Every season, I get sucked back into believing the tight end position is going to turn things around. Not this year! The return of Hunter Henry, the surge of young talent at the position, the 2019 NFL draft class that’s full of talented, pass-catching tight ends. Whatever narrative you want to throw at me, you are not going to convince me that this is the year to get excited about the tight end position. I’ve learned my lesson.
I know just as well as the rest of you that there is a small group of “elite” level TEs and after that, it’s a complete crapshoot. I’m going to focus on who I believe will be in that small group in 2019. Here is my “way too early” top 5 TEs for the upcoming season.
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Top 5 Tight Ends for 2019
#5 Trey Burton
Trey Burton was supposed to be the new “Travis Kelce” in Matt Nagy’s offense for 2018. The hype and expectations were set very high for the young tight end made famous by the “Philly Special” in Super Bowl LII. A lot of Burton owners felt he didn’t live up to the hype last season, however, he still finished as a top 10 option at the position.
History: Trey Burton hasn’t seen much volume in his career. This is mainly due to the fact he has been living in the shadow of an elite tight end, Zach Ertz. Prior to his 2018 “full-time” season, Burton had a career-high 37 receptions back in 2016. He has never been a household name but has piqued the interest of many fantasy football degenerates in recent years. We finally got to see what Trey Burton could be as the lead TE in 2018. He finished the season with 54 receptions on 77 targets for 569 yards and 6 touchdowns. Good enough for 7th best TE in fantasy. Not a bad finish for his first time as the TE1 in his offense.
2019 Projection: This will be Burton’s second year in the Bears’ offense and I believe he takes a step forward. The Bears are trending in the right direction and Mitchell Trubisky has a young, talented group of offensive weapons at his disposal. Because Trubisky has a bunch of rookies to incorporate in this offense, he’ll lean more on Burton as his go-to option, especially in the end zone area. If Trey Burton can finish as the TE7 in his first season as the lead tight end, his ceiling should excite owners in 2019. He should see more targets and will have more opportunities to score in 2019. Trey Burton is currently being drafted in double-digit rounds. His upside is well worth his draft cost.
#4 Zach Ertz
There is no question that Zach Ertz is an elite tight end. He has been a consistent producer for years and has made fantasy owners very happy. We can all look forward to another dominant season from the 6’5″, 249 lbs target monster. Let’s discuss why I have him at #4.
History: Zach Ertz has been a top 10 TE in each of his last 4 seasons. He has 100 or more targets in those seasons as well. This doesn’t make him an automatic for a top 3 finish in 2019. Ertz had 100+ targets in 2015 & 2016 and finished as the TE9 and TE6 in those seasons.
Projection: Although Carson Wentz appears healthy right now, there is no more Nick Foles to back him up should he miss time. Instead, he’s backed up by the likes of Nate Sudfeld, Clayton Thorson, and Cody Kessler. Dallas Goedert was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2018 NFL draft. The Eagles love using two tight end sets and the 2nd-year TE should see an uptick in targets in 2019. Goedert had about a quarter of the targets as Ertz last year but still scored half the amount of TDs as Ertz. DeSean Jackson has returned to the Eagles which also poses a threat to Ertz’s TD numbers. At the end of the day, these are minor dings to Zach Ertz’s value but it’s enough for me to have him outside of my top 3 TEs for 2019.
#3 O.J. Howard
O.J. Howard is next to be considered an “elite” asset at the tight end position for fantasy football. I believe his elite status begins in 2019.
History: In his rookie season in 2017, O.J. Howard was able to muster up 6 TDs on just 26 receptions. Clearly, a big end-zone target. Howard was ranked as the 10th best (standard scoring) TE in fantasy last year. He only played in 10 games! If you extrapolated his fantasy points in .5 PPR last season into 16 games, he would have been the TE5. He’s already got 11 TDs in just 24 NFL career games.
Projection: The Buccanneers are done with the Ryan Fitzpatrick experiment and have handed the keys back to Jameis Winston. Having a full season building chemistry with one QB will benefit the third-year tight end. 179 targets were freed up when both Adam Humphries and DeSean Jackson left. Howard will be one of the main benefactors in the leftover target share. My co-host of the Fantasy Tilt podcast, Keaton Denlay is predicting over 1k yards for Howard. As much as I love hearing this, Howard doesn’t necessarily need over 1,000 yards to finish as the #3 TE this season. This offense will score a bunch and Howard will be a big part of that.
#2 George Kittle
I’m expecting a monster year out of the third-year tight end for the San Francisco 49ers. This man is a beast with surprising speed to break loose for huge gains. Also, Jimmy G is back!
History: The 49ers offense heavily struggled in 2017 with CJ Beathard at the helm for 7 games. Although Kittle wasn’t highlighted much in his rookie year, he still led the 49ers’ tight end group in targets, receptions, and yards. Kittle showed flashes in 2017 that hinted at future success but 2018 blew expectations out of the water.
In his second year in the league, George Kittle finished 3rd in targets in receptions among TEs. He led all TEs with 1377 receiving yards. The one area of improvement for Kittle is his TD numbers. He only racked up 5 TDs despite his overall production in 2018.
Projection: George Kittle will not have the likes of CJ Beathard and Nick Mullens throwing to him in 2019 (praying as we speak). Jimmy Garoppolo is healthy and a major upgrade for Kittle’s fantasy value this season. He has quickly established himself as one of the few elite options at the position. The 49ers offense has been a joke for the last couple of seasons, however, they looked legitimate when Jimmy G was on the field. They have a far more balanced offense heading into 2019 and George Kittle will be at the forefront of the success. He’d be the #1 TE if it wasn’t for the next guy on this list.
#1 Travis Kelce
Travis Kelce is the new Gronk.
History: Kelce now has 3 consecutive seasons with 1k+ receiving yards. The only other tight end to do this was Greg Olsen. Kelce has been a top 2 fantasy football TE for the last 3 years as well. He ranked 1st in 2018 and 2016 and 2nd in 2017. He scored more points than the #9 WR in 2018. There were only 4 TEs with 10+ targets inside the 10-yard line in 2018. Travis Kelce led all with 12 targets and also led in TDs with 5 (tied with Eric Ebron). He has consistently done more than enough over the last 3 seasons to cement himself as the #1 TE and in a tier of his own.
Projection: What else needs to be said about the best tight end in the NFL? Even with the recent news of Tyreek Hill not facing suspension shouldn’t detract from Kelce’s expected production. He is far better than any other tight end heading into 2019. If you don’t have him ranked first then you’re not watching football.
Are there any other tight ends you think could break into the Top 5? Head on over to the 2019 Fantrax Fantasy Football Draft Kit for more great strategy, analysis, and rankings.
Nate Hamilton is a regular contributor in the fantasy football industry. He has provided advice & analysis on a daily basis since joining Twitter (@DomiNateFF) in August of 2013. He has written content for many well-known sites including FantasyPros, The Fantasy Footballers, Fantasy Data, and currently, FantraxHQ. He is the co-host of The Fantasy Tilt Podcast with Keaton Denlay. Nate also Co-Authored Amazon’s #1 Best Selling “The Fantasy Football Black Book” with Joe Pisapia & others in 2018. He is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association (FSWA).
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