2014 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings
There are quite a few tight ends that will be fantasy relevant this year in varying degrees. There are some young guns like Ladarius Green and Adrien Robinson that seem primed for a breakout campaign while trusty vets like Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski are still worth 1st to 2nd round picks. Like always we suggest waiting on a tight end if you do not get one of the elite two but Julius Thomas would be a smart pick if you can land him in the 4th after you have already nabbed your top two running backs and a wideout or a QB. For this year we have broken our tight ends down into tiers and will briefly discuss each tier and provide you with our complete tight end rankings. Our rankings are fluid and will continuously be updated throughout the off-season so bookmark this page for reference during your fantasy drafts.
Tier One – Potential 1st rounders
Tier one includes the always reliable Jimmy Graham who should go off the board in the late first or sometime right after Calvin Johnson and Rob Gronkowski whom while he is now considered an injury risk seems to be the only tight end who is a consistent and credible threat to finish as fantasy football’s number one tight end over Jimmy Graham.
Tier Two – Orange Julius
This tier is named after the only player currently residing in it as Julius Thomas is an elite tight end option you should draft early but is not as elite as the top two and should not be a consideration in the first round. Julius should have another fantastic season and is perfectly capable of a top two finish.
Tier Three
Tier three contains another group of extremely talented tight ends who will all vie for top five finishes at their position. Vernon Davis is always a top five threat and is his teams top vertical option due to the fact that he is faster than Crabtree, Boldin and Johnson, his teams top three wideouts. Greg Olsen may very well be Cam Newton’s top target this season with the Panthers receiver corps in shambles aside from rookie Kelvin Benjamin. Likewise Jordan Cameron should be the Browns top target after Josh Gordon’s impending suspension has similarly left the Browns wideout corps a decrepit mess. Jordan Reed if he can stay healthy and avoid the C-word should have a breakout campaign for the Redskins as the number three option in the passing game while Kyle Rudolph could see Hawaii again if Terry Bridgewater gets the call sooner rather than later. Finally Jason Witten will remain an every-down player and should be a solid TE1 option though he will have more upside in PPR formats.
Tier Four
The ‘Black Unicorn’ Martellus Bennett remains a solid ‘wait on tight end’ option while Antonio Gates is another option you can wait for despite his pedigree due to the Ladarius Green hype train. Charles Clay was solid last year and could push for 100 targets again this season. Zach Ertz is expected to pick up some of the targets that DeSean Jackson’s jettisoning left up for grabs and is expected to be the top tight end target in Philly this year. Dennis Pitta has a friend in Joe Flacco while Eric Ebron has a sky high upside with former Saints assistant Joe Lombardi scheming ways to put Ebron in Jimmy Graham’s Saints role.
Tier Five
Jared Cook was a disappointment once again last season but may finally be ready to breakout as a post-hype sleeper if Sam Bradford can make it through all sixteen games. Cook started last season with a bang only to whimper the rest of the way. A healthy Bradford can help Cook find that consistency that has eluded him for years. Tyler Eifert is full of talent and is a solid TE2 option with the upside for TE1 numbers some weeks. Jace Amaro was a prolific college tight end and could quickly become a Geno favorite as a reliable pass catching safety valve tight end. Dwayne Allen is a the better blocker and is on par with Fleener as pass catcher and thus should see more snaps than Fleener leaving him with a higher ranking while Adrien Robinson is primed to breakout in Ben McAdoo’s Packers style offense that always found ways to utilize Jermichael Finley. Ladarius Green should see a healthy amount of targets this season and should be an upside TE2 but those who have boarded the hype wagon would do well to remember that this is a run first team with Hall of Fame shoe-in Antonio Gates still on the roster as the top tight end. Austin Seferian-Jenkins will give Josh McCown visions of Martellus Bennett which should at the very least make him a top red zone threat for the Bucs and lead him close to 5-7 total TD’s.
Tier Six
The everybody else tier includes solid bye week filler/injury replacement Heath Miller, Levine Toiolo who is the Falcons expected starting tight end, the Titans Delanie Walker who is just a guy most weeks, Jermaine Gresham who could be a TE1 on a different team, Coby Fleener who will not be an every-down player but has a solid rapport with Andrew Luck, Troy Niklas who should make the tight end position relevant in a Bruce Arians system by week 12. Garrett Graham and Mercedes Lewis are solid bye week fillers who should have a few games where they make a fantasy impact. Richard Rodgers has a chance to be the featured tight end for the Packers while others such as Myers, Sudfeld, Wright, Housler and Miller can hold some TE2 value when fed enough targets. Owen Daniels and Ed Dickson are second on their depth charts but play on teams expected to use a lot of two tight end sets giving them some TE2 appeal. Tony Moeaki has always been talented but will share snaps with Scott Chandler while Joseph Fauria has lost a lot of his fantasy appeal with Eric Ebron now in town. Finally Brandon Bostick will be the Packers tight end to own if Rodgers cannot separate at the NFL level.
