Tight end is the rare position in fantasy football where one amazing week can thrust a player into the top-10 ranks in production by the end of the season. So if you’re not willing to spend the draft capital to get one of the elite tight ends (Kelce, Kittle, Andrews, etc.), then it’s imperative you know who has the best chance at starting at TE for you weekly, even as a late round draft pick. In this article, I’m going to shine a light on two late-round tight ends who could fill out your lineup and contribute to a winning 2024 fantasy football season.
Late-Round Tight Ends for 2024 Fantasy Football
Jared Wiley, Chiefs, TE
I mentioned Travis Kelce in the intro paragraph of this article. He’s been elite ever since he and Patrick Mahomes started cooking together. He’s battled injuries here and there, but as far as consistency goes in the NFL, Travis Kelce is the definition. But Father Time comes for us all. Kelce has a lot of wear and tear on his 34-year-old body. So instead of waiting for Kelce to break down completely, the Chiefs drafted Wiley in the 4th round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Wiley will have the opportunity to learn from the best, while he’s still the best, and take over when Kelce is ready to call it quits.
Wiley and Kelce have a lot in common. Wiley is 6’6″, with a 10’+ catch radius (81st percentile), a 4.62 40-yard dash (88th percentile), and a 13% target share in college. Nothing crazy about that target share. He wasn’t exactly the center of the passing offense for TCU, but he had a 70% catch rate and 8 TDs (along with 500+ receiving yards) in his 2024 season.
The reason Wiley is on my late-round tight end list is that we don’t actually have to wait for Kelce to retire before we see Wiley reap the benefits of playing with the best QB in the World (Mahomes). The Chiefs ran “12 personnel” (two tight end sets) the 4th most out of all the teams in the NFL, and they passed out of that formation the 2nd most out of any team. There’s a real chance Wiley and Kelce will be on the same field together. Opportunity is the name of the game in fantasy, and if Wiley can get a decent fraction of Kelce’s targets from last year, then we could be talking about a real fantasy asset this year. Especially in the red zone.
Ben Sinnott, Commanders, TE
Kliff Kingsbury is the new offensive coordinator in town for the Washington Commanders. He was last in the NFL in 2022 with the Arizona Cardinals. So, I took a look at where the 2022 Arizona Cardinals ranked in 12-personnel rate in that year, and it was 6th! That means we can expect a similar philosophy with the Commanders this year. That means Zach Ertz (who was with Kingsbury in 2022), and rookie tight end Ben Sinnott will have the chance to take the field together plenty this year.
Much like the aforementioned Wiley, Sinnott has an opportunity to learn from a heavy mileage, but well-established, All-Pro caliber tight end, while serving as the younger (and potentially) more athletic model. Sinnott is 6’4″, and his 10’+ catch radius is in the 96th percentile in his class, which will be a welcome sight to his rookie QB. Sinnott also boasts a 98th percentile burst score and a 95th percentile speed score. There’s an old adage that a TE is a rookie QB’s best friend, and if that truly is the case, Sinnott has a chance to be a starting caliber TE in your fantasy lineup, and you may be able to pick him up off of the waiver wire!
Got a beef with Bradlee’s 2024 Late-Round Tight End Targets? Let him hear about it in the comments below!