If there’s one thing we are known for at Fantasy Alarm, it’s NFL tight ends. Howard Bender and I spend extensive time on the position every year, deliberating our tight end rankings and looking for value at ADP. We’ve been able to generate a lot of value simply by avoiding the fantasy busts and highlighting a couple sleepers and breakouts each year. So, why stop now?

Having a couple later tight ends you feel comfortable about drafting can create a ton of leverage in your best ball leagues. You need to draft two or three of them, and knowing there is a late-round option you can fall back on allows you to be flexible in the early rounds. 

Just like we already did in our running back article and our wide receiver article, we’re going to look at the values across five different best ball platforms using our ADP Tool and figure out what the best value plays on RT Sports are. And, if you like any of these players and want to take advantage of these discounts, you can use promo code ALARM23 to get set up with RT Sports today to the tune of a $200 deposit match bonus!

 

 

 

Jake Ferguson, TE, Dallas Cowboys

One of the aspects of the tight end position that makes it so difficult to evaluate is how important opportunity is. Teams have multiple wide receivers on the field virtually every play so it’s easier for talented players to earn targets. At tight end, not only do you need to be the top pass catching TE on the team, but you also often need to battle with multiple wide receivers for those targets.

With Jake Ferguson, he might not be the most athletic tight end or even the most talented. But opportunity has absolutely worked in his favor. After CeeDee Lamb, the Cowboys are devoid of a second major wide receiver. That’s how Ferguson ended up as the second target on the team, cracking 100 last year. And this offseason they did little to add a major piece, so Ferguson will once again be in the mix on what should be a high-volume pass attack.

We don’t draft Ferguson for his ability to generate yards or even touchdowns – it’s those targets that create his value. Which is why it is odd that Ferguson goes higher on both of the half PPR formats (Yahoo and Underdog). In fact, of all the platforms we looked at (RT Sports, NFFC, FFPC, Yahoo, Underdog), RT Sports was the latest he was going at pick 90.46 on average. If Ferguson is your guy, RT Sports is the place to draft him.

 

 

 

Isaiah Likely, TE, Baltimore Ravens

After Mark Andrews went down, Isaiah Likely was a top-five PPR tight end in fantasy football over the remainder of the season. He played so well last year and has been so “locked in” this offseason per John Harbaugh that reports suggest the primary formation for the Ravens could be 12 personnel with Likely in a hybrid WR role.

Typically, with the top two tight ends on an NFL depth chart, you will see one that skews passing and one that skews towards blocking. But, with the Ravens, the top two both play a similar pass-heavy role, lining up at WR for more than two thirds of their snaps and blocking on less than 2.3% of pass plays. Charlie Kolar and Patrick Ricard handle the inline blocking duties. With this new setup, Likely could be a “handcuff plus” of sorts where he can crack your lineup at times on a standalone basis AND have big upside if Mark Andrews gets hurt.

And, if that sounds good to you, RT Sports is the place to draft him. On every platform we looked at, Likely goes inside of the top 180 picks. On RT Sports, he isn’t being drafted within the top 200. That’s a minimum 20 pick difference regardless of where you play, so there’s no argument about where he is most affordable.

 

 

 

Noah Fant, TE, Seattle Seahawks

In typical redraft leagues, we don’t usually go for a guy like Fant. With 10-12 teams and one TE spot, we want guys that have top five tight end in their range of outcomes. And that is usually reserved for tight ends who are focal points of their offense, either leading the team in targets or finishing second. With the Seahawks having DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, that path isn’t super clear.

That said, best ball opens up the range of tight ends we are interested in. And there is reason to believe Noah Fant could have his best fantasy season yet. The previous OC, Shane Waldron, has notoriously rotated tight ends his entire career – going back to when he was the Rams tight end coach in 2017, no tight end of his has played more than 75% of the snaps. This year, the Seahawks brought in Ryan Grubb from Washington, who will put more of an emphasis on sets with three WRs and one tight end. 

As part of that, they let both Colby Parkinson and Will Dissly walk this offseason. With Fant in line for a full-time role, all he needs are some spike weeks with a touchdown or some extra targets to crack our lineup. And he’s going incredibly late on RT Sports at pick 213 – by far the lowest any of the five sites we looked at. That’s a full 23 spots behind Underdog. If I’m adding some exposure to Noah Fant to my portfolio, I’m doing so on RT Sports.

 

 

 

Bonus Fantasy Football TE Advice: Rookies

I’m not sure if it’s the player base that plays over there or what, but rookies go notoriously late on RT Sports. Check out where rookie Brian Thomas Jr. is being drafted in our similar article on WR ADP. And that is no different for tight end. 

You can get a good price on popular guys like Brock Bowers and Ben Sinnott for sure and some of the deeper dart throws, like Jaheim Bell and Dallin Holker, are buried in the rankings. If your plan is to load up on rookies, RT Sports is the place to do it.