Outlook: Andrews has been one of the best fantasy players at his position since entering the NFL in 2018 as a 3rd round pick. The passing offense has essentially been built around him, as he's a mismatch for nearly every defensive player on the field. His 107-1361-9 line last season would have easily been a WR1 finish in any format, so the weekly advantage a player like Andrews gives is immeasurable. With Kelce turning 33, and losing the attention of Tyreek Hill, and Kittle breaking in a new quarterback, Andrews has to be the consensus TE1 in all formats, even if there will be some natural regression in his numbers.

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Outlook: At this stage, what's even left to say about Kelce? The six-time Pro Bowl selection has topped 1,000 yards in each of the last six seasons, and he's finished with over 90 receptions the past four. He's also incredibly durable, having never missed more than one game in any of his eight years in the league. Now, following the departure of Hill, Kelce is the clear No. 1 option in the passing game, a duty he's effectively split with the lightning-quick wideout since 2017.

You could make a case for two concerns with Kelce: 1) he's entering his age-33 season and has taken a lot of punishment over the years, eventually that has to take its toll, and 2) until one of the new WRs establishes himself, Kelce will be the focal point of opposing defensive gameplans. Neither of those are enough to warrant dropping Kelce from the No. 1 overall fantasy tight end, though, unless you really want to bank on Mark Andrews or Kyle Pitts.

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Outlook: Pitts is being drafted as the 3rd TE in early drafts behind Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews, ahead of the likes of Darren Waller and George Kittle, and we're okay with that. As a rookie in 2021, Pitts ranked 3rd among NFL TE's in receiving yards, 5th in targets and 8th in receptions. His 6.4 fantasy points per game were 12th best a year ago, and in year two, on an offense that lacks many receiving options, he should see a bounce in production. If the Falcons can find their way into the red zone and give Pitts some legitimate chances at the end zone, he could threaten those top two as well.

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Outlook: After closing 2020 being targeted 55 times in his final five games, Waller opened last season with a 10-catch, 105-yard, 1-TD showing on Monday Night Football during which he was targeted 19 times. For whatever reason, that proved to be the high point of his season; he'd see double-digit looks just one more time (Nov. 7) and top 100 yards once (Nov. 21). A knee injury suffered Thanksgiving Day all but ended his season -- he returned for the finale -- and he finished with a disappointing 55-665-2 line. For comparison, he posted 43-654-4 in that five-game stretch to finish the previous year.

There were reports that the Packers tried to acquire Waller as part of the Adams deal, but the veteran remains in Vegas. With Adams on the outside and Renfrow operating out of the slot there should be room for Waller to make things happen. He doesn't have the track record to be selected ahead of names like Travis Kelce or Mark Andrews, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone with a higher ceiling at the position for 2022 than Waller. If you're in a gambling mood you could make him the first TE off the draft board, but around TE5 is the safer call.

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Outlook: Coming off a down year where injuries limited him to eight games, Kittle injured his calf in Week 3 against the Packers and was placed on Injured Reserve soon thereafter. It was a tough start for the veteran, but he had some big games upon returning in November, topping 100 yards three times in a six-game span and scoring six TDs during that run. He did little down the stretch, however, finishing with less than 30 yards in each of his final three games and settling for a 71-910-6 line on the year that suggested more consistency than what was actually present.

It wasn't that long ago that you could make a case for Kittle as the top overall fantasy tight end, but as he enters his age-29 season he's no longer in the discussion with the likes of Travis Kelce or Mark Andrews for that honor. While Kittle is still a viable TE1 with a top-five ceiling, it feels like he might already be on the downswing of his career; then again, he's been one of the strongest proponents of Lance, so perhaps the young QBs ascension will signal a return to elite status from Kittle.

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Outlook: There was a hot debate heading into the 2021 season between those supporting Dalton Schultz and those supporting Blake Jarwin. Practically everyone agreed that the Cowboys' tight end position had some excellent potential heading into the year, but a split tight end situation is rarely great for fantasy production. Jarwin struggled to stay on the field for the second straight season which gave Schultz an opportunity to run as the unquestioned TE1 in Dallas.

Schultz responded by ending the debate, delivering the fourth-most fantasy points at tight end in standard scoring formats. His 808 receiving yards were sixth-most at the position and his eight touchdowns were fifth-most, narrowly finishing behind Mark Andrews, Travis Kelce, Hunter Henry, and Dawson Knox who all had nine touchdowns.

Now heading into his third season as the Cowboys' top tight end, there's some serious potential for an even bigger year from Schultz, particularly early in the year. The Cowboys losing both Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson, along with likely being without Michael Gallup to start the season, means that the team will really only have two pass catchers - CeeDee Lamb and Dalton Schultz - on the roster who have any real history of production in the NFL. Schultz finished the 2021 season with the sixth-most total targets at the tight end position and that was when he was competing with much better receivers for passes.

Don't expect a Travis Kelce-like season from Schultz, but an even higher target share in a good Dallas offense should lead to a high floor for those investing in him in fantasy. Schultz is a safe option who could be a legitimate needle mover this season, especially early in the year.

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Outlook: Hockenson looked primed for a monster year after starting 2021 off with 19 targets, 16 receptions, 163 yards and two touchdowns in the first two weeks. There just wasn't much meat left on the bone after that, as defenses wisely realized Hock was the only receiving threat on the team. Touchdowns became a mere myth for Hockenson last season, as the inefficiency of the Detroit offense led to only 9 red zone targets for the young tight end.

So, what does 2022 bring? Well first off, the additions at receiver are sure to eat into Hockenson's target numbers, as the ball should be spread around more. At the same time though, his efficiency is sure to improve with theoretically less defensive attention. He enters the prime of his career with several solid, if unspectacular seasons behind him, and is likely going to be one of the team leaders in receptions. With some improved scoring chances, Hockenson could slide into the middle tier of TE1s with a chance to move up.

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Outlook: Dallas Goedert was one of the "safe, reliable" tight ends who was going in the middle rounds of fantasy drafts in 2021 and that's about what he delivered. His 830 yards were fifth-most among all tight ends and while he finished with just four touchdowns on the season, he was a top-10 overall producer at the position on the year both in PPR and non-PPR formats.

While it's encouraging to note that Goedert was extremely effective on a per-target basis in 2021, the obvious concern is that he's not likely to see a significant uptick in total targets here in 2022, especially now that the team added A.J. Brown this offseason. Goedert was already in a low-volume passing game and he struggled to dominate targets even against the likes of Quez Watkins, Jalen Reagor and rookie DeVonta Smith. When you consider that the team kept Watkins and Reagor, Smith has another year of development under his belt, and Brown is now on the roster, it's tough to imagine a world where Goedert suddenly produces significantly more than he did before.

Like Smith, the most likely outcome is that Goedert continues to be highly effective on the targets he does see come his way, but that his total opportunities remain about the same or even go down slightly here in 2022. That doesn't mean that Goedert can't continue to be a TE1 for fantasy, of course, as the position is pretty much a complete disaster outside the top five or so players. It does, however, mean that Goedert is unlikely to become a true difference-maker at the position this season and thus should not be a priority in fantasy drafts.

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Outlook: Despite catching an outlandish nine touchdowns on just 49 receptions, Dawson Knox narrowly made the cut as a top-10 fantasy option in 2021. His 587-yard season was by far the best year of his professional career, but it ranked 15th at the position and his targets per route run were staggeringly low for a player who finished the season ranked as high as he did.

Touchdown rate regression is practically inevitable with his type of production, but if there's any hope for Knox to repeat as a top 10 option at the position, it has to be because the team moved on from multiple pass-catching options this offseason, including Emmanuel Sanders and Cole Beasley. Certainly, not all of those targets will go to Knox, especially if you're expecting a breakout season from Gabriel Davis, but there's certainly hope that Knox could see more passes come his way this year.

Unfortunately, the team did also invest in the tight end position this offseason when they signed former first-round NFL Draft pick O.J. Howard. Howard spent five seasons with the Bucs and while he certainly has to be looked at as a bust, he's also not a complete zero at the position. Knox played over 76 percent of the Bills' offensive snaps this past season, while Tommy Sweeney, who is still on the roster, played about 22 percent. The risk here is that Howard and Sweeney could end up cannibalizing enough snaps away from Knox that he's just not able to get on the field enough to see his target share spike, thus limiting his true potential for a breakout season.

Knox is a player who will have his weeks, but like many tight ends, he's going to disappoint you on a fairly regular basis. There are other players who have less competition on their rosters and may cost less in your drafts, so avoiding Knox is probably a wise option here in 2022.

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Outlook: Ertz was a nice acquisition for the Cardinals, posting a 56-574-3 line in 11 games after coming over from the Eagles. That earned the veteran a three-year deal with the club. Entering his age-32 season, Ertz may be on the downside of his career, but he's still a reliable volume target that has topped 70 receptions in six of his last seven seasons.

There will be competition for snaps, however, as Ertz is joined in the tight end room by second-round pick Trey McBride and Maxx Williams, who'd put together a couple of big games before suffering a torn ACL in Week 5, which led to the Ertz trade. Neither player is likely to overtake Ertz, but they could siphon away production. That leaves Ertz as a borderline top-10 option with some downside.

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Outlook: The 2021 offseason saw the Patriots bring in two new tight ends when they signed both former Titans tight end Jonnu Smith and former Chargers tight end Hunter Henry. Fantasy owners didn't know how to predict the situation as both players were relatively productive with their previous teams, but neither had really broken out as a truly top-level tight end and both had injury concerns. As it turned out, Henry was the far better option as he essentially doubled Smith's receptions and receiving yards while also out-scoring him nine to one.

Henry's dependence on touchdowns allowed him to finish tied with Mark Andrews for the most scores at the tight end position in 2021, but it also made him an extremely volatile player to own. That's nothing out of the ordinary as many tight ends are volatile, but now there's even more competition for him to try to fend off for red zone targets after the Patriots signed DeVante Parker.

Henry will likely be a borderline TE1 for fantasy again this season, but don't expect another league-leading touchdown season from the veteran.

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Outlook: Kmet made a significant leap in his 2nd year with the Bears. His 93 targets were good for 8th in the NFL at the position, and his 612 yards were good for 12th. So how the heck did he only finish at fantasy's 23rd tight end? ZERO touchdowns, that's how. Another indictment on how bad Nagy's offense performed last year was the fact a 6'6" 263-pound mountain of a man couldn't find a way to score a touchdown. Fields had only 31 pass attempts in the redzone last season and threw only 5 for touchdowns. Mike White of the Jets threw as many on 9 attempts! Clearly Kmet is due for some positive regression in the touchdown department. Adding just 5 scores to his 2021 receiving numbers would have made him a fringe TE1. If he can remain a big part of the passing game, Kmet should push to be an acceptable fantasy starter.

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