Last but not least we have the TE position to consider. TEs can have a huge impact on your fantasy season. Hopefully you can grab a top 5 TE and feel confident heading into the season. Obviously not everyone can do that, so you have to consider your options and plan accordingly. A TE like Travis Kelce or Mark Andrews is sure to help your chances at a successful season, but if you were able to draft or add players last season like Dawson Knox, Hunter Henry, or even Dalton Schultz, you got good TD production and made the best of the TE slot in your lineup.
Below I have set my sure thing, sleeper, bust, and breakout TEs. Good luck drafting your starting TE this season and I hope you get production like Gronk in his epic 2011 season.
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Sure thing Travis Kelce – Kansas City Chiefs
Death, taxes, and Kelce the first TE off the fantasy board. Kelce has 6 consecutive seasons with over 1000 receiving yards and averages over 7 TDs each season in his career. Kelce is consistently a threat and Patrick Mahomes trusts him. In his 8th season (all with Kansas City), Kelce had 9 receiving TDs (tied for most by TE), 92 receptions (2ndmost by TE), and 1125 receiving yards (2ndmost by TE). Kelce would have cruised to another #1 fantasy TE season if Mark Andrews didn’t have his best season of his young career. Kelce is poised for another productive year. The departure of Tyreek Hill will certainly give defenses an easier time paying more attention to Kelce, but it will also open up even more targets for the 7x Pro Bowl selection and Super Bowl champion. Don’t overthink it, scoop him up.
Sleeper Cole Kmet – Chicago Bears
Cole Kmet is entering his 3rd NFL season, all with Chicago. He showed a lot of growth last season compared to his rookie season. In his sophomore year he more than doubled his targets and receptions while tripling his receiving yards. I know 612 receiving yards isn’t anything to be too excited about, but if he continues to increase his stats, he can become a solid TE option. Kmet and Justin Fields now have a season together under their belt and can continue to link on the field. Kmet did not score a single TD last season (only receiving regression), but Jimmy Graham being out of the picture should open up more red zone targets. I like Kmet to increase his numbers this season and be a great duo with Mooney for Fields to target.
Bust Darren Waller – Las Vegas Raiders
Waller the baller missed a good number of games last season due to injury. He had a stellar 2020 season but could not get close to that in 2021. He finished last season with 665 receiving yards on 55 receptions. He also found the end zone only 2 times. TE2 Foster Moreau had 3 TDs. Davante Adams is the big addition in Vegas, and he should certainly take targets away from Waller. Although I am eager to see this Raiders offense in action, I’m going to tread lightly with Waller and try to target Kyle Pitts or George Kittle if available after the obvious Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews.
Breakout/prediction Albert Okwuegbunam – Denver Broncos
The Broncos brought in Russell Wilson this season which is fantastic news for Okwuegbunam. No more Noah Fant in front of him on the depth chart and now he’s got the best QB he’s ever played with. All signs point to a good season for Albert and many people have overlooked him. Wilson will spread the ball around and Denver’s offense should be a lot better than the past few years.
Okwuegbunam is not even in many peoples top 20 fantasy TE rankings which is exactly what we want. I like him to exceed expectations and be on everyone’s radar sooner than later. My prediction is a top 10 fantasy finish for Okwuegbunam and a good amount of red zone targets. For what it’s worth, Okwuegbunam is 6’5 and 258 lbs. Travis Kelce is 6’5 and 250 lbs. Albert is 8 years younger than Kelce and has breakout potential.