Search

6 TE2s who can make the leap to TE1 [2024]

Finding value in draft picks is what assembling a fantasy football team is all about. Here are 6 TE2s who could become TE1s in 2024.

Finding value in draft picks (or auction signings) is what assembling a fantasy football team is all about. You want to get the best return on investment or bang for your buck possible.

Which means rather than trying to draft (or sign) players at their ceilings, you could look for the undervalued players who have the capability to outplay their going rate.

Here are 6 tight ends currently projected as TE2s who have the ability to finish the season as TE1s.

Fair warning: these aren’t actually predictions. I’m not expecting many of these players to actually finish as TE1s, they just have a pathway to do so.

Brock Bowers, TE/Las Vegas Raiders

Depending on your source of rankings, Bowers has been slotted as a high-end TE2 or low-end TE1. As one of the best tight end prospects to come out of college in recent memory, there are high expectations for him this season, and beyond. While I wouldn’t draft him as your starter, unless you’re one of the last teams in your league to take a tight end and you get him in one of the later rounds, Bowers has the physical ability to put up TE1 numbers. Yes, Davante Adams is in town and yes, the team still wants to use Michael Mayer, but the Raiders believe too highly in him not to use him creatively which includes down in the red zone.

Pat Freiermuth, TE/Pittsburgh Steelers

Really the only reason Freiermuth should even be ranked as a TE2 at the moment is because the team was awful last year and Freiermuth missed four games with an injury. The Steelers have a poor receiving corps and new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith likes to get the tight end involved. Freiermuth certainly will get the target volume behind George Pickens and if he can get back to being a force in the red zone as he was in his rookie season, he definitely has the chops to put up TE1 numbers.

T.J. Hockenson, TE/Minnesota Vikings

Hockenson’s prospects of finishing as a TE1 obviously hinge on his ability to play enough games after tearing his knee last season and having surgery in January. He is currently on the PUP list and whether he can get off of that before the season starts, or if he will have to miss the first part of the schedule, is the big question. Head coach Kevin O’Connell has said that Hockenson is “well ahead of schedule,” if you choose to believe O’Connell’s coach speak. Whatever the case may be, Hockenson’s a quarterback’s best friend and if he returns to the field healthy at some point early in the season, he can put up enough production to slide into the backend TE1 territory, especially with how inconsistent the position always is.

Dalton Schultz, TE/Houston Texans

The primary reason Schultz is ranked in TE2 territory is because there are so many mouths to feed in Houston. With Stefon Diggs and Joe Mixon joining Nico Collins and Tank Dell, I’m not sure if Schultz can get enough volume, even with a very talented C.J. Stroud slinging the ball, for Schultz to sneak into TE1 territory. He’s certainly talented enough, though, so if he carves out a niche in the red zone, that touchdown total could possibly get him there.

Cole Kmet, TE/Chicago Bears

Kmet, like Schultz, is the victim of a loaded offense. He was a TE1 in each of the past two seasons and is a wonderful target near the end zone. But the Bears drastically improved the skill players on their roster this offseason, bringing in Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, Gerald Everett, and D’Andre Swift, to add to Kmet and D.J. Moore. Trying to figure out the volume between all these players, especially with a rookie quarterback throwing the ball — as talented as Caleb Williams is — has been the challenge of the offseason for fantasy analysts. Kmet’s imposing figure in the red zone — as long as Odunze doesn’t take over on that part of the field — ought to help his cause.

Ben Sinnott, TE/Washington Commanders

The rookie tight end has to surpass the old man, Zach Ertz, but by all indications so far, the team is very impressed with Sinnott. There aren’t a whole lot of weapons for Sinnott to contend with so he could eventually be a trusted target for fellow rookie Jayden Daniels. However, rookie tight ends generally struggle with the pace of the game and physical demands of the position, so odds are not in Sinnott’s favor of hitting TE1 territory. But he’s a dark horse candidate for that honor due to his circumstances.