This article is part of our Target Breakdown series.
Travis Kelce led tight ends in fantasy scoring for a sixth time in the past seven seasons in 2022, reclaiming his crown with authority after Mark Andrews' 2021 intrusion. Kelce outscored second-place T.J. Hockenson by 100.9 PPR points, averaging 18.6 per game in a year where George Kittle was the only other TE to average even 13 (Kittle finished as TE3 despite missing two games).
It was Kelce's third time in the past five seasons scoring 18 per game, which puts him in the company of WRs Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill as well as RBs Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry, Austin Ekeler and Alvin Kamara. No other tight end has hit that mark even once the past five years, though Andrews (2021) and Darren Waller (2020) came close.
Hopes for improved TE depth in 2023 partially depend on a bounce-back year from at least one of those two, along with incoming help from a rookie class that looks strong at the position. Notre Dame's Michael Mayer is a surefire first-round pick, likely in the Top 15, while Luke Musgrave (Oregon St.), Dalton Kincaid (Utah) and Darnell Washington (Georgia) could be drafted toward the end of Day 1 or early part of Day 2.
History suggests we're more likely to get big-time production out of an early pick from the 2021 draft (e.g. Pat Freiermuth, Kyle Pitts) or even the less-heralded 2022 class (e.g. Trey McBride, Chigoziem Okonkwo), but there is some recent precedent of rookies being fantasy-startable, including Freiermuth and Pitts two years ago and Isaiah Likely this past season when the Ravens didn't have Andrews available.
Before we get to tight ends, be sure to check out my similar recent articles on running backs and wide receivers. Both have everything you'll find below, including my early 2023 ranks for each position. Anyway, here's what you'll find below:
- 2022 Awards
- Injuries to Monitor this Offseason
- 2022 TE Stat Leaderboards (TPRR, aDOT, target share, etc)
- 2023 Free Agents & Potential Cap Casualties
- Early 2023 Fantasy Rankings (Top 32 TEs)
2022 Awards 🏆
Real-Life MVP: Travis Kelce
Fantasy MVP: Travis Kelce
Best Rookie: Chigoziem Okonkwo
Best ADP Return: Travis Kelce
Mid-Round Magic: T.J. Hockenson
Late-Round Hero: Evan Engram
Comeback Player: David Njoku
Most Improved: Cole Kmet
Brightest Future: Mark Andrews / Kyle Pitts
Least Valuable Player: Tyler Conklin / Logan Thomas
Biggest Fantasy Bust: Kyle Pitts
Biggest Fantasy Bust (non-injury): Mike Gesicki / Hunter Henry
Biggest Real-Life Bust: Hunter Henry
Offseason Injury Rehab 🚑
Kyle Pitts (MCL surgery in late November)
Zach Ertz (ACL + MCL surgery in late November)
Greg Dulcich (hamstring - placed on IR on Dec. 30)
Will Dissly (knee - last played Dec. 24)
2022 Stat Leaderboards 📈📈📈
My favorite stats for TEs are shown below, plus we have more good stuff on RotoWire's Advanced Stats and Red Zone pages.
- Rts = Routes Run
- Rt/DB = Routes Run / # of Team QB Dropbacks
- TS = Target Share (adjusted to only include games the TE played in)
- AY = Air Yards
- AYS = Air Yard Share (adjusted to only include games the TE played in)
- TPRR = Targets per Route Run
- YPRR = Yards per Route Run (receiving yards only)
- aDOT = Average Depth of Target
- PB% = Pass-blocking percentage (i.e., percentage of pass snaps kept in as a blocker)
Snaps | Sn % | Rts | Rt/DB | Tgt | TS | REC | YDS | TD | AY | AYS | aDOT | TPRR | YPRR | PB% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Travis Kelce | 863 | 79.0% | 548 | 81.1% | 152 | 24.8% | 110 | 1338 | 12 | 1081 | 24.5% | 7.1 | 29.0% | 2.55 | 12.2% |
Mark Andrews | 755 | 82.8% | 392 | 75.0% | 113 | 28.1% | 73 | 847 | 5 | 1080 | 33.4% | 9.6 | 29.4% | 2.21 | 3.2% |
Tyler Higbee | 868 | 87.0% | 410 | 70.7% | 108 | 21.7% | 72 | 620 | 3 | 312 | 9.3% | 2.9 | 35.2% | 2.02 | 15.2% |
Evan Engram | 829 | 77.3% | 487 | 78.7% | 98 | 17.0% | 73 | 766 | 4 | 585 | 14.2% | 6 | 21.0% | 1.64 | 7.8% |
Pat Freiermuth | 708 | 67.6% | 413 | 67.8% | 98 | 19.6% | 63 | 732 | 2 | 805 | 19.0% | 8.2 | 26.6% | 1.98 | 7.6% |
Dalton Schultz | 782 | 78.9% | 379 | 65.2% | 89 | 18.7% | 57 | 577 | 5 | 617 | 16.2% | 6.9 | 24.3% | 1.57 | 9.8% |
Tyler Conklin | 822 | 76.8% | 447 | 67.0% | 87 | 15.0% | 58 | 552 | 3 | 686 | 14.2% | 7.9 | 21.2% | 1.35 | 13.7% |
Gerald Everett | 648 | 59.5% | 421 | 56.4% | 87 | 13.7% | 58 | 555 | 4 | 470 | 12.1% | 5.4 | 25.4% | 1.62 | 10.1% |
George Kittle | 815 | 89.6% | 423 | 77.9% | 86 | 19.0% | 60 | 765 | 11 | 569 | 19.0% | 6.6 | 27.5% | 2.44 | 10.5% |
T.J. Hockenson | 567 | 83.9% | 350 | 48.8% | 86 | 21.8% | 60 | 519 | 3 | 647 | 19.6% | 7.5 | 28.6% | 1.72 | 12.4% |
David Njoku | 776 | 83.8% | 369 | 63.6% | 80 | 18.8% | 58 | 628 | 4 | 572 | 16.0% | 7.2 | 20.6% | 1.62 | 8.0% |
Cole Kmet | 934 | 94.1% | 362 | 83.4% | 69 | 19.4% | 50 | 544 | 7 | 504 | 15.7% | 7.3 | 20.6% | 1.62 | 17.5% |
Dallas Goedert | 702 | 89.5% | 337 | 58.3% | 69 | 19.4% | 55 | 702 | 3 | 409 | 14.9% | 5.9 | 20.2% | 2.05 | 9.3% |
Zach Ertz | 543 | 79.0% | 346 | 53.6% | 69 | 18.1% | 47 | 406 | 4 | 500 | 20.4% | 7.2 | 20.4% | 1.2 | 15.7% |
Hayden Hurst | 516 | 60.6% | 354 | 55.1% | 68 | 14.2% | 52 | 414 | 2 | 321 | 9.5% | 4.7 | 19.7% | 1.2 | 4.8% |
Robert Tonyan | 568 | 54.2% | 331 | 56.4% | 67 | 12.5% | 53 | 470 | 2 | 377 | 9.0% | 5.6 | 23.3% | 1.63 | 19.7% |
Dawson Knox | 788 | 80.2% | 420 | 70.0% | 65 | 12.7% | 48 | 517 | 6 | 471 | 10.6% | 7.2 | 14.6% | 1.16 | 10.2% |
Cade Otton | 765 | 69.6% | 434 | 59.4% | 65 | 10.6% | 42 | 391 | 2 | 365 | 9.1% | 5.6 | 18.8% | 1.13 | 11.6% |
Juwan Johnson | 627 | 65.4% | 343 | 63.1% | 65 | 14.2% | 42 | 508 | 7 | 604 | 14.6% | 9.3 | 20.6% | 1.61 | 9.0% |
Noah Fant | 625 | 60.0% | 331 | 53.6% | 63 | 11.4% | 50 | 486 | 4 | 400 | 9.5% | 6.3 | 20.1% | 1.55 | 10.4% |
Logan Thomas | 656 | 68.6% | 346 | 57.8% | 61 | 15.0% | 39 | 323 | 1 | 416 | 12.2% | 6.8 | 21.9% | 1.16 | 12.1% |
Austin Hooper | 503 | 50.7% | 302 | 60.0% | 60 | 13.8% | 41 | 444 | 2 | 471 | 14.0% | 7.9 | 21.0% | 1.55 | 6.0% |
Isaiah Likely | 389 | 39.5% | 244 | 46.7% | 60 | 15.5% | 36 | 373 | 3 | 422 | 13.0% | 7 | 30.5% | 1.89 | 5.4% |
Hunter Henry | 762 | 75.8% | 391 | 67.5% | 59 | 12.1% | 41 | 509 | 2 | 461 | 13.1% | 7.8 | 18.2% | 1.57 | 13.3% |
Kyle Pitts | 415 | 71.9% | 192 | 43.1% | 59 | 27.8% | 28 | 356 | 2 | 764 | 34.0% | 12.9 | 28.5% | 1.72 | 11.3% |
Greg Dulcich | 474 | 75.0% | 294 | 46.4% | 55 | 18.2% | 33 | 411 | 2 | 617 | 24.5% | 11.2 | 21.4% | 1.6 | 10.1% |
Foster Moreau | 715 | 77.9% | 321 | 52.9% | 54 | 11.6% | 33 | 420 | 2 | 408 | 9.7% | 7.6 | 18.3% | 1.42 | 10.9% |
Jordan Akins | 387 | 43.6% | 286 | 46.9% | 54 | 11.2% | 37 | 495 | 5 | 407 | 11.7% | 7.5 | 20.9% | 1.92 | 8.3% |
Mike Gesicki | 451 | 44.7% | 337 | 58.9% | 52 | 9.1% | 32 | 362 | 5 | 465 | 9.1% | 8.9 | 15.9% | 1.11 | 9.3% |
Chigoziem Okonkwo | 361 | 36.4% | 154 | 30.6% | 46 | 11.9% | 32 | 450 | 3 | 348 | 11.8% | 7.6 | 34.1% | 3.33 | 7.5% |
Darren Waller | 325 | 57.9% | 231 | 38.1% | 43 | 15.7% | 28 | 388 | 3 | 556 | 22.1% | 12.9 | 18.1% | 1.63 | 1.5% |
Harrison Bryant | 538 | 48.0% | 232 | 40.0% | 42 | 9.8% | 31 | 239 | 1 | 228 | 6.4% | 5.4 | 20.9% | 1.19 | 5.7% |
Kylen Granson | 390 | 45.1% | 216 | 32.6% | 40 | 8.7% | 31 | 302 | 0 | 241 | 8.3% | 6 | 19.2% | 1.45 | 9.5% |
Jelani Woods | 318 | 32.4% | 203 | 30.6% | 40 | 9.3% | 25 | 312 | 3 | 400 | 15.1% | 10 | 31.0% | 2.42 | 6.1% |
Trey McBride | 569 | 52.7% | 286 | 44.3% | 39 | 12.3% | 29 | 265 | 1 | 234 | 10.2% | 6 | 22.5% | 1.53 | 17.3% |
Will Dissly | 544 | 60.4% | 227 | 36.7% | 38 | 7.7% | 34 | 349 | 3 | 188 | 5.1% | 4.9 | 17.7% | 1.62 | 13.6% |
Jonnu Smith | 410 | 49.5% | 155 | 26.8% | 38 | 10.2% | 27 | 245 | 0 | 125 | 4.5% | 3.3 | 29.5% | 1.9 | 13.0% |
Cameron Brate | 342 | 47.0% | 227 | 31.1% | 38 | 10.7% | 20 | 174 | 0 | 262 | 9.6% | 6.9 | 19.6% | 0.9 | 9.9% |
Irv Smith | 270 | 52.3% | 160 | 22.3% | 36 | 13.0% | 25 | 182 | 2 | 174 | 10.0% | 4.8 | 22.9% | 1.16 | 13.8% |
Daniel Bellinger | 553 | 72.6% | 234 | 41.5% | 35 | 11.2% | 30 | 268 | 2 | 127 | 6.9% | 3.6 | 17.9% | 1.37 | 10.4% |
Noah Gray | 576 | 52.7% | 240 | 35.5% | 34 | 5.7% | 28 | 299 | 1 | 164 | 3.7% | 4.8 | 15.1% | 1.33 | 21.7% |
Colby Parkinson | 428 | 41.1% | 194 | 31.4% | 34 | 7.6% | 25 | 322 | 2 | 277 | 7.9% | 8.1 | 21.3% | 2.01 | 10.0% |
Tommy Tremble | 487 | 50.0% | 219 | 44.5% | 32 | 9.2% | 19 | 174 | 3 | 251 | 8.8% | 7.8 | 17.2% | 0.94 | 12.9% |
Ian Thomas | 533 | 54.7% | 143 | 29.1% | 30 | 8.5% | 21 | 197 | 0 | 59 | 2.3% | 2 | 28.3% | 1.86 | 22.7% |
Mo Alie-Cox | 564 | 51.1% | 253 | 38.2% | 28 | 6.4% | 19 | 189 | 3 | 156 | 5.0% | 5.6 | 16.1% | 1.09 | 17.9% |
Brevin Jordan | 259 | 38.3% | 129 | 21.1% | 28 | 9.1% | 14 | 128 | 0 | 204 | 9.0% | 7.3 | 23.9% | 1.09 | 13.1% |
C.J. Uzomah | 510 | 53.6% | 208 | 31.2% | 27 | 6.6% | 21 | 232 | 2 | 186 | 5.4% | 6.9 | 20.0% | 1.72 | 16.9% |
Josh Oliver | 498 | 47.3% | 137 | 26.2% | 25 | 7.4% | 14 | 149 | 2 | 206 | 7.8% | 8.2 | 24.5% | 1.46 | 9.1% |
Brock Wright | 564 | 51.8% | 154 | 26.4% | 24 | 5.8% | 18 | 216 | 4 | 69 | 2.6% | 2.9 | 20.5% | 1.85 | 20.2% |
Eric Saubert | 372 | 34.5% | 170 | 26.8% | 24 | 6.5% | 15 | 148 | 1 | 182 | 6.6% | 7.6 | 17.5% | 1.08 | 12.1% |
Zach Gentry | 550 | 49.6% | 163 | 26.8% | 23 | 5.0% | 19 | 132 | 0 | 59 | 1.6% | 2.6 | 17.8% | 1.02 | 16.3% |
O.J. Howard | 296 | 38.5% | 115 | 18.9% | 23 | 6.4% | 10 | 145 | 2 | 224 | 8.8% | 9.7 | 21.9% | 1.38 | 15.9% |
Adam Trautman | 503 | 57.1% | 137 | 25.2% | 22 | 6.6% | 18 | 207 | 1 | 116 | 4.0% | 5.3 | 25.3% | 2.38 | 14.1% |
John Bates | 489 | 45.0% | 118 | 19.7% | 22 | 7.3% | 14 | 108 | 1 | 108 | 4.6% | 4.9 | 25.6% | 1.26 | 19.4% |
Jake Ferguson | 411 | 39.4% | 94 | 16.2% | 22 | 6.4% | 19 | 174 | 2 | 65 | 2.3% | 3 | 42.3% | 3.35 | 16.1% |
MyCole Pruitt | 308 | 39.7% | 72 | 16.2% | 21 | 8.9% | 16 | 150 | 4 | 100 | 4.5% | 4.8 | 32.3% | 2.31 | 20.5% |
Johnny Mundt | 433 | 38.6% | 140 | 19.5% | 21 | 4.3% | 19 | 140 | 1 | 20 | 0.6% | 1 | 20.0% | 1.33 | 15.9% |
Durham Smythe | 535 | 57.2% | 145 | 25.3% | 20 | 5.7% | 15 | 129 | 1 | 75 | 2.4% | 3.8 | 24.4% | 1.57 | 21.9% |
Lawrence Cager | 195 | 50.5% | 101 | 17.9% | 18 | 11.6% | 13 | 118 | 1 | 94 | 8.9% | 5.2 | 17.3% | 1.13 | 6.8% |
Mitchell Wilcox | 475 | 45.1% | 177 | 27.6% | 18 | 5.5% | 17 | 139 | 1 | 76 | 3.2% | 4.2 | 17.1% | 1.32 | 12.0% |
Tre' McKitty | 518 | 44.9% | 197 | 26.4% | 18 | 5.9% | 10 | 72 | 0 | 81 | 4.1% | 4.5 | 21.2% | 0.85 | 19.6% |
Albert Okwuegbunam | 178 | 34.6% | 128 | 20.2% | 18 | 9.1% | 10 | 95 | 1 | 104 | 6.5% | 5.8 | 14.4% | 0.76 | 12.9% |
Geoff Swaim | 556 | 56.1% | 101 | 20.1% | 16 | 5.2% | 12 | 58 | 1 | 32 | 1.3% | 2 | 23.2% | 0.84 | 14.7% |
Peyton Hendershot | 287 | 25.7% | 107 | 18.4% | 16 | 6.1% | 11 | 103 | 2 | 103 | 5.2% | 6.4 | 23.9% | 1.54 | 8.0% |
Tanner Hudson | 244 | 34.5% | 135 | 23.9% | 15 | 9.8% | 10 | 132 | 0 | 108 | 10.9% | 7.2 | 16.7% | 1.47 | 10.0% |
Jack Stoll | 546 | 48.4% | 183 | 31.7% | 14 | 5.3% | 11 | 123 | 0 | 88 | 3.5% | 6.3 | 13.3% | 1.17 | 13.4% |
Teagan Quitoriano | 152 | 28.2% | 108 | 17.7% | 14 | 6.3% | 7 | 113 | 2 | 142 | 8.5% | 10.1 | 19.4% | 1.57 | 20.8% |
Eric Tomlinson | 390 | 36.2% | 83 | 13.1% | 13 | 4.8% | 9 | 79 | 2 | 57 | 2.5% | 4.4 | 31.7% | 1.93 | 20.5% |
Taysom Hill | 314 | 33.0% | 104 | 19.1% | 13 | 4.8% | 9 | 77 | 2 | 68 | 3.3% | 5.2 | 22.4% | 1.33 | 1.8% |
Donald Parham | 137 | 32.7% | 62 | 8.3% | 12 | 5.2% | 10 | 130 | 1 | 113 | 7.5% | 9.4 | 30.0% | 3.25 | 14.4% |
2023 Free Agents & Possible Cap Casualties 💰💰💰
Scheduled Free Agents
Potential Cap Casualties
Hunter Henry (up to $10.5 million in 2023 cap savings)
Jonnu Smith (up to $4.6 million)
Logan Thomas (up to $6.9 million)
Will Dissly (up to $6.1 million, knee injury)
Cameron Brate (up to $4 million)
Ian Thomas (up to $3.1 million)
2023 Predictions & Top-32 Rankings 🔢🔢🔢
2023 Fantasy MVP: Mark Andrews
2023 Real-Life MVP: George Kittle
2023 Best Rookie: Michael Mayer
Too-Early 2023 TE Rankings (Full PPR)
- Travis Kelce
- Mark Andrews
- Kyle Pitts
- George Kittle
- T.J. Hockenson
- Darren Waller
- Dallas Goedert
- Pat Freiermuth
- David Njoku
- Evan Engram
- Dalton Schultz
- Cole Kmet
- Dawson Knox
- Michael Mayer
- Chigoziem Okonkwo
- Hayden Hurst
- Trey McBride
- Mike Gesicki
- Tyler Higbee
- Cade Otton
- Isaiah Likely
- Noah Fant
- Gerald Everett
- Luke Musgrave
- Dalton Kincaid
- Juwan Johnson
- Taysom Hill
- Daniel Bellinger
- Greg Dulcich
- Hunter Henry
- Tyler Conklin
- Austin Hooper