Mid-to-Late Round Tight End Builds in Best Ball are Undervalued

As we are a couple weeks into the Pre-Draft Best Ball season, one of the clearest early values is waiting on tight ends. With so much uncertainty in these early drafts, you can wait on the TE position without much risk. Focus your first 8-10-round picks on building a core of the higher scoring positions, with players who you can project better. There are some later round TEs with some uncertainty, but they aren’t as risky since the point threshold is lower.

Here are some of the top targets who can exceed their value starting after ADP 100:

Tyler Warren, ADP 101.7:

Warren has seen his ADP rise and barely makes the cut, but that is with good reason. He’s an excellent rookie TE prospect who is just a real weapon on offense. Not only was he the focal point of Penn State’s passing attack, but they would use him as a short-yardage rusher as well.

Warren could keep the streak alive of rookie TEs ending the year as TE1. Even if he doesn’t reach lofty of a goal, he should have a great opportunity to be top 5.

Dallas Goedert, ADP 116:

I understand that Dallas Goedert can’t stay healthy (he’s yet to play 17 games), but he’s coming off 42 catches, 496 yards, and 2 TDs in a year where he played 10 games.

For a TE on one of the best offenses in the league, I’m still going to be investing in you and just hope you get more than 15 games.

Isaiah Likely, ADP 136.9:

Likely has seen his role expand with the Ravens every year, and this could be the year that he jumps Mark Andrews as the team’s top TE. Even if that doesn’t happen, Likely can still return value if he continues to close the gap.

There is a bit more risk here, as currently, Mark Andrews is still on the team and TE 1, but if that changes the upside is very high.

Jake Ferguson, ADP 142.4

Ferguson two years ago was a fantasy breakout player, but last season in an injury-filled year he fell off. He still managed 59 catches, for 494 yards, but didn’t have a single TD.

With him healthier and Dak Prescott healthy again, he could easily be back in the mix to be a top-10 TE.

Colston Loveland, ADP 145.6:

Loveland similarly projects to be a 1st round draft pick and day 1 starter. He could be in a position for a better landing spot in the back half of round 1. Regardless Loveland is a very good pass catcher, who even as a rookie should be looking at 50-60 catches, 600+ yards, and decent TD equity.

There is more unknown here of course, but the upside is pretty strong.

Cade Otton, ADP 155.3:

In just 14 games Otton had 59 catches, 600 yards, and 4 TDs last season. The Buccaneers promoted their offensive coordinator from within, so the hope is he is back to the same role, and continues to grow in this offense.

If he’s healthy Otton has a legitimate chance to finish as a top-10 TE in this offense. The upside here is incredibly strong.

Pat Freiermuth, ADP 162.3:

I get that there are questions at the Steelers QB position, but why is Pat Freiermuth going multiple rounds later in drafts this year? He’s coming off a 65-catch, 653-yard, 7 TD season. He’s finished as a top 15 fantasy TE in 3 of his 4 seasons (the only one he didn’t he missed 5 games), yet he’s going as TE 20.

Hopefully, the Steelers land a good QB option, but even if there isn’t a lot of improvement he’s a pretty safe bet to outproduce this ADP.

Hunter Henry, ADP 172.4:

In 16 games last season, Henry had 66 catches, 674 yards, and just 2 touchdowns. If he had more TDs, he could have been a top-10 fantasy TE. Henry did that in the woeful Patriots offense, while playing with a rookie QB.

Now Maye should see more development, and the offense is run by Josh McDaniels again. The last time McDaniels was the offensive coordinator of the Patriots, Henry had his best fantasy production with 600+ yards and 9 TDs.

Zach Ertz, ADP 177.5:

Ertz is a free agent, but he’s coming off a 66-catch, 654-yard, 7 TD season with the Commanders. Reports are that he wants to come back, and it’s clear that both OC Kliff Kingsbury and QB Jayden Daniels are big fans.

He might be going on 35 years old, but he can absolutely exceed this ADP if he returns to Washington as expected. He became Daniels’s go-to weapon to move the chains and in the Red Zone, and most of his production came later in the season. Ertz didn’t have a single TD the first 6 weeks of the year.

Dalton Schultz, ADP 186.1:

Schultz is coming off his worst season since becoming a starter in 2020, but there is some reason for a good bounce-back. The Texans passing offense struggled as whole last year, and a new offensive coordinator could help change that. Also with Diggs a free agent, and Dell injured, QB C.J. Stroud doesn’t have much in the way of passing weapons after Nico Collins.

The Texans will add some weapons, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Schultz a bit more involved in the offense. Given that he’s going 60-ish spots later than he did a year ago, there is some room for him to add value.

Harold Fannin Jr., ADP 189.5:

Fannin is the third rookie on this list, despite the fact that he might not be the 3rd rookie selected in the draft. Fannin though might be the best pass catcher among this strong rookie class. So ideally whoever drafts him will put him in a position to make an impact as a rookie.

There is more risk here than the earlier rookies, but you are seeing big ADP savings.

Noah Gray, ADP 195.6:

Gray is coming off a year where he had career highs with 40 catches, 437 yards and 5 TDs, all while sharing the TE role with Travis Kelce. Kelce seems pretty likely to retire, which could open up Gray for a big role in this offense. He likely won’t reach Kelce’s numbers, but he could easily have 60-70 catches, 700-800 yards, and 6-9 TDs. Would be a massive steal at this ADP.

Mike Gesicki, ADP 206.4:

Gesicki is a free agent coming off a 65-catch 665-yard season for the Bengals. While it’s not clear that the Bengals will re-sign him, Joe Burrow is pushing for it, and it makes sense as he found an offense that understands how to use him.

Even if he leaves in free agency he can still potentially pay off this price tag, making this a low-risk move.

Theo Johnson, ADP 234.5:

In 12 games last season, Johnson had 29 catches for 331 yards. Those are pretty solid numbers for a rookie on one of the worst offenses in the league. If the Giants improve their QB play, Johnson could be a nice solid TE 2 or 3 this season.

Brenton Strange, ADP 237.9:

The former 2nd round pick, Strange could be the Jaguars starting TE this season if Evan Engram is cut as many expect. Despite all the struggles in Jacksonville last season and splitting time with Engram, Strange had 40 catches for 400+ yards.