Monday, May 17, 2021

Fantasy Football Rankings: Top 10 Fantasy TEs for 2021

FantasyPros tracks fantasy football rankings accuracy and Kevin Hanson's 2020 rankings were 9th-most accurate (among 149 experts tracked). Hanson has now finished top 20 in accuracy six times since 2011.

With the 2021 NFL Draft now behind us, I have updated my fantasy football rankings for the 2021 NFL season.

More way-too-early 2021 fantasy football rankings:

For now, here are our early fantasy football tight end rankings for 2021 season:

1. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs

Tampa Bay's Rob Gronkowski finished as fantasy's TE8 (126.8) last season and Kelce (260.26, TE1) was so good in 2020 that he actually doubled Gronk up.

Kelce extended his 1,000-yard streak to five seasons and broke the single-season receiving yardage record (1,416) for tight ends in the process. In fact, he set career highs across the board (105/1,416/11) in his age-31 campaign. Kelce ended the regular season with eight consecutive games with at least seven catches.

Regardless of how you slice it, Kelce is not only the slam-dunk TE1 heading into 2021, but he's worthy of drafting in Round 1.

2. George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers

The only thing that can slow Kittle down is injury. Missing exactly half of the 2020 season, Kittle had 48/634/2 in eight games, which is comparable to a 96/1,268/4 (16-game) pace. Meanwhile, Kittle had 85/1,053/5 in 2019 and 88/1,377/5 in 2018.

3. Darren Waller, Las Vegas Raiders

Waller set career highs across the board -- 107 receptions on 146 targets for 1,196 yards and nine touchdowns -- and was dominant down the stretch. Not only did Waller have a 13/200/2 game in Week 13, but he exceeded the 100-yard mark in four of his final five games of the season.

4. Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens

Andrews missed a couple of games and Marquise Brown (58/769/8) outproduced Andrews (58/701/7) over the full season, but the third-year tight end led the team in YPG (50.1). Even if he gets the biggest slice of the pie, the team's passing offense ranked last in the NFL (171.2 YPG) in 2020.

5. T.J. Hockenson, Detroit Lions

Hockenson basically doubled up his rookie production with 67 catches for 723 yards and six touchdowns. Given the turnover of the wide receiver corps, Hockenson may be forced into an even higher-volume role in 2021.

6. Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles

Goedert missed five games including Week 17 last season, but he was a consistent producer following the team's Week 9 bye through Week 16. Over that stretch, Goedert scored the sixth-most fantasy points among tight ends and ranked top five in both receptions (32) and yards (371). Especially if the Eagles part ways with Zach Ertz, Goedert could perform as one of the top five or six tight ends in 2021.

7. Noah Fant, Denver Broncos

Playing at less than 100% in 2020, Fant averaged only 10.9 Y/R after averaging 14.1 in 2019. Fant's ADOT (7.6 to 6.7) and YAC/R (8.3 to 6.1) both declined year over year, but he also set career highs in receptions (62) and yards (673).

8. Logan Thomas, Washington Football Team

Thomas was the only tight end in the league to have a minimum of four targets in every game last season. While he was consistent throughout the season, he was especially productive down the stretch.

From Weeks 6 to 17, Thomas scored the third-most fantasy points with 58 receptions (third-most), 564 yards (third-most) and five touchdowns (tied fifth-most) amongst tight ends. The breakout tight end will enter 2021 as a viable TE1 (top-12 option).

9. Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons

It's typically a difficult transition to the NFL for rookie tight ends, but Pitts isn't the typical tight end. The definition of a mismatch player in the mold of Darren Waller, Pitts has the potential to develop into the TE1 within a few years. The John Mackey Award winner, Pitts won't turn 21 until October, runs like a receiver (4.44 forty) and no pass-catcher has had a larger wingspan over the past 20 drafts.

10. Robert Tonyan, Green Bay Packers

Entering 2020 with 14 career receptions, Tonyan scored nearly as many touchdowns (12 counting the playoffs) as he had career receptions prior to last season. While teammate Davante Adams led the NFL with 18 touchdown receptions, Tonyan's 11 regular-season scores tied a position high with Travis Kelce. The biggest threat to Tonyan's 2021 outlook is the offseason drama between the Packers and Aaron Rodgers.

Continue reading our 2021 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings (Top 35)