Can you believe it? Twelve weeks of the NFL season are in the books already. Cherish this football while it’s here because, soon enough, we’ll be back to the off-season and the cycle of rampant speculation leading up to the draft will begin again.


There are still folks fighting for playoff spots as we head into Week 13 of the 2022 fantasy football season, so these rankings will mostly be focused on the immediate future but we’ll do our best to discuss who might have good matchups, who might have tough matchups, and, where possible, some pairings to help you piece things together. Next week we’ll really lean into those matchups since taking home the trophy is what matters most.

 

*Orange players have potential injury issues

 Tight End
TierRest of Season
1Travis Kelce
2Mark Andrews
3TJ Hockenson
George Kittle
4David Njoku
Pat Freiermuth
Dalton Schultz
Dallas Goedert
5Gerald Everett
Cole Kmet
Dawson Knox
Greg Dulcich
Hayden Hurst
6Darren Waller
Logan Thomas
Evan Engram
Daniel Bellinger
Juwan Johnson
7Taysom Hill
8Foster Moreau
Tyler Conklin
Trey McBride
Jelani Woods
Hunter Henry
Tyler Higbee
Jordan Akins
9Mike Gesicki
Robert Tonyan
Austin Hooper
Isaiah Likely
Cameron Brate
Noah Fant
Jonnu Smith

Tier 1: The King

  • Travis Kelce - You win Reddit. Enough folks complained about Kelce not being in a tier of his own that the squeaky wheel gets the grease here. The King has a tier of his own. 

Tier 2: The Prince

  • Mark Andrews - The reason Mark Andrews was consistently in the top tier is because, well, he’s a top-tier tight end. He has the skill set. He plays virtually every snap. He has literally not been asked to pass block one time this season. Had he caught the easy touchdown pass right in his hands, he would have outscored Kelce this week. He’s about as safe an option as they come. He and Travis Kelce are truly the only two guys that have the ideal combination of talent, scheme, and opportunity. The playoff schedule for both Kelce and Andrews are both rock solid

Tier 3: Royalty

  • TJ Hockenson - We really did not like the matchup last week for TJ Hockenson against Kyle Dugger but he was able to sneak in a score on a play where Dugger fell down. The schedule for Hock is pretty solid from here on out, his deployment has been great, his targets have been great (9, 10, 9, and 6 since coming to MIN), and the Vikings have been a nice combination of good offense and bad defense to create high scoring games. You have to feel good about Hock. 
  • George Kittle - Speaking of bad matchups, Kittle was able to survive the Saints who have been a No Fly Zone for tight ends. His talent has never been in question and he plays virtually every snap so his success usually boils down to game script. With the RBs both banged up, we could see a little more Kittle than usual. 

Tier 4: The Lords

  • David Njoku - Njoku not only returned to a near full snap share but he did so in spectacular fashion with an amazing catch. The only question now is how Deshaun Watson will look and who he will look towards (Amari Cooper will get his so it’s Njoku vs Donovan Peoples-Jones for targets). Njoku could easily find himself in the tier above this time next week. 
  • Pat Freiermuth - We talked about this one last week and it remains true. Pat Freiermuth HIMSELF has the talent, scheme, and opportunity. What he’s missing right now is the quarterback talent. Kenny Pickett has been fine but he’s also only thrown one touchdown pass over the last four games. 
  • Dalton Schultz - Schultz scored two touchdowns this week which is nice but we saw something concerning in the usage - he was asked to stay in and block 10 times which is an uncharacteristic 32%. We don’t like to see that. But he’s been fairly consistently involved and that’s all you can ask for at this position right now. 
  • Dallas Goedert - Things were looking great for Dallas Goedert owners as he was one of the most reliable options out there. Then he got hurt. Not only do we need to worry about him returning to full action but he also has one of the most difficult playoff schedules for a tight end facing Chicago, Dallas, and New Orleans which are all top-six teams vs. the position. Still worth the stash but could be rough sledding. 

Tier 5: The Knights

  • Gerald Everett - This section here are your Knights because it’s where the fighting is done. We need to get scrappy. As long as Mike Williams is out, Gerald Everett has a path to high-end targets. If possible, you want to pair him with another option. 
  • Cole Kmet - Cole Kmet quietly had good usage this week. He played every snap and ran 26 routes on 28 dropbacks. The quarterback play is obviously the massive wild card here. He also has a good matchup championship week vs. Detroit but you need to get through Philly and Buffalo to get there. 
  • Dawson Knox & Hayden Hurst - These guys can really be lumped together in my opinion as they are “safe but boring”. You can count on them to catch a couple balls but they really aren’t focal points of their offense. A “blowup” game doesn’t look like a bunch of receptions and 100+ yards but more like one or two touchdowns. But at least they aren’t a threat to give you a zero. 
  • Greg Dulcich - We like a LOT about Dulcich - on paper. He’s a converted WR who runs a ton of high aDot routes. There are a bunch of WRs out on his team which should create a path to targets. Yet the offense is just terrible. Which makes him far more of a risky proposition than he should be. 

Tier 5: The Loyalists

  • Darren Waller - You are literally just chasing the prospects that Darren Waller comes back. Bonus points if Hunter Renfrow doesn’t. It’s much easier to do with an IR spot. 
  • Logan Thomas - Thomas has quietly been playing a good number of snaps but a bit of a hamstring issue coupled with a low pass volume game derailed him. He’s a tough start but we know what the upside looks like - we saw a glimpse of it with the six target game a week ago. 
  • Evan Engram - This guy plays a ton of snaps and runs a ton of routes. We hoped he could be a top-two target on the team. But that is looking like Christian Kirk and Zay Jones - especially since he tweaked his back. He just had his bye so now it’s hard to trust he will get back to what he was doing during the stretch when he had 6-10 targets for four games straight. 

Tier 7: The Dragon

  • Taysom Hill - Playing Taysom Hill is chasing the dragon of that monster game he had. He gets some carries every game and usually either attempt a pass or gets a target so his upside is better than everyone below this tier. 

Tier 8: The Peasants

These are some last-ditch options you can consider. They have some major flaws (like the incredibly low aDot routes of Tyler Higbee/Tyler Conklin or the limited snap shares of Hunter Henry and Jordan Akins) but they can be worth a dart throw in the right matchup. Look for the weekly rankings to figure out who might be a spot start and when.

Tier 9: The Untouchables 

 

Weekly Rankings

Follow Andrew Cooper on Twitter @CoopAFiasco to see the weekly rankings once they are available later this week!

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