Fantasy Football Sleepers: Late-Round Tight Ends for Best Ball Drafts
Nailing a sleeper tight end in Best Ball drafts is one way to separate yourself from the competition. Tight end is historically considered to be the weakest of the primary fantasy positions, but there’s quite a bit of talent at the position in the NFL these days. Travis Kelce has been the no-brainer fantasy TE1 for the better part of a decade, but we saw a changing of the guard last season when Sam LaPorta surprisingly assumed the throne after a phenomenal rookie campaign.
Needless to say, LaPorta won’t be sneaking up on anybody entering the 2024 season. If you’re essentially punting the position and hoping to grab a slept-on player in the later rounds, who are a few tight end sleepers to consider in Best Ball drafts?
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Fantasy Football Sleepers— Tight Ends
Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers were quietly one of the more explosive offenses in the NFC a season ago. Perhaps it shouldn’t have been all that surprising considering the amount of talent this team boasts at the skill positions. Baker Mayfield will be back after re-signing this offseason, and we can safely expect Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Rachaad White to be among the top producers at their respective positions again in ’24.
Cade Otton will be entering his third pro season. His production has been modest through his first two years, though he did come on strong toward the end of last season. In all, Otton hauled in 47 passes (67 targets) for 455 yards with 4 touchdowns. In Tampa Bay’s two playoff games, however, Otton added 13 receptions on 19 targets for 154 yards and a score.
Otton is a talented pass catcher, but he’s going in Best Ball drafts as the TE19 as of this writing in late May. He’s coming off the board around 170 overall. Otton’s ceiling may be capped considering he’s in a crowded offense that features Evans, Godwin, and White so heavily, but there is enough volume to go around.
At the very least, Otton is a useful late-round piece you can consider if you’ve nabbed Evans, Godwin, or White with some of your earlier picks. He’s a natural stacking target to pair with Mayfield, who has a pretty clear path to finishing as a top-15 QB if he can stay healthy.
Ben Sinnott, Washington Commanders
As we saw last season with LaPorta, Luke Musgrave, and Dalton Kincaid, rookie tight ends can be difference-makers right away. The Commanders’ offense has received an injection of talent this offseason as well. Newcomers include Jayden Daniels, Austin Ekeler, Luke McCaffrey, and Zach Ertz. Logan Thomas, who’s been Washington’s No. 1 tight end for the past couple of seasons, was released.
Ertz likely has the inside track to the starting job, but it’s worth wondering how much the 33-year-old has left in the tank. Remember, he was beaten out by Trey McBride in Arizona last season, and he hasn’t been an upper-echelon tight end in several years. The Commanders also grabbed former Kansas State standout, Sinnott, with the 53rd overall pick in last month’s draft.
Sinnott doesn’t really have the size to be out there for his blocking, but he showed some explosive athleticism in his college days. Over his final two seasons in Manhattan, Sinnott caught 80 passes for 1,123 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also ran a respectable 4.88 in the 40 at the combine.
Beyond Terry McLaurin and Ekeler, Daniels doesn’t have a ton of established options in the passing game entering his rookie season. We’ve seen first-year QBs are often happy to target safety-valve tight ends over the middle. Given Ertz’ age and array of injury issues in recent years, it’s easy to see how Sinnott can find a path to legitimate playing time as a rookie.
Best of all, you can grab Sinnott with one of your final Best Ball picks. He’s ranked as the TE27 in the latest ADP rankings, with an overall draft position of just under 200.
Jonnu Smith, Miami Dolphins
Remember when Jonnu Smith caught all of the passes that should have been going to Kyle Pitts last season? Fun times, Falcons, fun times. Well, Pitts is apparently now the unquestioned starter in Atlanta, as Smith was released before ultimately latching on with the Dolphins in free agency this offseason.
Smith is still only 28 years old despite the fact that it feels like he’s been around forever. He’s been a solid secondary target at each of his three previous NFL stops, but the Dolphins offense he’ll be joining is easily the most explosive he’s ever played with. With luminaries like Durham Smythe, Julian Hill, and Jody Fortson on the Miami depth chart at tight end, it’s fair to assume Smith will see no shortage of playing time this season.
Smith is fresh off of the most prolific season of his career, which is no small feat considering Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke were his QBs in Atlanta. Smith totaled 50 catches on 70 targets for 582 yards and 3 touchdowns. That’s certainly not TE1 type of production, but Smith also won’t be attracting a ton of attention from opposing defenses in Miami. They have Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, DeVon Achane, and Raheem Mostert to worry about, after all.
With Hill and Waddle absorbing so much of the production in the passing game, any tight end in this system is essentially left to pick up the scraps. That means Smith’s fantasy relevance will likely stem from his ability to find the end zone. Miami was more than happy to let Mostert hunt for pay dirt in most goal-line scenarios a season ago, and there isn’t much reason to expect a major philosophy shift in what was an extremely successful offense.
Still, I think Smith is worth a late-round flier as a starter in an explosive offense. In Best Ball drafts, Smith’s coming in around the TE21, with an overall ADP of 178.
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