Fantasy Football Draft Rankings & Tiers | Tight End Must-Have Targets, Busts to Avoid & Sleepers (Ep. 2038)

Summary

FantasyPros Fantasy Football Podcast:

Episode Title: Fantasy Football Draft Rankings & Tiers | Tight End Must-Have Targets, Busts to Avoid & Sleepers (Ep. 2038)
Date: May 29, 2026
Hosts: Chris Welsh, Pat Fitzmaurice, Scott Bogman

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into tight end rankings and tiers for the 2026 fantasy football season. Chris Welsh sits down with Pat Fitzmaurice and Scott Bogman to analyze each tight end tier, discussing who belongs in each group, draft strategies, upside picks, potential busts, and favorite sleepers. The conversation is rooted in the latest FantasyPros expert consensus but offers personal opinions and actionable advice.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Draft Strategy: The Tight End Landscape

[00:37-02:35]

• The hosts emphasize the importance of drafting a top-tier tight end due to the positional scarcity and the depth drop-off after the elite options.
• Pat Fitzmaurice: “I do kind of want to get a top tier tight end this year... I don’t think this is the year to shop high end quarterback. So I think tight end is the way to go if you’re going to spend up at one of the onesie positions.” (01:33)
• Scott Bogman: Prefers to draft from the top tier; otherwise, he’s comfortable streaming and piecemealing from later tiers if he misses out.

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2. Tier 1 Tight Ends: Elite Targets

[03:35-08:41]

Tier 1 Players: Trey McBride, Brock Bowers, Colston Loveland

• Colston Loveland’s Rise: Debate over whether he belongs with Bowers and McBride.
  • Pat: Loveland’s targets surged in the season’s second half, especially after DJ Moore’s departure in Chicago. “He averaged 12 targets, seven catches, 94 and a half receiving yards and had a pair of TDs in those four games. At least 10 targets in every one of those games.” (04:36)
  • Scott: Not fully convinced Loveland is equal to Bowers/McBride; prefers Loveland at the top of Tier 2, citing McBride’s dominant recent stretch and Bowers’ projected massive volume.
• Bowers Over McBride: Both Pat and Scott would pick Bowers over McBride due to team situation and the likelihood of sustained targets.

Notable Quote:
“Touchdowns are finicky. And I know Bowers got hurt last year, but they did a lot to fix the O-line... it's going to be an endless amount of targets for Bowers every week.”
— Scott Bogman (08:29)

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3. Tier 2 Tight Ends: High Probability Starters

[09:12-13:35]

Tier 2 Players: Tyler Warren, Tucker Kraft, Harold Fannin, Sam LaPorta, Kyle Pitts

• Consensus on Tier Structure:
  • Pat believes the group is tightly packed and appropriately ranked, though he notes he personally flips Pitts and LaPorta.
  • Predicts: “Tucker Kraft... has pretty big upside. Plus, Jordan Love is a really good quarterback... not out of the question that Tucker Kraft could be the number two target in this offense.” (11:20)
• Breakout Candidates:
  • Pat highlights Kraft’s upside if healthy—explosive after the catch and Kittle-like.
  • Bogman is out on LaPorta due to many mouths to feed in Detroit and prefers to pivot to Tyler Warren, especially with Michael Pittman’s exit freeing up targets in Indianapolis.

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4. Tier 3 Tight Ends: Depth and Opportunity

[15:13-21:41]

Tier 3 Players: Dalton Kincaid, Travis Kelce, George Kittle, Jake Ferguson, Aronda Gadsden, Isaiah Likely, Dallas Goedert

• Range Includes: Back-end starters to waiver wire pickups—they’re all grouped due to similar profiles or question marks.
• Pat’s Concern:
  • Flashing red lights on Aronda Gadsden with incoming competition (David Njoku) and a comparison to how Mike Gesicki faded under Mike McDaniel. “There are some ominous signs here for Arande Gadsden... He’s not a guy I’m going to be drafting.” (15:13)
• Bogman’s Standout:
  • “People are going to get tired of hearing me talk about Isaiah Likely this offseason...” (17:42) He sees Likely as the potential No. 2 target in New York and values his upside significantly over injury-risked mid-rounders like LaPorta.
• Kittle vs. Kelce:
  • Pat favors Kelce slightly due to Kittle’s injury record but says “Kittle is still, when healthy, a guy who can absolutely just win weeks for you... at a mid-round price.” (20:27)
  • Bogman recommends stacking Kittle with a high-upside backup (like Likely) if bench space allows for weekly matchup plays. (21:41)

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5. Deeper League Targets

[24:09-27:14]

• Pat’s Sleeper:
  • Terence Ferguson (LAR): An athletic freak on a team that uses multiple tight ends. If Ferguson emerges from the crowded room, he “could have a big year” thanks to high volume and quality QB play. (24:37)
• Bogman’s Sleeper:
  • A.J. Barner (SEA): Touchdown machine with Sam Darnold’s trust; expects Seattle to copycat multiple-tight-end successes from other teams for increased red-zone looks.

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6. Rapid Fire: Must-Draft, Bust, and Sleeper TEs

[27:14-33:03]

Must-Draft

• Pat: Brock Bowers — “...widely regarded as one of the best tight end prospects we’ve ever seen, come into the NFL, played that way last year, gets a new head coach... set up really well for Bowers and I think late second round is a great price for him.” (27:36)
• Bogman: Tyler Warren — Expects Warren to absorb vacated WR targets and be used creatively in the offense.

Bust

• Both: Aronda Gadsden (Tier 3) — Due to competition, usage concerns, and production concentrated in only a few games.
• Pat (alternate): Dalton Kincaid — Worries about lingering injury and workload limits.

Sleeper

• Pat: Terence Ferguson (LAR) — Athletic and overlooked, could emerge in a favorable system.
• Pat (bonus): Greg Dulcich (MIA) — Could lead his receiver-poor team in targets.
• Bogman: Chigoziem Okonkwo (WSH) — For upside in a situation where he could be the No. 2 target with a new QB.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I am just so much more of a stickler to tears and them not being so broad. I am more like I get really picky on the top end…” — Chris Welsh (10:18)

• “If I have a shallow bench, I really want to get one of those high end tight ends so I don't have to spend a bench spot on a second tight end. But if I have multiple bench spots for whatever reason in my league, I'm absolutely playing matchups and taking cheap tight ends.” — Scott Bogman (21:41)

• “Remember when we would take Travis Kelce in the first, I was like, I remember we're doing with Jimmy Graham... Maybe there was one before that, but I feel like Jimmy Graham was the first start of that.” — Chris Welsh (29:21)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro and Draft Philosophy: 00:37–02:35
• Tier 1 Elite TEs Debate: 03:35–08:41
• Tier 2 High-End Starters: 09:12–13:35
• Tier 3 Depth Options & Strategy: 15:13–21:41
• Sleeper/Deep League Picks: 24:09–27:14
• Must-Draft, Bust, Sleeper Roundup: 27:14–33:03

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Tone and Language

• Friendly, humorous, but analytical: Hosts mix expert analysis with banter and playful skepticism.
• No-nonsense advice: Hosts directly state whom to target, avoid, and speculate on upside, using stats and trends to back up opinions.

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Actionable Takeaways for Listeners

• Aim for a Top 4 Tight End—either Bowers, McBride, Loveland (Pat), or Warren (Bogman)—for the greatest advantage.
• Avoid overdrafting Aronda Gadsden and be cautious with Dalton Kincaid due to negative trends and injury concerns.
• If you miss top tiers, target high-upside late-rounders like Isaiah Likely, Terence Ferguson, or Chigoziem Okonkwo.
• Adapt strategy to league depth and bench size—deep benches favor matchup-based streaming.
• Monitor camp/preseason for clarity on split roles (especially on teams with crowded tight end rooms, like the Rams and Chargers).

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TL;DR—Tight End Draft Summary

• Top-tier TEs offer a major weekly advantage; prioritize them if possible.
• Don't chase names in the middle rounds unless value falls.
• Look for high-upside, late-round flyers in deep leagues—preferably athletic profiles or those with a clear path to targets.
• Always question tier groupings and ask: Would I ever draft this player over that one? Use this for more granular draft choices.

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For full rankings and to follow along with updated tiers, visit fantasypros.com/rankings.

Transcript

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[Chris Welsh]

What's up friends and welcome into Fantasy Pros. This is the fantasy football podcast. I'm Chris Welsh and we are back talking about some tight end ranks but we're going to go further. We did ranks last time. We're now going to be talking about tight end tiers plus who are the must drafts, the bus, the sleepers. An in depth conversation at the fantasy pros tiers on the tight end ranks. And to do it with me, we've got Pat Fitzmaurice and Scott Bogman both here to shed a little bit of light on what they agree with on their own tiers who they completely disagree with. They're and they're going to be doing the ones the must targets, the steals, the da da da and Pat, I know you know, it's going to be kind of intertwined into this conversation, but you have been very pro early tight end. We talked about it when we did the kind of very first, you know, version 1.0 of the rankings episodes we did. You're very pro early tight end. So these first three tiers are going to be very important kind of to your, you know, drafting strategy this year.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Yeah, I do kind of want to get a top tier tight end this year, Welsh, and part of it is like I never want to get a top tier Gucci level quarterback and tight end and I don't think this is the year to shop high end quarterback. So I think tight end is the way to go if you're going to spend up at one of the onesie positions.

[Chris Welsh]

Boggs, do you feel the same way? Do you think you're going to be like high end tight end investment? You've been a little bit of a tight end whisperer in years but I do know you're very comfortable having, you know, just like a locked stock tight end and not trying to play, you know, streaming or really hopefulness. So what range do you think you're going to be as far as the tiers as we're going to Be talking about these. What tier do you think you're going to live in?

[Scott Bogman]

I prefer early, so I want a high end, tight end for sure this season, you know, the top three guys in the tier I think is a strong one. That's where I want to buy from most of the time. If I don't get that, I'm going to do what I do in the normal years where I wait and I piecemeal it together because I do think there's a lot of depth, but I prefer to buy out of that top bin.

[Chris Welsh]

Well, you guys can play along with us. If you go to fantasypros.com rankings you can see the ranking and then you can see the tiers that we're actually talking about here. You can reference the tiers. Things will change. So I'll just, you know, point out to you. I mean, even between us recording this and this posting, there could be a slight difference. Offseason is probably not necessarily going to have anything dramatic like it is in season when we do our weekly ranks episodes. But just know one guy or two could float around. But this is what our early onset looks like. So let's jump into this fantasy pros.com rankings follow along. We are going to do this in tiers and then on the back half of the episode we are going to get some of the actual targets or maybe even guys we want to avoid at least from these two fine gentlemen. So let's jump in our first graphic here is our tier one and there's a new name to it. Comparative to last year, you've got Trey McBride, you've got Brock Bowers, but joining this tier this year is Colston Loveland. So McBride, Bowers, Loveland, that is tier one, your top three ranked tight ends and then the tier break in when we get into tier 2 as like 5. So the question is Pat, do you agree that this belongs as the tight end A Does Colson Loveland belong in the same tier of Bowers and McBride and I will do this little press on you. I tend to think tiers, how you can test a tier is do you ever see a scenario where you would take this player over this other player like, and this is where I get granular with tears because if, let's say Bowers because I don't think, I think your Bowers at 1. If you would always take Bowers and only Bowers. To me it almost become and maybe this is like too granular to 1A like he's his own tier. He belongs to his own tier because he's unmatched. And then if there are scenarios or I guess if, you know, McBride and Loveland are so close to each other, maybe they're interchangeable, then it could be the next tier. I like to test tiers like that. Do you think there's any test where Loveland could jump over certain players? Let's get your your thoughts on tier one.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

I do think Loveland could jump over McBride this year. Like if, if all three play 17 games, I'm pretty confident Bowers is going to be the tight end one and I'm less confident that McBride is going to be the tight end too. I think Loveland could pass him and we just saw the usage for Bauer or the usage for Loveland just increase and increase as the season wore on. Last year, from week nine on, Loveland was the tight end. Two in fantasy scoring behind only McBride. And over Chicago's last four games, that includes two in the regular season, two in the playoffs. Loveland was just completely unleashed. He averaged 12 targets, seven catches, 94 and a half receiving yards and had a pair of TDs in those four games. At least 10 targets in every one of those games. So like this guy is just such a matchup nightmare with his size and speed and now there's no DJ Moore in Chicago. So the targets are sort of further consolidated. I think Loveland is set up for a big, big season.

[Chris Welsh]

Okay, so you agree with that. Before we get to you, Boggs, the thing I do want to follow up with you, Pat, your disagreement of this tier though, it's not the tier, it's the placement of the tier. Correct. In that McBride comes in as the number one. He's the top of the tier. But I. But you believe this is Brock Bowers?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

I do think it's Bowers. It's just. Look, McBride is a really good player and you know, I'm not trying to dump on him. I just think it's going to be hard for him to top the year last season. I mean, among all pass catchers, not just tight ends, I mean, McBride was number two behind only Pukaniku. And receptions with 126, third and targets with 169, tied for second touchdown catches with 11. The Cardinals passed at the highest rate in the league last season and they just drafted a running back, number three overall. So not only that, but they've sort of stated the intent to try to get Marvin Harrison Jr. On track after two pretty disappointing seasons. And say what you will about Drew Petzing, I don't think anyone considers him an A plus play caller. But in his three seasons in Arizona, like, McBride was always heavily involved. And now we don't know exactly how Michael Flor is going to deploy Trey McBride.

[Chris Welsh]

All right, Boggs, Tier 1, McBride, Bowers, Loveland. What do you agree with? What do you disagree with? It can be in the ranks. Does someone else need to be above? What's your take on tier one here?

[Scott Bogman]

I think it's okay, but I will say that I'm not sure if Loveland belongs in here with McBride and Bowers quite yet. And look, Pat's right. He was great Week 9 on he was tight end 2, but McBride still outscored him by 44.3 points in that stretch, which is a giant. He had the best tight end one season over the last three seasons last year. I agree with Fitzy. I don't know if those touchdowns are completely repeatable. Right. But we know Brock Bowers is also going to be. He's going to get an endless amount of targets in Vegas. They didn't do anything to add to the wide receiver core outside of Jalen Naylor. So I think Loveland is really good. I just don't know that he belongs in this tier with McBride at the touchdown pace that he had last year and Bowers at the reception rate he's going to have because there is no target for competition. It's Jack Besh, it's Trey Tucker and Jalen Naylor. It's just not a good setup. So I think both these guys have a higher ceiling than Loveland. So I put Loveland at the top of the next tier instead of having him in this tier. I think it's fair. You know, there's a lot of upside there with him. I don't hate it, but for me, it is going to be Bowers and McBride ahead of him.

[Chris Welsh]

But you are Bowers above McBride, though?

[Scott Bogman]

Yes. Okay, so touchdowns are finicky. And I know Bowers got hurt last year, but they did a lot to fix the own line. And like I said, they didn't add wide receiver targets. So it's going to be an endless amount of targets for Bowers every week.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Can I throw in one more quick concern about McBride? Forgot to mention the inevitability that Carson Beck is going to get an audition this year. Like that's going to happen. I mean, they have Jacoby Brissette as. As the. Well, at least assuming he gets his, you know, contract dispute resolved. But they're going to give Carson back a look. They took him at the top of the third round. And we know rookie quarterbacks generally struggle in their first go rounds against NFL defenses while that's even first round quarterbacks. And Carson Beck was picked at the top of the third.

[Chris Welsh]

No bueno. Let's take a look at the second tier then. So tier one locked in three tight ends. Colson Love in argument here that he could be the top, at least for Bogman of the next tier. Tier two. As we bring up the graphic, we've got five players and tier two is started by Tyler Warren, followed by Tucker Kraft, Harold Fannin, Sam Laporta and Kyle Pitt. So top two tiers have represented the top eight tight ends. That's a pretty big marker, you know, of startable tight ends in fantasy that are represented in the top two tier. So Pat, we go to you agreements disagreements with this tier. Do you think it should be this big? Do you agree with the names? Is there somebody that really stands out? What is your, what's your overarching thesis for Tier 2 here? Because this does seem like a pretty. I guess I am just so much more of a stickler to tears and them not being so broad. I am more like I get really picky on the top end here and like seeing Tyler Warren versus even Kyle Pitts down there. I almost want to be like, do you really think there's no gap of like I'm always taking these two guys over the bottom. But you know what say you on tier two?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

I think this tier is correct. Tight end four through tight end eight. I don't think there's a great deal of separation in this tier. I mean I have them ranked exactly the way we have them ranked in this tier. Warren, Craft, Fanon. My only quibble, I have Pits ranked ahead of La Porta, but I consider that a true coin flip. And you know, we talked about the Trey McBride usage under Drew Petzing. Well, now Petzing is going to Detroit, so maybe that bodes pretty well for Sam Laporta to bounce back a little. It's just that he hasn't been quite as productive since the Jameson Williams breakout two years ago. But I do think this tier two is pretty spot on.

[Chris Welsh]

Which of those tight ends, real quick, Pat, do you think has the best potential for growth if you were to make that pick? Is it Tyler Warren who would have to jump into another tier? Is it Sam Laporta, as you just mentioned, jumping to the top of the tier? Is there somebody you think that has the most growth potential of this tier 2?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

I think it's Tucker Kraft who could Sort of like for tier one potential. I think it's Kraft if he's healthy because no more Romeo Dobbs in Green Bay. The things are a little more consolidated with the targets. No more Dentavion Wick. So basically it's just a wide receiver. Christian Watson, Jaden Reed, Matthew golden and the first two of those guys, Watson and Reed have had some injury issues in the past. So, like, not out of the question that Tucker Kraft could be the number two target in this offense. He's been an absolute monster after the catch. Very George Kittle like. So it was the injury last year. No small thing. Not only in acl, but I think he also damaged the PCL and had like a meniscus tear. So. But if he's on pace, comes back in week one, I think there's pretty big upside. Plus, Jordan Love is a really good quarterback. Maybe less so for fantasy than in real life, but some of these other guys have quarterback obstacles and Kraft certainly does not.

[Chris Welsh]

Boggs, Tier 2 of tight end here, does somebody stand out as a fall, a riser? What's your, what's your take here? What stands out to you for tier two of tight ends?

[Scott Bogman]

I think it's Laporta for me, and he probably belongs at the bottom of this tier, but I have him at the top of the next tier. Alliance just have so many mouths to feed. It's Sun God, It's Gibbs, it's JMO and Tesla. Right. His overall ECR is 85. He's ahead of BTJ, Lemon, Pollard and Godwin. I think when we get down to these tight ends, I'm probably just. I'm probably going to piecemeal it. I probably don't want to spend a top 100 pick on Sam Laporta. I just don't want to do that with his injury history anyway. So I'm. I'm probably going to just. I'm waiting. If I don't get a top seven tight end playing matchups, I think his finalists. I'm in tight end premium and the. The guy that I think has the most growth in this tier, it's probably Tyler Warren. I mean, we saw Pittman leave. I know everyone's super excited about Josh Towns. I'm just not. So I think Tyler Warren is going to see a large increase in targets. So for me, I'm kind of out on Laporta here. I'm big on Tyler Warren to take a nice bump up.

[Chris Welsh]

That's interesting that it's, it's after Tier 2 is where you start to check out in piecemeal. So it's like Kyle Pitts, let's assume he's seven or whatever. That's where it goes. So top two tiers in here. Let's look at tier three. But before we do, talk to you about Draft Assistant. When you're on the clock for your dynasty, startup or rookie draft, you don't have time to think. Sometimes you need the answers. So sync your league with Draft Assistant and get real time pick advice based on your settings, expert rankings and a ton more. Win your draft with draft [e-mail] assistant or go on the Fantasy Pros app. Got a draft coming up? You can grab a three day free trial of premium subscription right now at fantasyprose.com dynasty26 fantasypros.com Dynasty26 Check it out today. Fantasybros.com Assistant Lock In Draft Smarter, Not Harder Tier 3 We have got a grouping, we've got seven tight ends here. We're gonna go starting at nine and this is, I always think this is interesting because this goes from like the back end starters of leagues to guys that are probably on the wire and they're all in the same tier. Dalton Kincaid comes in at number 9 followed by Travis Kelsey at 10, George Kittle at 11, Jake Ferguson at 12. 13 through 15 is Aronda Gadson, Isaiah Likely and Dallas Goddard. So Pat, let's go to you. I think this makes for really interesting, weird conversations, like I said, because there are starters involved in here, there are players that are not. There's the whole do I draft the tight? Do I even bother drafting and investing in a higher tight end of tier 3 or just go to the bottom? What stands out to you about Tier 3? Whether it is a strategy thing or a specific player.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

So I kind of think around a Gadsden should not be in this tier anymore. Like they're kind of flashing warning signs with him. He did have that really exciting four game run last year from week six to week nine, 24 catches, 377 yards, two touchdowns. He was tight end one in fantasy scoring over that four game stretch. But the Chargers have signed David Nijoku, who's going to play at tight end quite a bit, I would imagine. Chargers also brought in fullback Alec Ingold, who was with Mike McDaniel in Miami and averaged 21 offensive snaps a game last season. So whenever Ingold is on the field, that's probably one last tight end who's playing. And I can't help but think of what happened to Mike Gasicki from the time that he was in Miami without Mike McDaniel to When Mike McDaniel gets hired as head coach in 2021, Kisicki had 73 catches, 780 yards on 112 targets for the Dolphins. Then the Dolphins hire Mike McDaniel. I think they might have even extended Gasicki before McDaniel came in, so figured he was going to continue to earn targets. His snaps got cut in half almost. Well, not quite in half. He went from a 72% snapshare in 2021 to a 45% snapchair under McDaniel. His targets got more than cut in half. He went from what, 112 to 52 in McDaniel's first year, 32 catches, 362 yards. I just feel like there are some ominous signs here for Arande Gadsden. And earlier in the off season I was excited about him as a potential target if I waited on tight end. Not anymore. He's. He's not a guy I'm going to be drafting.

[Chris Welsh]

Do you think the wrong Chargers tight end is ranked at the top too? I know you don't like really like Gadson, but do you think maybe it should be in Joku?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

I've still got Gadsden ranked higher. I don't know if that's the right call. I'm probably going to be avoiding both.

[Chris Welsh]

Okay, interesting bog. Same thing here from 9 Dalton Kincaid and 10 Travis Kelsey down to Dallas Goddard at 15. It's a pretty big group. It's a. It's just kind of a glob if we're being honest of guys. I think that most likely is people playing a game of chicken to get the best value tight end at the least cost. Because everyone, you know you want your top probably five guys and then avoiding but what stands out to you here? They're positively or negatively of this tier.

[Scott Bogman]

Oh man, people are going to get tired of hearing me talk about Isaiah Likely this offseason because I am excited to see him on a team without Mark Andrews. Finally, his highest targets in a season is 56, right over his four seasons. In any of those seasons. That's only good enough to be tight end 22. So Matt Nagy has been traditionally tight end heavy in 2018. Remember Trey Burton? He was tight end seven and then he worked with Cole Comet and Travis Kelsey. So my other question for the Giants is who is number two in targets here for the Giants? Fields is a deep threat, Wondale's gone, so is it's Slayton Mooney Austin Tracy or likely? I think it's going to be likely. I think he's going to be number two in targets for this team. I'd rather have him at pick 119 than Laporta at 85. Give me a post 100 tight end like Isaiah likely with a lot of upside over a guy like Sam Laporta who's had injuries and it's kind of at the bottom of his tier.

[Chris Welsh]

So did you just reveal likely? Did you say is likely in tier two for you?

[Scott Bogman]

Yes.

[Chris Welsh]

Okay, so he, he's a, he's a complete tier change above La Porta and then I'm trying to think who's is there another person he's above that I'm not thinking of?

[Scott Bogman]

I don't have my rankings pulled up so I think that's probably it. Yeah, I might have him one spot ahead of pits.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Okay.

[Chris Welsh]

All in. All right. So there you go. So I'm all in. Yeah, that's an all in. So you would definitely think he is, he is lower ranked than anything else. Tier 3, pretty interesting tier. Does anybody have just, just as a quick aside, just want to throw this out here. Pat, any Travis Kelsey thoughts on here? Are you done? Travis Kelsey vs. George Kittle done on old man Kelsey Kittle with the injury like if you had to pick a side where you're going it's smart to

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[Pat Fitzmaurice]

If I had to pick who's going to put up better numbers just because of the Kittle injury I like I don't expect Kittle to play a full season so I I currently do have Travis Kelce ranked higher. Maybe we get a bit of a bounce back year especially with the Chiefs not making really any significant pass catching additions. They their big addition was Kenneth Walker and Kelsey still seems like if he can, you know drink from the fountain of youth. He's poised for a lot of targets and catches again. But Kittle, there's something to be said for maybe just drafting Kittle and then getting yourself a decent backup tight end like a Juwan Johnson type because Kittle is still when healthy, a guy who can absolutely just win weeks for you. Like his best games win weeks and like that's what we're aiming for, a tight end. He's the guy who can do that for you cheaply. Maybe give you Brock Bowers, Trey McBride type results at a mid round price.

[Chris Welsh]

Well, I was actually going to say this exact thing. Boggs, Is there something where you could take like, I mean likely is ranked 14th. Could you take Kittle and likely and stack them up together? Is that maybe a strategy to play and you play likely early on and then maybe, maybe you're even trading off of one of those guys. If likely works out how you were talking about.

[Scott Bogman]

The deeper your bench is, the more likely I am to do that. Right? Like the more I will take into consideration playing matchups on tight end. So if I have a shallow bench, I really want to get one of those high end tight ends so I don't have to spend a bench spot on a second tight end. But if I have multiple bench spots for whatever reason in my league, I'm absolutely playing matchups and taking cheap tight ends.

[Chris Welsh]

All right, we're going to talk about a deep play and then the must draft, the bust and the must have or the sleeper, a couple specific picks. We can probably guess where Bogman is going to go with one of them here. We will do all of that in just a second. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock BET Florida Sportsbook. We talk a lot about football on this show, but the NBA Finals are almost here where the lights are brighter, the pressure is higher and every possession can change a series. And on a Hard Rock Bet every night is your shot to score a major bucket with win or go home energy on the hardwood. We love building same game parlays. You might like the hot hand to drop 30, the big man to control the glass with a double double and maybe the point guard to dish out five assists. However you draw it up, Hard Rock Bet gives you tons of ways to stack your picks into a same game parlay built for the playoffs. If you are ever late to tip off, you don't have to worry. Hard Rock Bet lets you live bet all the games long from the first bucket to the final buzzer. Try your first bet on Hard Rock Bet today and you can score $150 in bonus bets. If you win, just place a $5 bet and if it hits, you get not only your winnings but also an extra $150 in bonus bets and but the welcome offer is just the tip. Hard RockBet has new promos daily. So open up the app right now and see what promo you've got going today. And sure, Hard Rock Bet is Florida's only legal sports book, but guess what? You don't have to be just in Florida to join the party. Hard Rock Bet is live with me here in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Colorado and Michigan and more states are on the way. So just go and download the Hard Rock Bet app today and get the

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[Chris Welsh]

Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia gentlemen outside of tier three. So we determined that we have 15 tight ends deep for tier three. Going further, this is you know two tight end leagues which are obviously very common and more these are guys that might have to get rostered. Deep league plays, tight ends you might be looking to stash. Pat, let's start with you. Who's somebody outside the top 15 tight ends that you are going to be targeting this year.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

This would have to be a deep league and I plan a bunch of those because this is not someone you're going to draft in a 12 team league with 16 roster spots. Terence Ferguson of the Rams, I just think this is one of the candidates from like tight end 3 range who could potentially take a quantum leap and be a guy we're drafting somewhat early next year. Athletic freak who ran a 4:6:3 at the combine had a 39 inch vertical jump at 4:6:5 and a half 247 pounds. Rams took him in the middle of the second round. So you know the athletic profile, the draft capital that you know, check, check. There he is in kind of a log jam with the Rams. He the Rams have Colby Parkinson, Tyler Higby Davis, Allen Ferguson and then they drafted Max Claire. Ferguson averaged the fewest snaps per game of the four veteran tight ends. Then Claire gets added to the mix. But we've got Sean McVay, who's one of the best play callers in the game and sort of at the vanguard of this multiple tight end usage. Rams tight ends combined for 150 targets, 103 catches, 1128 yards and 17 touchdowns last year. Yes, it's chopped up in an annoying number of ways, but like, if Ferguson could, through his talent, seize a large share of that portion, he could have a big year. And look, Matthew Stafford led the league in yardage and touchdown passes last year. It's just kind of a good setup. If Ferguson can take that next step and have a bigger role. I know it's kind of messy and people are going to be worried about all those tight ends on the roster, but man, there's some interesting potential here because this dude, just when you watch him play, he. He moves differently. He is not like a lot of the other tight ends in the NFL

[Chris Welsh]

box, outside the top three tiers. What tight end? Deeper tight end. Are you targeting A.J.

[Scott Bogman]

barner? I was annoyingly positive about A.J. barner last year. He scored a lot of touchdowns with Seattle. Sam Darnold looked great and he really relied on him in the end. Scored the touchdown in the super bowl, had six touchdowns. And I know they drafted Arroyo. People expect him to take a next step, but we see it's a copycat league, right? We, we saw like what Fitzy was just mentioning with the 13 personnel. With the Rams, they go from like 2% to 30%. They score 30 touchdowns out of that set. Like, this is a copycat league. I think we're going to see multiple tight end sets from Seattle and Barner is going to always be a red zone threat. So it's going to be Barner for me.

[Chris Welsh]

All right, then that's going to give us our a roundup here. So this is going to kind of encompass everything we've talked about. Those are the top three tier. There's more. You can check them out. Fantasypros.com rankings we're going to now go with our must draft, our bust and our sleeper from each one of you guys. So this is going to really tell the story. So let's start with must draft. Pat, the must draft tight end for you for this season is who?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

It's Brock Bowers. Back in the day when Travis Kelsey was a, you know, we had the debate, would you draft Travis Kelce in the first round? And Kelsey always gave you this big advantage, maybe a Bigger advantage over the rest of the packet tight end than you would get with Bowers now. But you don't have to take Bowers anywhere near the first round, like he's going late second, maybe even early third in some drafts. And we're talking about a guy who is a rookie. 112 catches for 1194 yards, five touchdowns on 153 targets last year. Just problem with the PCL injury in Week 1 wasn't the same the next few weeks. Got shut down, came back then had seven touchdowns in his last eight games before the Raiders went into tank mode and put him on IR for the last two games of the season. But man, I mean, this guy, widely regarded as one of the best tight end prospects we've ever seen, come into the NFL, played that way last year, gets a new head coach. And Clint Kubiak, who I think is. There's reason they're trusting him to repair the Las Vegas offense because he did a heck of a job in Seattle last year. And now they bring in the number one pick in the draft, Fernando Mendoza. And meanwhile, while they possibly sit Mendoza for a few games to let him comprehend everything, they've got Kirk Cousins, who has always been a pretty tight end, friendly, tight quarterback. It was Cousins last year who was a quarterback for the Falcons when Kyle Pitts had 11 catches for 166 yards, three touchdowns in that Thursday night game against the Buccaneers and I think week 15. So I think things are set up really well for Bowers and I think like late second round is a great price for him.

[Chris Welsh]

All I could think about, by the way, is when you were like, you know, remember when we would take Travis Kelsey in the first, I was like, I remember we're doing with Jimmy Graham. Like that was like that was, I feel like that was the original one. Maybe there was one before that, but I feel like Jimmy Graham was the first start of that.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Tony Gonzalez.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The Tony Gonzalez. Like those are the, those are our OG first round conversations of doing it, but Brock Bauer, so right at the top. All right, Boggs, must draft. Are you gonna do the top tight end as well? What's your must draft tight end this year?

[Scott Bogman]

I'll skip the top. I'll go Tyler Warren. Everyone is excited about Josh Downs, but most, most of Pittman's targets were going to go to Pierce, I think, and Warren, in my opinion. So Warren was already fourth in targets, but I think there's room to grow. He had more yards with Daniel Jones, of course, but still averaged seven targets and four catches per game with Rivers and Leonard. So I think he's going to be fine. I think he takes the next step. I think they're going to use them in trick plays too, because they did that at Penn State all the time. So give me Tyler Warren.

[Chris Welsh]

All right, let's go to some bus. And you two completely agree. So save some for for each other here. You guys are picking the same player or Rhonda Gadsden is both of your bus. So you guys are both huge haters. Pat, I think you've already kind of done this. Anything you want to add? I think he did kind of set the stage already for why he's your bus. But what else?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

No, we can go to Boggs. I mean, if I had a secondary pick, it might be Dalton. Kincaid was actually really hyper efficient last year, but he's got this partially torn. I can't remember if it was LCL or pcl, but like they're not having doing surgery on it. They're going to try to just let it mend. And Brandon B. In the Bills GM has already talked about having to have his snaps managed. Well, he had his snaps managed last year and even though he was wildly efficient, just wasn't really impactful because the snaps were so limited.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, okay, that's a good one. There's an addition there. So Boggs, now you get to trash around a Gadson because Pat did all the trashing earlier. What do to add to the pile?

[Scott Bogman]

Well, how about his game against the Colts, which was nine targets, seven catches, 164 yards and touchdown being 24.2% of his production for the season. That's a quarter of his percent was in one game. So he had two other games with over 10 points, but only four games with five plus receptions and only five games with more than five targets. Hard pass for Gadsden.

[Chris Welsh]

All right. Out. Kincaid and Gadsden. Those are going to be our bus. And for our final tight end on the roundup, here is going to be our tight end sleeper. Maybe it's the same guy top outside. The top 15 does kind of qualify as like a sleeper, but there's lots of different ways to look at it. Pat, we're going to start with you. Who is your sleeper tight end for the coming season?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Well, Terence Ferguson is my favorite Welsh, but I'd also throw in Greg Dulcich of the Dolphins, a guy who could conceivably lead that team in Target since they have so little at wide receiver.

[Chris Welsh]

Okay, beautiful Boggies.

[Scott Bogman]

Who do you got how about Chiga conquo just take the same thing that we just said and put it to Washington, right. Who's the number two target outside Terry McLaurin? Don't know. Right now it's Traylon Burks. Maybe it's Antonio Williams. Maybe Luke McCaffrey takes a step up. I know Chegaconkwo has been pretty solid over the middle and I love Daniels throwing to him. So let's go with Jake.

[Chris Welsh]

All right, Perfect. From Mustraps bus sleepers to what the tiers look like on Fantasy Pros, that is the all encompassing look at tight ends in a nutshell. Plus there's some strategy built in there to both how these guys want to draft. You know, I would say the, the, the summary of it is drafting from the top five or six is most likely maybe even more the top four. You guys both picked your must draft tight ends as a top four guy. So I think really if we're honing it in, it is taking a top four guy.

[Scott Bogman]

It's the Ricky Bobby. Yeah.

[Chris Welsh]

First your last and then if not that you're not really playing in the middle. You guys really weren't playing in the middle with some of your deeper plays anyway. So what do you guys is your must draft, who's your bus and who's your sleeper? Put the comments below, let us know. You can go and check out all the ranks and tiers [e-mail] rankings you can set up those tiers. You can see throughout the entire offseason how that's going to build as more and more rankers join the platform and those guys start to adjust. And then obviously any of the other crazy things that happens in the off season that is going to do it for the episode. Thank you guys so much for hanging out for Pat Fitzmores and Scott Bogman, I'm Chris Welsh. We'll talk to you next time right here on Fantasy Pros.

[Fantasy Pros Outro Host]

Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football podcast. If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on apple [e-mail] review or on Spotify. Follow us on X Instagram and TikTok at fantasypros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com fantasypros.

[Chris Welsh]

Hey guys, it's us, the Jonas Brothers.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

I'm Joe.

[Chris Welsh]

I'm Kevin.

[Nick Jonas]

And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called hey Jonas.

[Chris Welsh]

We invented a podcast.

[Nick Jonas]

Well, we didn't invent it. We, we just contributed to it first

[Chris Welsh]

people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

[Nick Jonas]

Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Listen to hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it

[Robert Smigel]

on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends, we help make you funnier. On this episode, my guests Bob Odenkirk and kids in the halls Bruce McCullough try and help the Kazoo kid and Tayzon be famous again. What if there's an alternate universe show where you guys are incredibly popular?

[Fantasy Pros Outro Host]

Well, and they could travel up the

[Chris Welsh]

land doing meet and greets.

[Edwin Castro (Castro 1021)]

They're constantly needed at malls.

[Robert Smigel]

Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Joey Dardano]

I'm Joey Dardano, and on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Psych.

[Joey Dardano]

I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. This is help from a hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrite Wednesdays on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Edwin Castro (Castro 1021)]

Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021, and I'm Conky, his best

[Chris Welsh]

friend and business manager.

[Edwin Castro (Castro 1021)]

And we've got a new called the 1021 podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports, and with the World cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Guaranteed Human Host]

This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.