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You know what tiers are. Players within tiers are all similar in projection, whereas the break between tiers is much more important. The biggest change in Best Ball versus normal leagues is an emphasis on ceiling outcomes. This applies to season-long and individual weeks. Given that most of the money in the Best Ball streets lies in tournaments, I’ve also added some weight to the final three weeks of the fantasy season.
Links to all of my Best Ball tiers can be found here:
QB Tiers | RB Tiers | WR Tiers | TE Tiers
Tier One
Travis Kelce (1) -- Kelce’s average depth of target has dropped in three consecutive years, but he has upped his YAC production to balance that out. Without Tyreek Hill, the Chiefs have no choice but to pile as many targets on Kelce as he can handle.
Mark Andrews (2) -- Andrews just recorded the third-most receptions and receiving yards for a tight end in a season. His team also passed an extra 10 times per game compared to 2020, so those stats stand on shaky ground.
Kyle Pitts (3) -- Pitts finished second among tight ends in air yards and fifth in targets as a rookie. He finished as the TE7 while scoring a single touchdown.
Tier Two
George Kittle (4) -- Kittle has more 30-point games than any other active tight end (until Gronk comes back).
Darren Waller (5) -- Waller has two seasons of over 1,100 yards in the past three years. He ranked fifth and first in target share but now has to contend with Davante Adams for looks.
Tier Three
Dallas Goedert (6) -- After Zach Ertz was traded, Goedert posted a 41/614/2 receiving line across ten games.
Dalton Schultz (7) -- Despite ranking third in receptions last year, Schultz was outside the top 10 tight ends in red zone targets and outside the top 20 in end zone looks.
Dawson Knox (8) -- Knox converted his 71 targets, 20th among tight ends, into a league-high in touchdowns (nine) at the position.
T.J. Hockenson (9) -- Before going down with a thumb injury, Hockenson was on pace for a 86/826/6 season. That was before the breakout of Amon-Ra St. Brown and the addition of Jameson Williams.
Tier Four
Zach Ertz (10) -- Ertz averaged five catches for 52 yards after joining Arizona. He was also heavily involved once DeAndre Hopkins went down, giving him a chance to start 2022 hot.
Pat Freiermuth (11) -- On the back of seven scores, Freiermuth posted one of the ten best fantasy seasons ever recorded by a rookie tight end. He was also middling to below-average in yards per target and yards per route run.
David Njoku (12) -- Njoku peaked at 639 yards, and that was in 2018. On the other hand, the Browns gave him a $56.8 million contract, so they think the best is yet to come.
Cole Kmet (13) -- Kmet doubled his target total from year one to year two, and the Bears have the worst receiving room in the league.
Irv Smith (14) -- Smith has always split reps, failing to reach 400 yards in either of his two active seasons. His backups have 11 career catches, so this should be the year he ascends to a larger role.
Tyler Higbee (15) -- Higbee played on 92 percent of the Rams’ snaps and was second on the team in red zone targets.
Brevin Jordan (16) -- Jordan went for 178 yards and three scores across nine games as a rookie.
Mike Gesicki (17) -- Gesicki notched career-highs in targets (112), receptions (73), and receiving yards (780) in 2021. The target distribution is bound for a shakeup with Tyreek Hill in the mix, but the offense could improve under Mike McDaniel.
Tier Five
Hunter Henry (18) -- Henry ranked second in end zone targets and seventh in red zone targets in his first year with the Pats.
Daniel Bellinger (19) -- The Giants placed Ricky Seals-Jones on IR and cut rookie Austin Allen. Those moves put Bellinger at the front of the line for an every-down role.
Albert Okwuegbunam (20) -- Big O has finished top-10 in yards per route run at tight end in both of his pro seasons. With Greg Dulcich injured to start the year, Albert O has a chance to open the season hot.
Robert Tonyan (21) -- Tonyan scored 11 times while playing with Davante Adams in 2020. Now he has no Adams to contend with, but we already saw the regression hitting before he went down with a torn ACL last year.
Gerald Everett (22) -- Everett has increased his yardage total in every season of his career and plays for the team that finished third in pass attempts last year.
Hayden Hurst (23) -- C.J. Uzomah had two multi-touchdown games as the Bengals’ starting tight end last year. Playing the same role, Hurst should have a similar weekly upside.
Logan Thomas (24) -- Thomas played nearly every snap while operating as the Commanders’ de facto WR2 in 2020. Whenever he is healthy, he has a strong shot at reclaiming that role.
Tier Six
Noah Fant (25) -- The Seahawks were dead last in pass attempts last year and Drew Lock ranks 50th out of 65 quarterbacks in adjusted yards per attempt in the past five years.
Evan Engram (26) -- In Doug Pederson‘s eight years as a head coach or offensive coordinator, a tight end has finished first or second on the team in targets seven times.
Austin Hooper (27) -- From the Titans’ minicamp, Hooper has “already surfaced as one of Tannehill’s preferred targets in the passing game.”
Jonnu Smith (28) -- Smith led all tight ends in targets per route run last year.
Mo Alie-Cox (29) -- MAC has always been a role player, but the massive (6'5/267) tight end could be leaned on in the red zone.
Cameron Brate (30) -- Brate tied Mark Andrews and Zach Ertz for the most red zone targets at his position in 2021. How is that even possible? He started three games.
Adam Trautman (31) -- Trautman earned an 80 percent snap share in 8-of-13 weeks last year, but the Saints’ run-first approach meant he spent most of his time blocking.
Trey McBride (32) -- The Colorado State alum totaled 90 catches for 1,121 yards as a senior, giving him an outside shot at earning meaningful playing time as a rookie.
Taysom Hill (33) -- Only draft Hill on Underdog, where he is eligible as a tight end but could see run as a quarterback.