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Five fantasy football tight end values and sleepers to target in the middle rounds of 2023 drafts. Can these wide receivers surpass their ADP expectations?
The middle of the fantasy draft is essential, and managers want to draft high-upside players that can provide a great return on value. Fantasy managers can afford to take some risks on various players, including forgotten veterans, players returning from injuries, or even skilled players with potential playing time concerns.
In this article, we look at some mid-round tight ends for you to consider drafting this season. Our editors have hand-picked these specific NFL players for your draft prep enjoyment. Usually only available to Premium subscribers, the outlooks below are meant to give you a taste of the in-depth analysis you receive with our industry-leading 2023 Draft Kit.
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Evan Engram, Jaguars, Fantasy Football Outlook
Evan Engram had the label of an underachiever and someone who dropped as many passes as he caught during his tenure with the New York Giants. His solid but not spectacular stats over that five-season span made him a TE2 in the fantasy football world. Changing teams changed Engram's fantasy value for the better in 2022, though. After signing a one-year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Engram blossomed in a new offense with phenom quarterback Trevor Lawrence throwing to him. He set new career highs with 73 receptions for 766 yards and finished the year as a top-10 fantasy TE. Engram was franchise tagged in the offseason, so he will continue to play a pivotal role in Doug Pederson's passing attack.
The Jaguars are loaded as their top two receivers from 2022, Christian Kirk and Zay Jones, will be joined by newly-acquired Calvin Ridley, who could end up being the No. 1 WR if he reclaims the form he had during his time with the Atlanta Falcons. This could mean Engram might be hard-pressed to get 100 targets, but defenses will be hard-pressed to double-cover him thanks to all the firepower the Jags have on the outside. Engram should be able to match the numbers he put up in 2022 and be a low-end TE1 as long as he is utilized the same way and keeps his drop total low.
Pat Freiermuth, Steelers, Fantasy Football Outlook
Pat Freiermuth is the Pittsburgh Steelers' top tight and one of quarterback Kenny Pickett's top targets heading into the 2023 NFL season. After a wonderful rookie campaign where he scored seven touchdowns and became an immediate red-zone force, Freiermuth only found the end zone twice in 2022 despite being targeted 19 more times and having 235 more receiving yards than the year prior. The Steelers offense was conservative last season as the team brought Pickett along slowly, so hopefully the playbook is opened up this season as Pickett improves. Freiermuth is a top-10 fantasy tight end after posting back-to-back 60-catch seasons and proving he can score touchdowns.
Fantasy managers cannot expect him to be in the upper echelon of the position, however, as he is not a game-breaker (10.0 career ypc) and might continue to be hamstrung by Pickett's play and the average offensive players around him. The other worry concerning Freiermuth is that he suffered two concussions during his rookie year. Another concussion or two could cause him to miss several games if he is hit the wrong way in 2023. As long as Freiermuth stays healthy he could provide fantasy managers with 70 receptions for 800 yards and six scores.
David Njoku, Browns, Fantasy Football Outlook
Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku is looking to build on a solid 2022 season. The 26-year-old played in 14 games last year, catching a career-high 58 passes. He added 628 yards and four touchdowns, closing out the season as the TE10 overall, which was his best finish since 2018. To his credit, Njoku likely would have performed even better if not for inconsistent play at the quarterback position. Jacoby Brissett was purely mediocre during his time under center, and Deshaun Watson struggled significantly upon his return from suspension.
Nevertheless, Njoku had a strong role with the Browns, running routes near the goal line (his 20 red-zone targets ranked second among tight ends) while also serving as a short-range safety valve (he had an ADOT of 4.8 and catchable target rate of 88.8 percent). In short, both Brissett and Watson looked his way frequently, often relying on him rather than Amari Cooper or Donovan Peoples-Jones when they needed to move the chains.
Cleveland didn't bring in a whole lot of competition this offseason (Elijah Moore isn't a glaring threat), and the Browns' offense should only improve now that Watson has a normal offseason. Don't lose sight of the fact that Watson missed more than one-and-a-half seasons due to his holdout and suspension, then was thrust into action late in 2022 with a difficult schedule and unfavorable winter weather conditions in cities like Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. A full offseason of sunny practices should bode well for Watson, which will in turn lead to success for someone like Njoku. He currently ranks as RotoBaller's TE11 and has an ADP of 105, making him a very sound low-end TE1 option heading into the new campaign
Dalton Schultz, Texans, Fantasy Football Outlook
Houston Texans tight end Dalton Schultz enters 2023 as a low-end TE1 play, albeit one with the upside to finish closer to TE6 overall or so if the new-look Texans offense clicks. Schultz comes to Houston from Dallas, where he spent his first five seasons with the Cowboys. His best year was 2021 when he saw 104 targets and turned them into 78 catches for 808 yards and eight touchdowns. There was some regression last year, as his catch rate dropped from 75.0% in 2021 to 64.0% in 2022, and he finished with 577 yards and five touchdowns. But there's some reason to believe 2023 can look more like 2021 for Schultz.
The Texans will likely be starting rookie C.J. Stroud at quarterback, and there are question marks all along the receiving corps for this team, which could mean that Schultz ends up seeing a fairly sizable workload and ends up surpassing 100 targets for the second time in his career. It also helps that the team's offensive coordinator comes over from the 49ers, an offense that heavily featured the tight end. Schultz isn't the physical mismatch that George Kittle is for San Francisco, but he's got good hands and a big frame, so the Texans should use him heavily. Still, the overall concerns about this offense and the fact that the quarterback is unproven means that it's fair to temper expectations some and to draft Schultz somewhere between TE8 and TE11, depending on how comfortable you are betting on the Texans offense to improve.
Cole Kmet, Bears, Fantasy Football Outlook
Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet put together the best fantasy season of his career in 2022. He had five double-digit fantasy performances, finishing as the TE7 in PPR formats. Kmet caught 50 passes for 544 yards and a career-high seven touchdowns on the year. The touchdowns boosted the tight end's value in 2022, but he saw fewer targets from Justin Fields compared to 2021 (93 to 69). The 24-year-old tight end had a 19.3% target share last year, which could decrease in 2023.
With the Bears adding DJ Moore to an existing wideout group of Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool, Kmet could wind up as the fourth option in Chicago's offense. The Bears ranked the lowest in the league last season in pass play percentage (43.8%), and if that trend continues, Kmet might not be anything better than a TE2 option in fantasy this season. He does have the potential to finish top six at the position, but that depends on Fields' development as a passer. Kmet is ranked as TE12 in the latest RotoBaller rankings.
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