PPR PPG (TE16)

Smith is likely multiple injuries at WR away from flirting with top-12 status in fantasy, but his archetype still fits the mold of a solid late-round option who can provide the occasional big game during bye weeks and/or in best ball formats.

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Tier 5: The guy who doesn’t really play TE but is sometimes listed as a TE (TE19)

TE19: Saints “TE” Taysom Hill

• Underdog ADP: TE16 (153)
• Key question: Why does the fantasy industry continue to move forward with this charade?

First off, I’m offended that some fantasy platforms even give Taysom Hill a TE designation in fantasy football.

While the Saints technically list him as such on their roster, he played nearly three times as many snaps at QB (148) and twice as many snaps in the slot or out wide (101) as he did as a true in-line TE (51) in 2022.

Hill had more carries (96) and pass attempts (19) than he did targets (13) last season. As such, I strongly maintain that Hill is a real-life flex player in the NFL who should also be treated as such for fantasy purposes.

However, on the fantasy platforms where Hill is eligible to be played as a TE, he does provide some value.

That said, I’m out on Hill as someone worth going out of your way to land in most fantasy drafts. The pipe dream of him landing a full-time QB job seems slim with both Derek Carr and Jameis Winston signed in New Orleans for 2023, which leaves the soon to be 33-year-old QB/TE/flex in more of a gadget wild-cat role.

Kudos to Hill for making the most out of this role in 2022, but his standing as the TE34 in expected PPR PPG reflects the reality that he drastically out-performed his workload last season.

One target is worth roughly 2.7 carries in terms of expected PPR points, so a pure rushing role isn’t all that great for Hill's projected fantasy production outside of the occasional games where he breaks a long score or runs in multiple rushing TDs.

Tier 6: Unlikely TE1, but you could imagine (TE20-29)

TE20: Patriots TE Mike Gesicki

• Underdog ADP: TE19 (178.5)

TE21: Saints TE Juwan Johnson

• Underdog ADP: TE17 (158.6)

TE22: Cardinals TE Trey McBride

• Underdog ADP: TE21 (185.9)

TE23: Ravens TE Isaiah Likely

• Underdog ADP: TE23 (198.2)

TE24: Seahawks TE Noah Fant

• Underdog ADP: TE25 (204.2)

TE25: Patriots TE Hunter Henry

• Underdog ADP: TE29 (226.7)

TE26: Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson

• Underdog ADP: TE22 (195.6)

TE27: Colts TE Jelani Woods

• Underdog ADP: TE27 (214.2)

TE28: Buccaneers TE Cade Otton

• Underdog ADP: TE34

TE29: Commanders TE Logan Thomas

• Underdog ADP: TE43

Tier 7: The youngins (TE30-36)

TE30: Rookie TE Michael Mayer

• Underdog ADP: TE19

TE31: Rookie TE Dalton Kincaid

• Underdog ADP: TE24

TE32: Rookie TE Darnell Washington

• Underdog ADP: TE31

TE33: Rookie TE Luke Musgrave

• Underdog ADP: TE36

TE34: Rookie TE Sam LaPorta

• Underdog ADP: TE37

TE35: Broncos TE Albert Okwuegbunam

• Underdog ADP: TE38

TE36: Cowboys TE Peyton Hendershot

• Underdog ADP: TE42

Tier 8: At least one injury away from fantasy relevance (TE37-47)

TE37: Raiders TE Austin Hooper

• Underdog ADP: TE35

TE38: Jets TE Tyler Conklin

• Underdog ADP: TE29

TE39: Chiefs TE Noah Gray

• Underdog ADP: TE40

TE40: Panthers TE Hayden Hurst

• Underdog ADP: TE25

TE41: Colts TE Mo Alie-Cox

• Underdog ADP: N/A

TE42: Falcons TE Jonnu Smith

• Underdog ADP: TE47

TE43: Lions TE Brock Wright

• Underdog ADP: TE44

TE44: Cardinals TE Zach Ertz

• Underdog ADP: TE33

TE45: Giants TE Daniel Bellinger

• Underdog ADP: TE39

TE46: Bears TE Robert Tonyan

• Underdog ADP: TE41

TE47: Jets TE C.J. Uzomah

• Underdog ADP: TE46

Tier 9: So you’re saying there’s a chance (kind of) (TE48-61)

TE48: Raiders TE O.J. Howard

• Underdog ADP: TE48

TE49: Panthers TE Tommy Tremble

• Underdog ADP: TE55

TE50: Chargers TE Donald Parham

• Underdog ADP: TE44

TE51: Chiefs TE Jody Fortson

• Underdog ADP: TE59

TE52: Seahawks TE Will Dissly

• Underdog ADP: TE59

TE53: Colts TE Kylen Granson

• Underdog ADP: TE63

TE54: Browns TE Harrison Bryant

• Underdog ADP: TE59

TE55: Vikings TE Josh Oliver

• Underdog ADP: TE52

TE56: Texans TE Brevin Jordan

• Underdog ADP: TE53

TE57: Panthers TE Ian Thomas

• Underdog ADP: N/A

TE58: Lions TE James Mitchell

• Underdog ADP: TE54

TE59: Lions TE Shane Zylstra

• Underdog ADP: N/A

TE60: Eagles TE Jack Stoll

• Underdog ADP: N/A

TE61: Bengals TE Devin Asiasi

• Underdog ADP: N/A

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