Daily Dr. Roto — August 20, 2018
Dr. Roto’s Exclusive Tiered Visionary Tight End Rankings
Tiered Visionary Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE
There is a big divide when it comes to drafting tight ends. If you don’t get a respectable one, you might end up falling behind your competition. You also might be tempted to take Gronk or Kelce early in your draft, but I advise against it. Ideally, I try to find a guy in Rounds 8-10 which allows me to build up my RBs and WRs earlier in the draft.
Tier 1: The absolute studs
- Rob Gronkowski — Clearly the best tight end in Fantasy Football and possibly of all time. He should be a lock for 1000 yards and 10 TDs. I can see taking him in the third round but I prefer to start my team solidifying my RBs and WRs instead.
- Travis Kelce — I could easily make an argument why you should take Kelce in the third round, but I will pass on him for the aforementioned reasons.
- Zach Ertz — I was 100% all in on Ertz last season when I was able to get him in the seventh round of every draft. This year he is going to cost me a third or fourth round pick which I find to be too rich for my liking.
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Tier 2: Guys who are close to studs but not quite
- Evan Engram — He’s going in round 6-7, and I really like him in that spot. Eli has always thrown to his TE and this year will be no different.
- Greg Olsen — He’s still Cam Newton’s favorite target, and he is slipping in drafts based on last year’s injury.
- Jimmy Graham — He’s got Aaron Rodgers throwing him the ball now, which should put him in line for a terrific 2018 campaign.
Tier 3: The Sweet Spot (Guys I am Focused on)
- Delanie Walker — He left practice with a toe injury last week, but he is still Mariota’s most reliable target.
- Kyle Rudolph — He is a beast in the red zone, and I think that he will have about 65 receptions this season.
- Trey Burton — The Bears paid a lot to bring him over from Philadelphia, but it might be worth it. Burton is a huge target who should be a force in the middle of the field for Trubisky.
- Jack Doyle — With Andrew Luck back, Doyle could easily be a top-five TE by season’s end.
- O.J. Howard — The breakout is coming soon; Howard is virtually impossible for any linebacker to cover in single coverage.
- George Kittle — He was way on my draft radar until a shoulder injury derailed his preseason. I have seen him dropping into Rounds 11-12 recently which is a steal.
- Austin Hooper — There are a lot of mouths to feed in Atlanta, but Hooper has gotten better steadily over the past two seasons, and the coaching staff is in love with him.
- David Njoku — I think he will end up being over-drafted in most leagues, but I can live with that because I feel that by taking him you are trying to swing for the fences which I respect. He’s going to be good one day soon.
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- Cameron Brate — Brate will still get to play a bunch of snaps in Tampa, but it’s Howard’s job now.
- Tyler Eifert — Feeling lucky? Eifert’s back could flare up at any given moment, and Marvin Lewis has already said that he wants him to play 50 snaps or fewer each game. If you take him, you might want to put Tyler Kroft’s name on your speed dial.
- Ricky Seals-Jones — He came out of nowhere last season, but he is looking like the real thing. He was a former wide receiver in college which means that he will play on all obvious passing downs even if he loses a few snaps on running downs.
- Vance McDonald — Big Ben always throws to his tight end and McDonald is an underrated receiver.
- Ben Watson — The ageless wonder is back with the Saints again and should be able to hook up with Drew Brees about 45-50 times this season.
- Jared Cook — I still respect Cook’s athletic ability which is why he always seems to pop up on my draft board sometime in rounds 16-20. I don’t love him, but if all the other tight ends are gone, I usually can count on 600 yards of production from him.
- Dallas Goedert — This is a name that no one will know in most home leagues, but high stakes players have been talking about him for weeks. If Ertz is out for any length of time, we might be looking at a Wally Pipp situation — he’s that good.
- Charles Clay — He and Jared Cook are like the same person for me except that I trust Derek Carr throwing the ball more than I trust Josh Allen.
Tier 5: A bit too risky for me
- Eric Ebron — You can talk about athletic ability all you want until I see consistent production from him I will let someone else enjoy the ride. I would much rather have Doyle than Ebron if given a choice and I bet Andrew Luck would agree.
- Jordan Reed — Every year I can count on three things: 1) paying my taxes, 2) not getting Mrs. Roto the right birthday gift, and 3) a Jordan Reed injury. The only way I will draft him is if I pair him with an upside guy like Njoku.
Tier 6: A wing and a prayer
- Tyler Higbee — He’s built chemistry with Goff recently, and I think he could flash. I am a bit worried about there being so many mouths to feed on this offense though, so I will probably pass.
- Austin Seferian-Jenkins — He’s looked the part in Jax thus far, but Bortles has so many options at receiver. I think I would take a shot on him in standard leagues due to his size in the red zone.
- Hayden Hurst — He seems to have a good rapport with Flacco in training camp thus far.
- Mike Gesicki — He’s got freak of nature athletic ability, but I worry that he will lose snaps because of his poor blocking ability.
- Luke Willson — A lot of my fellow experts are throwing his name around as a late tight end, and it makes sense. Michael Roberts has not done anything in camp and Willson could see a huge jump in targets from his days in Seattle.
- Nick Vannett — Speaking of Seattle, it looks like Vannett and not Ed Dickson will be the starter there. He’s more of a blocker than receiver, but he could get about 30-40 catches if he starts all 16 games.
- Jake Butt — I loved this guy when he played at Michigan, but an injury in a New Year’s Day game cost him his rookie season. The Broncos know that he is capable of being their full-time starter, but it just might take him about 7-8 weeks to get comfortable. Check back in 2019.
- Jordan Akins — He’s a huge target, and current starter Ryan Griffin is one concussion away from early retirement.
- Jonnu Smith — Could be a star if Delanie Walker is out with an injury.
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