RADIO
Joey Pollizze takes a deep dive into three blind tight end resumes to compare their 2023 stats and see if the difference in their projected 2024 fantasy football ADP can be explained.
Tight end is usually the toughest position to navigate in fantasy throughout the year. Most of the time, there are just two to three elite options, and the rest are all the same. That's why Travis Kelce went at the backend of the first round in most drafts last offseason.
However, we saw more tight ends become viable options last season, as several young playmakers broke out. Players like Sam LaPorta, Trey McBride, and Jake Ferguson all finished top-10 at the position in fantasy. Even Dalton Kincaid showed some potential throughout the year.
That means heading into the 2024-2025 season, the tight end position in fantasy will never be deeper. So, let's blindly compare two tight ends and their stats from last year to see if their ADP on Underdog Fantasy is justified.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings
- Running back (RB) fantasy football rankings
- Wide receiver (WR) fantasy football rankings
- Tight end (TE) fantasy football rankings
- Quarterback (QB) fantasy football rankings
- FLEX fantasy football rankings
- Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
- Kicker (K) fantasy football rankings
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
Blind Resume No. 1
| Player | UD-ADP | TE-Rank | TPG | TS | RPG | YPG | YPR | AYPG | REC | 2023 RYD | TD | YPT | PPR-PPG | 2023 Finish |
| A | 61 | 6 | 5.2 | 19.3% | 3.1 | 39.2 | 12.6 | 59.5 | 53 | 667 | 3 | 7.4 | 8.1 | TE13 |
| B | 72 | 8 | 8.4 | 23.8% | 6.7 | 56.6 | 8.4 | 42.1 | 114 | 963 | 4 | 6.7 | 13.6 | TE2 |
UD-ADP = Underdog ADP WR-Rank = Current WR ranking on Underdog TPG = Targets Per Game TS = Target Share
RPG = Receptions Per Game YPG = Yards Per Game YPR = Yards Per Reception AYPG = Air Yards Per Game
REC = Receptions 2023 RYD= 2023 Receiving Yards TD = Touchdowns YPT= Yards Per Target
PPR-PPG = Full-PPR PPG 2023 Finish = Fantasy Finish in 2023 Among Wide Receivers
Our first blind resume comparison is between two tight ends who put up pretty different stats in 2023. Player B was obviously the better fantasy player and finished as the TE2 (the best fantasy finish of his career). However, player A got a huge quarterback upgrade this offseason, making him an appealing option at 61st overall.
Player A has disappointed a bit over his career, but he's never had an elite quarterback throwing him passes. This upcoming season, he finally will. That explains why he is the sixth tight end off the board in Underdog Fantasy Best Ball drafts this offseason. His numbers could really improve with a new quarterback in 2024.
As for player B, it's hard to see why he is the eighth tight end selected in fantasy drafts, considering he finished as the TE2 in PPR formats last year. He finished with the second-most catches for a tight end all-time in 2023, and the team he plays for just lost their top wide receiver from a season ago.
Blind Resume No. 1 Reveal
Could you guess which player was which based on their 2023 stats? If not, player A is Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts, and player B is Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram.
It's hard to see why Engram is going this low in drafts right now. He has finished top-five in PPR formats in both seasons with the Jaguars and just scored a career-high 230.3 PPR fantasy points in 2023 -- 53.4 points more than his previous high of 176.9 PPR points. Even with Jacksonville taking Brian Thomas Jr. in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the 29-year-old tight end will still see a large role on offense.
Most receiving yards this season, among TE
(incl. postseason)Games
Travis Kelce 1,130 17
George Kittle 1,101 17
David Njoku 975 17
Sam LaPorta 968 19
Evan Engram 963 17 pic.twitter.com/Gp5Aixmoyr— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 22, 2024
That's why he might be the better value pick in drafts over Pitts. Pitts did get a huge quarterback upgrade with Kirk Cousins joining Atlanta this offseason, and he is surely due for a nice season. However, Engram has been a consistent tight end option over the past few years, making him a safer pick at this point in the draft.
Blind Resume No. 2
| Player | UD-ADP | TE-Rank | TPG | TS | RPG | YPG | YPR | AYPG | REC | 2023 RYD | TD | YPT | PPR-PPG | 2023 Finish |
| A | 73 | 7 | 5.6 | 21% | 4.1 | 63.8 | 15.7 | 53.3 | 65 | 1,020 | 6 | 11.3 | 12.7 | TE5 |
| B | 86 | 10 | 7.7 | 21.5% | 5.1 | 55.1 | 10.9 | 35.4 | 81 | 882 | 6 | 7.2 | 12.6 | TE6 |
We have an interesting blind resume comparison between two tight ends who finished back-to-back in fantasy a season ago. These two tight ends also caught six touchdown passes, saw around a 21% target share, and averaged almost identical PPR numbers per game.
The main difference, though, between the two tight ends is that player A was much more inconsistent throughout the year. He had nine top-10 tight end fantasy finishes but also landed outside the top 21 in seven other contests. So, this tight end had a lot of rough fantasy days last season.
Player B was much more consistent with his fantasy production, especially toward the end of the season. From Week 8 to Week 17, this tight end averaged the most PPR fantasy points per game (15.8) and total points (157.6) among the position. During that span, he had eight top-eight fantasy finishes, including five in the top-four.
Blind Resume No. 2 Reveal
This one might have been a little harder to figure out based on the stats above. If you couldn't get it, player A is San Francisco 49ers George Kittle, and player B is Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku.
Kittle is currently going a little higher in drafts, but honestly, Njoku might be the better pick at 86th overall. He only scored two fewer PPR points than the 49ers tight end in 2023 and was far better than him down the stretch. The San Francisco playmaker also delivered plenty of bad games in fantasy, which included totaling less than six PPR fantasy points in four of the first six games of the season.
Njoku only had one such game -- where he scored less than six PPR fantasy points -- over the final 11 weeks of the season. That ultimately helped him finish as the TE1 during that 11-game stretch. He's a player who is certainly trending up heading into the year, and someone fantasy managers should be excited to draft.
DAVID NJOKU!!! HOW?!
📺: #CHIvsCLE on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/kw7mays4qU pic.twitter.com/lTJcpJ5wte— NFL (@NFL) December 17, 2023
Blind Resume No. 3
| Player | UD-ADP | TE-Rank | TPG | TS | RPG | YPG | YPR | AYPG | REC | 2023 RYD | TD | YPT | PPR-PPG | 2023 Finish |
| A | 35 | 2 | 8.1 | 22.7% | 6.2 | 65.6 | 10.6 | 53.9 | 93 | 984 | 5 | 8.1 | 14.6 | TE3 |
| B | 49 | 4 | 6.1 | 22.2% | 4.5 | 54.4 | 12.1 | 44.4 | 45 | 544 | 6 | 8.9 | 13.5 | TE15 |
The last blind resume comparison is between two veteran tight ends. Both player A and player B are going early in fantasy drafts right now, but both had down years (to their standards) in 2023.
By the look of it, player A obviously had the better numbers across the board. He averaged more fantasy points per game and finished as the TE3 in PPR formats. He also caught 93 passes for 984 yards and five touchdowns. Nevertheless, player B only played in 10 games due to an injury, and his 13.5 points per game average would have placed him fifth on the year at the tight end position.
One key thing to consider with both of these players, though, is the fact that player A was almost non-existent down the stretch. He only averaged 10.5 PPR fantasy points over the final 11 weeks of the season, which ranked 11th among all tight ends. Players like Taysom Hill, Cole Kmet, and Ferguson all scored more points than him during that stretch.
Blind Resume No. 3 Reveal
This blind resume comparison might have been the easiest to figure out. Player A is Kelce, and player B is Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews.
Now, this comparison isn't telling fantasy managers to take Kelce over Andrews in fantasy drafts. You don't need to reach for Kelce early in drafts because there are no other elite options. Waiting for one or two more rounds to take Andrews could make more sense, considering he only averaged 1.1 PPR points per game less than the Chiefs tight end in 2023.
As it stands now, Andrews might be the better value pick of the two in fantasy. The Ravens didn't add any competition for targets this offseason, while the Chiefs did draft Xavier Worthy in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft and signed Marquise Brown in free agency.
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