Lance's 2022 Fantasy Sleepers: Tight Ends
I’m including this explanation for everyone that likes to pick and choose which articles of these they want to check out, if you’re someone that reads all them you can probably skip this area and jump down to my sleepers. The rules for my “top” pick and my “3 others” remain the same, they have to actually be sleepers. But I would like to elaborate on the rules behind my rookie and dark horse pick, for better understanding. For the rookie it has to be someone that wasn’t taken in the first round, and isn’t actively being hyped up by analysts. For the dark horse it has to be someone so far down most people's boards that they forgot that player even exists, or at least that’s the case for RBs, WRs and TEs. For QBs, Kickers and Defenses it just has to be someone you’ll typically find in the 20-32 range, and if they’re name isn’t being talked about, or if they are being talked about it negatively then that’s a bonus!
I’d consider it a successful pick if my “top” pick finishes top 10, my 3 others finish top 15, and my rookie and dark horse finish top 24. Last year didn’t go so well for me, though Dan Arnold as my dark horse was almost a smooth pick. Alright, enough of that, here are my TE sleepers:
Top: David Njoku (Cleveland)
Hooper, Beckham and Landry are all gone, which frees up a combined 182 targets from a season ago. They did trade for Amari Cooper, draft David Bell and they do still have Harrison Bryant, but Njoku should be above both Bell and Bryant for targets. The real key here is who ends up starting under Center. Regardless, Njoku is worth a look if you miss out on the top players at Tight End on your draft day.
3 Others: Albert Okwuegbunam (Denver), Austin Hooper (Tennessee), Hayden Hurst (Cincinnati)
Albert O may seem like an obvious choice to some, but there are factors they aren't considering. The first is that Denver drafted Greg Dulcich, which may lead to some analysts hyping him up instead of Okwuegbunam, those analysts are wrong and should be ignored. The second is the point that Russell Wilson doesn't really use his Tight Ends and Denver has plenty of Receivers for him to target instead. That's a valid point and should be strongly considered on draft day. But as a counterpoint I'm just going to say that Wilson never had a Tight End as talented as Albert O, nor one as athletically gifted (he ran a 4.49 forty at the Combine).
Hooper never was, nor will he ever be, a 1,000 yard 10 touchdown kind of guy. He can however get you a solid 600 yards and 5 touchdowns in the right offense. This is the right offense. One that is willing to use a more traditional Tight End in their run heavy offense, and that needs another option in the pass game.
Hurst falls into the same category as Hooper, however he is going to fall behind Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd when it comes to targets, so be careful here. It is important to remember though that he did have a nice 56 reception, 570 yard, 6 touchdown season in 2020 before Atlanta drafted Kyle Pitts and hung him out to dry.
Rookie: Charlie Kolar (Baltimore)
Trey McBride seemed like the only Tight End I should avoid listing here. He also appears to be the only Tight End that might have a good shot at decent enough production this season, but you shouldn't sleep on Kolar. I've been saying that since he ran at his pro day and showed us that he had the athleticism to back up everything he did in college. Mark Andrews isn't going anywhere, Rashod Bateman should step into the WR1 role with Marquise Brown gone, and with their backfield healthy Baltimore should return to being a run heavy team again, but that's a plus in Kolar's favor. Kolar can block almost as good as he can catch a pass, and with a thin Receiving corps in Baltimore I would expect to see them use lots of two (maybe even three) Tight End sets. That would result in Kolar seeing the field a lot and getting a shot at plenty of targets when the Ravens use those formations to throw in order to keep defenses on their toes.
Dark Horse: Adam Trautman (New Orleans)
Last year I put Trautman in the "3 Others" category a year ago and it bit me. I was a bit ahead of myself. He was a DIII player who had just entered his second season at a position that usually takes time to adjust to as a pro. I got a feeling he's going to be much better in year three, especially now that the Saints will have legitimate threats at Receiver to help spread opposing defenses out.
