I Found the Next TE League Winners (+ TE Strategy!)

I found the next tight end league winners in fantasy football. Today, we're going to break down who I think the next tight end league winners are and also to our tight end draft strategy for 2026 fantasy football.

We're going to go through the anatomy of a 14 plus point per game tight end on average, a top three guy every year. Individual cases for all of the top 32 tight ends in 2026 ADP right now. And also the tight end draft strategy for a whole. And finally answer the question, who do we think is going to win people league?

So, let's start with the anatomy of the 37 tight ends since 2013 who have scored 14 plus PPR points per game over that time. I do this every year, so I'll keep this part brief. Of course, I did it for quarterbacks last Saturday. I'm going to be doing it for wide receivers and running backs in the coming Saturdays.

Basically, the last two years, those guys have been Trey McBride. He did it twice. Bowers, he did it twice. And K.D. in 2024. You guys can see on average kind of what they did from a volume standpoint, their fantasy points per game, and their situational based factors.

Now, the colors, the red, yellow, and green are based on the averages of the other 33 tight ends totaling 37 since 2013 that have been league winners. These were the averages overall, and we're going to use this as a road map, as a benchmark to test all of the tight ends in fantasy football this season.

On average, you want to have about 137 targets, 97 catches, and just under 10 touchdowns on the season for one of those league winning years. On average, you want to be a part of a top 12 offense. You want to have a top 10 quarterback in QBR. You want to have a top 12 offense in terms of pass volume. You want to be at least the number one or two target on your team. In an ideal world, only two of 37 were not the first or second target on their team. Only two of 37 were not first or second in touchdowns on their team.

On average, you also want to be a high route participation guy, 80% or so. Only four of the 37 were under 70% and all four of those guys were just high touchdown guys. 29 out of 37 were also under 50% in line percentage. Now, some people think being an inline tight end is a good thing for fantasy, but generally speaking, pass catching tight ends that matter for fantasy football are running routes. They're on the field in the slot out wide going and catching the football. So, while we want a tight end to be good enough to play in line and to hold up as a blocker, we mainly want them running routes. We don't want them inline blocking. That's what blocking tight ends are for. And again, on average, we want really good talents at the tight end position measured by yards per route run.

So, that is the framework we're going to be taking in to the tight end league winners going through 8 by 8 the tight end ADP over on underdog. Tight end league winners can also come in the form of every week starters that you get late. So, this type of league winner that we're testing for is the guys that are like you had to have them. They are the top three scorers at the position every single year. But getting a guy late that becomes an every week starter for you like a Tyler Higbee, a Tucker Kraft, a Cole Kmet, a Jake Ferguson, a Dalton Kincaid, or a Dallas Goedert last season, those guys are also important as well. So, I will try and highlight those types of players also. This routinely is my strongest position at predicting who the next league winners are. Last year, we nailed a lot of those predictions like I made mention to and I had McBride over Bowers last year, which a lot of people did not and that was not a consensus opinion and it obviously worked out because McBride had an absolutely incredible year.

Let's get into the tight end landscape in 2026. When we go in order of 2026 ADP on underdog, we could see that there are a lot of really solid options at the top starting with Bowers, then McBride, Kmet, Higbee, Kraft, LaPorta, Fannon, and Pitts. When we go through these guys one-on-one, we're going to basically highlight which boxes they check and which areas they fall short in.

Now, for Bowers, I think you can argue that what I thought of McBride last year could be true of Bowers this year. He has a potential quarterback upgrade with Cousins and Mendoza. You also have an obscene amount of volume that he could achieve this season. The problem for Bowers, cuz he's obviously going to check every volume question mark. He's the best guy on his team, going to lead the team in touchdowns, has super high route participation in the 90% range, always in the slot, probably the best tight end in football. The problem for Bowers, and why I can't really put him much higher, and he does have some areas where he falls short, is I don't think the Raiders are going to be a particularly good offense. I think it's going to take time for Klint Kubiak to get settled in as a play caller, and I think Cousins and Mendoza are going to present some quarterback turmoil that could affect the offense as well. I don't think the quarterback play will be necessarily top 10, top 20 in the NFL. And also, I think they're going to be relatively run-heavy. I think they're going to lean on Austin Ekeler quite a bit. So, while I love Bowers and I think he is, you could argue like one of those guys you just have to have because he's as good of a projection at tight end and he gives you that positional advantage as the receivers that are going in the same territory. I worry about the quarterback play, but if you're high on Mendoza, definitely a guy that I'm very excited about.

Trey McBride, the same guy that he was last year, which was one of the best tight end seasons we've ever seen. 18.9 points per game, is number two all time in this tight end league winners exercise behind only a peak Travis Kelce season. Like legitimately not even the best season of Gronk's career compares to what we saw from Trey McBride last season. The one issue here is the offense projects to not be very good as we kind of expect and the quarterback play could be different than the Jacoby Brissett down the stretch 40 plus pass attempts per game because if they want to get a look at Carson Beck that could affect both the pass volume and also the offense in general and Harrison was not healthy down the stretch last season. Michael Wilson we'll see what happens there. So Trey McBride still a very good projection but probably not as good as he was from the week eight onward portion.

Cole Kmet. Lots of buzz around him. Of course, Danny basically jizzes his pants anytime he talks about Cole Kmet. What he has going for him is this. He could be the number one target on his team. He could be the number one touchdown scorer on his team. He should have a lot of opportunities in one of the better offenses in football. Especially from like a schematic standpoint, I'm sure Ben Johnson is going to work his magic to get Cole Kmet open because he might be already one of the top three to five talents at the tight end position. The problem for Cole Kmet for me and why I'm not as high on him as Danny is that they drafted Sam LaPorta in the third round and they still have Cole Kmet. So while I think Cole Kmet is going to take a step forward and be really good, I think that there's going to be a bit of a route participation issue and I am very high on Rome Odunze also and I think he could also lead the team in targets. Same with Jaxon Smith-Njigba. So Kmet, a little bit more target competition but still a very good projection nonetheless.

Tyler Higbee. Only problem for him is the health of Daniel Jones, the team environment in general because the team is also not going to throw the ball the way that the Cardinals are going to throw the ball in terms of a volume standpoint. Generally speaking, I think I expect the Colts to be rather run-heavy. They're going to lean on Jonathan Taylor. They're going to use Tyler Higbee quite a bit. However, I do like Tyler Higbee's ability to really command like the most volume on his team more so than a lot of the other non-McBride and Bowers tight ends because they now lost Michael Pittman Jr. and Michael Pittman Jr. was the chain mover of this offense and I think Tyler Higbee could really settle into that role and honestly put up like a hundred catches this year. It wouldn't totally shock me. So Tyler Higbee kind of in like that mid-fifth round area where he's going maybe late fourth in a tight end kind of heavy room. You'd be looking at a pretty good pick there assuming everything works out.

Tucker Kraft. Love the high end for Tucker Kraft. He looked like one of the best tight end talents in the NFL last year. He was top five in yards per route run. He was truly breaking out. I'm concerned about the injury. People seem to forget based on his ADP being tight end five and also still going off the board in like the 60s and 70s of ADP that he's coming off of a torn ACL. And generally players coming off a torn ACL see a even if they're healthy, let's say Kraft's going to be healthy in week one, which is not a guarantee, but let's say it's going to happen. They sometimes see a decrease in efficiency, which is Tucker Kraft's thing. He's not a volume commanding tight end. He's like the George Kittle archetype where he's going to be really efficient on his touches, going to score touchdowns, make yards after catch happen. If he's not the same player at least for the first eight games of the season because he's coming off the injury, that's going to be a bit of a problem for Tucker Kraft.

Sam LaPorta. Very, very good projection in my opinion. One of my favorite tight ends of this entire range because you're getting him at a discount because of the back injury, but from a medical standpoint, me and Dr. Ferretti talked about this a couple weeks ago. It's not really that concerning of an injury. It was a cleanup procedure. He used the analogy of a jelly donut where some of the jelly spilled out of his disc, but the disc was still intact in his back. And it looks like he is going to be ready to go for training camp and for the preseason and all that stuff. And the Lions are literally one of my favorite offenses to target in football period this year. And also too, Sam LaPorta has implied upside that if Jameson Williams or Amon-Ra St. Brown should get injured, Sam LaPorta could win people leagues the way that McBride did last year when Marvin Harrison went down. So for me, I love LaPorta at his cost.

Harold Fannon. People seem to forget that this was a 20-year-old tight end from Bowling Green University on one of the worst offenses in football. And he came out there and he outproduced both Tyler Higbee and Cole Kmet in points per game. So he was actually the best rookie tight end in fantasy football last year. And despite going down in like the fantasy championship matchup in week 17, he was on route to another big performance and could have won people leagues. And unfortunately for me who started him in my championship in my home league, I did not get the win done because Trey McBride absolutely cooked me on the other side of the ball. But Fannon has the same concerns only now the one concern he doesn't have is route participation because he was splitting with David Njoku for a good portion of the season last year. But yeah, the Browns are going to be bad. He has a little bit more target competition. So be it. I expect him to still lead the team in targets. I expect him to still be a very good option for those of you guys that want to maybe punt the tight end position till like round seven or round eight or maybe a little later than that because you want to get your running backs and wide receivers early. Knowing that you can still get a guy with as high of a ceiling as a 21-year-old tight end going into year two coming off of a great rookie season. That bodes well for people drafting Harold Fannon.

And then Kyle Pitts closing out this territory. A lot of good, some bad. Kyle Pitts a little bit hard to trust because of his history, but I think Tua Tagovailoa, when you look at Mac Jones in his career, 59.6% completion percentage over the last three seasons, Tua Tagovailoa is up almost 10% higher than that. So, at the very least, I think Tua wins this job. So, that's where all the basis of this is coming from. I think Tua wins this job and I think he throws the ball more accurately than Mac Jones does. So if Kyle Pitts, who's not really had a high catch rate in his career, can get a lot more accurate footballs down the field because Tua Tagovailoa is a more accurate quarterback that is going to bode well for Kyle Pitts. So I actually think when you look at like some of the boxes to check like he is one of the highest route participation tight ends in football every year. They just paid him. They're going to use him a lot. Kevin Stefanski, who of course coached Harold Fannon last season, has now another movable chess piece to move around the formation. There is a lot of intrigue with all eight of these top tight ends. And honestly, what it makes me want to do is draft the tight end six through eight as opposed to the tight end one to three because I think there's legitimate possibility that any one of these eight guys could be a 14 plus point per game scorer. Now, Bowers, McBride probably higher than that, but the other guys I I don't want to draft Kmet and Higbee as much because I think LaPorta, Fannon, and Pitts are also very good projections. It's just a a scarcity argument for me.

Tight end nine through 16, K.D., Kelce, Andrews, Kincaid, Likely, Ferguson, Goedert, and a Conque. A lot of older guard tight ends here.

Starting with George Kittle, I'm generally avoiding him because his ADP is still very, very high despite coming off of an Achilles tear. Now, I don't think that George Kittle is going to be a major problem coming off a torn Achilles from like a health standpoint. However, he's 34 years old or gonna be 34 years old. And if he loses some efficiency, like I said, for Kraft, that's a problem because George Kittle now has Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, all healthy, and of course, Christian McCaffrey to compete for targets with. And they drafted Xavier Worthy in the second round. So, George Kittle for me, a little bit less of a target ceiling than what he had last year and what he had in 2024. So, that's the one concern I have with him. Generally speaking, if he's healthy, he'll probably be good, but I do think that the name value will get him pushed up the board.

Travis Kelce, I think he's kind of my favorite tight end in the like older guard to draft because at least with Travis Kelce, the one thing I know for sure is that him and Mahomes have a good connection. Kelce, while not the same player he once was, can still command targets at a high level. And I still expect him to be number two on the team in targets, unless Xavier Worthy takes a big step forward. And we know that Mahomes is going to keep him efficient and maybe give him some shovel passes in the red zone. His route participation numbers are always really high. He's usually split into the slot very often, so he gets the usage that you want to see from a high-end tight end in fantasy, even though he's no longer the same player he once was. So, Kelce, again, another tight tight end that I like punting to.

Mark Andrews, he's weird because in the past couple of years, he hasn't been a good target commanding tight end like he used to be, but now Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar are gone. So, the route participation, the like slot percentage, the receiving touchdowns, of course, we know he can do that. Is his stat line gonna look a little different this year than it usually does? Because before we would see Mark Andrews, he'd have like 40 catches, but he'd score like 10 touchdowns. Now, I think we could see him see more volume. But I'm curious what Todd Monken and John Harbaugh like they had before. So if Mark Andrews getting more pass volume, more route participation, no Isaiah Likely and no Charlie Kolar and he's the favorite to be the number two target on the team. That could actually be really good for Mark Andrews.

Dalton Kincaid. Probably my favorite tight end pick on the board maybe period other than Sam LaPorta. I would say he's right up there because the problem with Dalton Kincaid has been uh people think he can't block and that's affecting his route participation. My argument for Dalton Kincaid because I rostered him in the Flock League all year last year and I started him like half the time when he was healthy is that health has been his problem and if he can stay on the field he has a chance to be a top one or two target for Josh Allen, an MVP candidate year in and year out and I actually think the reason that you saw him run like 60% of the team's routes as opposed to you know 80 90% like you'd want to see from a top tier tight end is actually a health issue not a he can't block issue. I think if he was 100% he would have been out there running a lot of routes because he was the best receiver on the team last year. He averaged well over three yards per route run. Every time Josh Allen targeted him, he made big plays happen. He scored touchdowns. So in a contract year, former first round pick, is getting better every year from a talent perspective. The metrics are getting better. The problem for him is staying on the field. He recently came out with a quote saying that he feels the best he's ever felt at this point in the year a couple of weeks ago. So I'm going to trust that. And I actually really really like Dalton Kincaid to potentially finally have the season we've all been waiting for from him. So for me, I really really like him this year. He's one of my favorite targets.

Isaiah Likely. Is a little hit or miss for me because I have questions about the route participation. The high-end team target share because if Malik Nabers is out there, that's going to zap a lot of targets. I also think that Isaiah Likely the player has been a little overrated at times, but at the same time they paid him a lot of money. Him and Theo Johnson could be, you know, a one-two punch at tight end. That worries me a little bit. So, Likely is a guy that I think you can take the risk on, but I probably would want to have a tight end that's going similarly value just instead of him. Like, I would prefer Kelce and Andrews and Kincaid and Ferguson to him. So, that's kind of why I'm not really drafting a whole lot of him.

Jake Ferguson. Cowboys tight end, as we know, very productive when he gets opportunities to get targets. The problem is that they have CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. So, with both of those guys healthy, because Ferguson did a lot of his damage when Lamb was out of the lineup last year, can Jake Ferguson still command those targets? The nice thing about Jake Ferguson is that even if he's the third target on the team, he could still be number one or number two on the team in touchdowns and he can give you those, oh, good matchup, Cowboys are playing the Commanders, it's expected to be a shootout, it's a 53 point overunder, you can throw Jake Ferguson into your lineup and he'll probably score. Um, so that's kind of where I'm at with Ferguson and why I think he's a pretty good punt option at the tight end position because there was a stretch last year, first 10, 11 games, where he was like the tight end two in fantasy. So there's opportunity there for Jake Ferguson to still be a really, really good option that you can get in the 11th round of your fantasy draft after you've already drafted a crap ton of wide receivers, running backs, and an elite quarterback potentially.

Dallas Goedert. 11 touchdowns last season probably won't continue. A lot of it was shovel pass [ __ ]. But Dallas Goedert's still a good player. He's been productive in the past. I think the Eagles throw the ball a little bit more. Maybe he benefits from A.J. Brown leaving and if Mark Andrews or Eli Stove, the other tight end that they drafted, are struggling to get on the field right away, then I think Goedert would see a big uptick in terms of his target share. I just tend to believe in Andrews and Stove, which is why I'm not as high on Dallas Goedert.

Chikwe Conque. I haven't really been a big fan of for years. People seem to think he's like a much better player than he actually is. He goes to the Commanders now, signs a big contract in free agency. Other than Terry McLaurin, they don't have a lot at the wide receiver position or in terms of pass catching in general. So, I think people are just going, who people who do projections are just kind of going, "Oh, somebody's got to catch a lot of passes on this team outside of Terry McLaurin. Maybe it's Chikwe Conque." And I just don't really think that's the case. I don't think he's proven to be a high-end target earner. So, I'm not really super high on him. I would probably fade him at cost.

Aronald Gadson. Similar to Kincaid, I think that people look at him and go, "He can't block." And it's probably true, but again, I don't want a tight end who can block. I just want a tight end who's good enough at blocking, who's on the field all the time. So if Aronald Gadson is used in the slot or used out wide because Mike McDaniel is there and Mike McDaniel used Jordan Smith in 2024, who also isn't a very good blocker, as the de facto third receiver on the Dolphins and did the same thing with Darren Waller last year. I think he can use Aronald Gadson in very creative ways. So, it wouldn't shock me if yes, Aronald Gadson only runs 60% of the team's routes or 70% of the team's routes, but actually has a really efficient season yards per route run-wise. Maybe he scores some big plays and some touchdowns. Because here's the thing, 22-year-old tight ends who are fifth round NFL draft picks don't usually do anything in their rookie season. And Aronald Gadson was almost every week starter territory for about seven or eight weeks of the season last year. So, for me with Justin Herbert and how I feel about the Chargers, like you guys, I you probably talked about it a million times that I think the Chargers are going to be one of the best offenses in football this year. Aronald Gadson is the cheapest piece of this offense that you can get a significant return on investment on because Austin Ekeler is expensive. Keenan Allen's expensive. Justin Herbert's a top eight quarterback in ADP. The cheapest pieces to get access to this offense are Quentin Johnston, Aronald Gadson, and then the further down the board guys like a Keaton Mitchell or like a Trey Harris. I tend to think that Aronald Gadson will be the de facto number three receiver on this team even if Charlie Kolar and David Njoku are taking snaps away from him. So he's definitely a risky option because he could, you know, run 40% of the team's routes if those other guys are a big problem for him. But I do think if he can command at least 60 or 70% of the team's routes, he's going to end up being a very very profitable pick in fantasy. And I like him a lot in best ball.

Brenton Strange. So many mouths to feed in Jacksonville. I think most of them are all target commanding superiors to Brenton Strange. I think that Christian Kirk, Parker Washington, and Brian Thomas Jr. all better target commanders than him. So, that's kind of why I'm not super interested in Brenton Strange. He kind of reminds me of Cade Otton a little bit where yeah, some injuries happen, he could be more effective, but he's probably just going to be like a you'll never know when to start him, better in best ball type of guy.

Hunter Henry. It wouldn't shock me if he gets out to a hot start, but I really liked Eli Ricks in the tight end prospect they drafted. And last year, Hunter Henry wasn't a difference maker despite being like the number one target on the team. And now they have A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs. So that's going to take away targets from Hunter Henry, but he's still a decent option nonetheless.

Juwan Johnson. They drafted Oscar Delp. They have some other guys that they like there. But Juwan Johnson was a legitimate streaming option all season last year. Maybe if Tyler Shough takes a step forward, he can be a guy that you can use in good matchups. But again, I don't think he has a super high ceiling.

Jelani Woods. The rookie first round pick of the New York Jets, has a high ceiling because that's the type of player he is. He ran a 4.3 at 245 pounds. But from a fantasy perspective, it is semi hard for me to get there knowing that Garrett Wilson is the dominant target alpha that he is. And also that Jelani Woods is a little bit of a raw prospect and I don't really trust Kellen Moore to use this guy in like effective ways. If him and Mason Taylor are splitting snaps and splitting routes, which I kind of expect to be the case early on, then you can't start this guy. You'll probably just end up drafting him and dropping him. So, I like Jelani Woods in three tight end builds on underdog, but I'm not a huge fan of drafting him in redraft unless you're comfortable holding him for a couple of games to see what happens.

Dalton Schultz. Kind of similar to Hunter Henry, been solid in the past. He can definitely be a streaming option. I actually think the Texans passing offense could be decent. Um, but Nico Collins is the number one there. Dalton Schultz is kind of an average tight end talent at best. So, he's probably only going to be like a 500 yard, seven touchdown guy.

T.J. Hockenson. Hasn't been the elite player that he used to be. Um, back in 2023 before he tore his ACL, he was a tight end two in fantasy when that happened. Jaren Hall, I don't know what to think about, but I do know one thing about T.J. Hockenson is that he has one thing in this area of the board that no other guys have, which is a top three finish. A guy who's already been a league winning tight end before. So, I don't want to discount T.J. Hockenson just cuz he hasn't been really that healthy the last couple of years. The Vikings were also a complete eyesore on offense last year. And Hockenson is now what, three years removed from that injury. So, um, if he goes out there and Jaren Hall goes, you know, berserk in this new offense, it wouldn't shock me if T.J. Hockenson had a bounceback season, he's not a bad option to go late in drafts.

AJ Barner. Just not interested. The Seahawks don't throw the ball very much and AJ Barner, while he proved to be a pretty solid option, he's kind of like Dalton Schultz and Hunter Henry to me where he's just like not a difference-making talent at the position.

Moving into the tight end, 25 through 32, I'll skim through these guys really fast.

Greg Dulcich. Could be the number one for the Dolphins, period. Receiver, not just tight end. But I don't think the offense can be very good. I think they might throw the ball for like 3,000 passing yards and like 16 touchdowns the entire season. So, it's not a very big pie to be commanding volume from.

Gunnar Olszewski. Daniel Bellinger is a guy that they brought in as a blocking tight end. I think that's going to affect Gunnar Olszewski's snap share and route participation. Plus, I'm not super high on the Titans.

Cade Otton. Like I said, if Buccaneers injuries happen at wide receiver, he'll be a good waiver wire addition. But other than a best ball format, I just don't think you'll be able to know when to start him. Similar to Schultz and similar to those guys.

Cole Turner. Really interesting player, very good offense. They play a lot of two tight end sets and three tight end sets, so he should be on the field a decent amount. I think the Rams do want him to be like the starting tight end, but Parkinson, Higbee, and the second round pick, Max Clair or third round pick, Max Clair, are all there and they're all going to probably interchange. None of these tight ends are probably going to run more than 60 70% of the routes unless Turner really takes a step forward. Um, but that might not happen.

Pat Freiermuth. I actually really like him specifically in best ball. He's going too late to really matter for redraft leagues, but Pat Freiermuth is in Mike McCarthy's offense. Now, Mike McCarthy made Dalton Schultz and Jake Ferguson two, let's call them average talents into really good fantasy options. And Freiermuth is not really all that different of a player than those guys, and they lost Vance McDonald in free agency. He left. Darnell Washington is brought back, but he's more of a blocking tight end. So if Freiermuth is out there running 70 80% of the routes like we've seen from Frei in past years of his career before Arthur Smith got there and ruined everything. I wouldn't be shocked if Pat Freiermuth ends up being a really good better and best ball tight end as a third tight end to tack onto your teams.

Mike Gesicki. Probably not super relevant with Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase there.

Eli Stove. Probably needs a Goedert injury to really move up the depth chart. Although I would have said that about Fannon last year, so you never know. He was a good prospect. He had a lot of production in college.

Evan Engram. I I like Justin Fields better, admittedly. Probably not for redraft, more of a dynasty take, but I don't think Evan Engram really has it anymore.

So, we're moving into the tight end scorecard. Now, when we score these players, basically what I did was I added up if they got green in anything, I gave them five points. Yellow, they got three points. Orange, they got negative one. And then red, they got negative three. And we score these players. We score them on the scorecard. And it basically highlights a heat map for us of who the best tight end picks are on the board. And you can kind of function your draft strategy around that.

Now, tight end strategy when you look at this is kind of all over the place. Purple is the best, green is the second best, yellow is the third best, orange is the next best, and then red is the worst. I can see rationale for anyone out there that says elite tight ends up top evidently have a higher ceiling than most of the other guys. You need to prioritize Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, Cole Kmet, etc. I can understand that argument, but the take that I have here is unless I'm getting a great value ADP-wise on those top guys, let's say it's the two three turn and Brock Bowers has slid, it's the mid-3rd round and Trey McBride has slid, it's the four or five turn and Cole Kmet has slid, it's the sixth round and Tyler Higbee has slid, etc. I'll probably just take my running backs and wide receivers early because I view those positions to be more top-heavy. I definitely if I'm going to pick one of the onesies between quarterback and tight end to take one early, I would rather do tight end because quarterback is deeper. Last year I had the opposite opinion. I would have rather taken a quarterback earlier versus a tight end. Um, because I do think that there's more guys at quarterback later in drafts that have elite league winning upside than there is at tight end this year.

So plan A for me, and this is kind of the most important part of the video, my tight end strategy is going to be wide receivers and running backs. I'm hammering early and often early. My favorite honeypot to deviate from my tight end is once Sam LaPorta is the best tight end on the board, which is like the seventh round typically. And from Sam LaPorta all the way to like Jake Ferguson or Aronald Gadson, that's like round seven through round 11 or so. And the running back and wide receiver position are ugly in that area of the board. Like when I'm deciding between Sam LaPorta and Tony Pollard or Sam LaPorta and Jalin Reed, it's an easy decision. When I'm deciding between Jake Ferguson and, you know, Romeo Doubs, it's an easy decision for me. So, that's why I would rather punt the tight end position this year.

Plan B for me is if an opportunity presents itself to deviate for Tyler Higbee or Kmet or Bowers or something like that, so be it. However, I want to be extremely confident that I'm going to get good running back and wide receiver values later. So, that could be format dependent. If you guys are in 10 team leagues where tight ends are more valuable, eight team leagues, or maybe you're in a league where it's just a two running back, two wide receiver, one flex instead of like a two flex full PPR where you could start more guys at the skill positions, maybe you go for the elite tight end at that point. But generally in most league formats that I play in, I'm probably not going to deviate for the elite tight end in the first four to five rounds.

And then plan C for me is let's say neither of those work. You miss out on everybody in rounds 7 to 10 and you have to punt the tight end position entirely. I would go like this. Grab Jelani Woods in round 12 or 13 for upside. Grab T.J. Hockenson or Pat Freiermuth or Brenton Strange in round 12 or 13 or 14 to get by to be a basic cheap option that I can use early on in the season. Maybe a Dalton Schultz as well. That's kind of my tight end strategy. Again, plan A is to get a guy Sam LaPorta through Aronald Gadson and ADP. That's the range that I think is the most profitable and you're not missing out a ton on running backs or wide receivers.

Now, the question that I posed at the beginning of this video was who are the next league winning tight ends? I have three answers like I did for quarterback. Number one, I think the most likely league winning tight end that you know achieves the most or happiest most with the pick relative to their ADP is Sam LaPorta. Easy schedule, implied upside if the other guys miss time, and he's a top five talent at the position on one of the best offenses in football. He's already been a top three tight end in fantasy before. Sam LaPorta to me is the best tight end pick on the board, period. He is in the perfect range when the running backs and wide receivers dry up to get yourself that elite tight end. If I'm on the board picking at 101 like I'm picking in my home league and I get to draft three running backs, three receivers with my first six picks and then at the 701 I take Sam LaPorta. Boom goes the dynamite. I feel great about that team. I have depth at running back and wide receiver and I also get myself a potential hammer at the tight end position and then I can get my quarterback later.

Dalton Kincaid. Second best league winning option for me. Contract year. Bills offense. The only problem for him was routes and usage, but like I said, I think that was more of an injury issue less than a he can't block type of issue. I think he could have a really good breakout season this year. So, he is my second pick for league winner.

And then my third pick is Aronald Gadson, which is the same thesis as Dalton Kincaid. Rookie tight ends who are fifth round picks don't usually do anything. The fact that he was very productive as a rookie last year is a positive bull signal for him. This guy produced like a legit option when he had opportunities and I think Mike McDaniel will notice that in training camp and in the preseason and make him his 2024 Jordan Smith, basically using Aronald Gadson as the third best receiver on the team rather than Trey Harris who I'm not a huge huge fan of.

So those are the tight end league winners, my tight end draft strategy and basically everything you guys need to know about the position. Of course, every single year I do the video, the number one draft strategy, the best draft strategy in fantasy football drafts. This is a part of that video. We're trying to establish what the best position strategies are, quarterback, tight end, which we've done so far in the last two weeks, and then wide receiver and running back, which will be coming up in the next two Saturdays. And then we all that plus the early round strategy and the other videos that we do, the zero RB, the hero RB, etc. That'll all culminate in what I think is the best strategy in fantasy football this year. So, make sure to stay tuned for that video. That'll be coming out around like August 10th or so.

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