Looking at FantasyPro's top Dynasty TEs

Dynasty/Devy Leagues
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As I recently moved TEs in both my dynasty leagues, I just checked FantasyPro’s dynasty TE rankings, and don’t entirely agree with them.

  1. Kyle Pitts / ATL
    I don’t hate ranking Pitts at #1. Yes, he’s playing a pretty terrible season, but to me, that comes as no surprise. He’s still a fantastic talent, gifted with great athleticism. In a dynasty league, I’d try to trade for him right now. I would have ranked him at #2, though, as he needs his team situation to improve, and there is no guarantee that will happen this or even next year.

  2. Mark Andrews / BAL
    He should really be the #1. Pitts may be more talented and the better athlete. But Andrews plays for a team that runs their passing game mostly via the TE position, which gives Andrews both a very solid floor and a super-high ceiling. Which is also why I just handcuffed him to Isaiah Likely, because the Ravens game plan won’t change fundamentally when Andrews will miss a game or two.

  3. Travis Kelce / KC
    Kelce still refuses to fall down the age cliff. He is signed through the 2025 season, and who knows, maybe he’ll just keep going until then. Or maybe he’ll retire after this season. His current production justifies the high ranking. His age does at least put an asterisk to it, though.
    I do not expect the Chiefs to utilize his successor in the same fashion, though. So handcuffing him in dynasty does not seem reasonable to me.

  4. George Kittle / SF
    Really? Kittle played a great 2018 season, and we still rank him in the top 4 because of that? He’s one of the most overrated TEs, if you ask me. Yes, he still does put up great games every other week - when he’s healthy. Which he isn’t all that often. And even then, he puts up pedestrian numbers rather regularly. With the TE landscape being a desert, I understand his appeal. But given the trade capital you have to spend on him, I’ll rather let other owners suffer the headache Kittle’s giving them.

  5. Dallas Goedert / PHI
    I would definitely rank him higher than Kittle. He’s young, his team is trending up, and just like Baltimore, the Eagles run a good portion of their passing game through the TE position.

  6. Pat Freiermuth / PIT
    Another player I’d rank above Kittle. TEs typically need 2-3 years to establish themselves in the NFL. Not Freiermuth, though, who needed just a few games to bypass Eric Ebron and become almost a guarantee for weekly double-digit numbers. I expected him to struggle this year, just like Pitts. But he doesn’t. And he still has room for improvement.

  7. T.J. Hockenson / MIN
    He’s difficult to evaluate, as he’s just been traded to the Vikings. I think he will be a great fit there, though. He’s signed through the 2023 season, and if he can get a contract extension, he could be a top 5 TE for years to come.

  8. David Njoku / CLE
    I’m not sold on Njoku. He’s been putting up some good games every now and then, but lets you down more often than he’s saving your fantasy week. The best thing about him: he sits on a long contract, and will catch balls from Deshaun Watson soon. If that will be good news for Njoku remains to be seen, though. If not, he can be relegated to the TE streamer department.

  9. Darren Waller / LV
    Similar issues as with Kittle. Ever since his great 2020 season, Waller is struggling with injuries and inconsistent play, and I am not convinced things will get better for him in the future. At least, that future is likely to be with the Raiders, as he’s signed through 2026.

  10. Dalton Schultz / DAL
    Schultz is a great TE, and as long as he’s healthy, he’s involved plenty in the Cowboys’ passing game. He’ll be a free agent after the season, though, after the Cowboys failed to work out a new contract with him. That puts a big damper on his dynasty value, as we don’t know where he will play next season.

  11. Greg Dulcich / DEN
    Are 3 games with solid production enough to get us all excited on a rookie TE? Common sense suggests to proceed with caution, but I’m indeed rather high on Dulcich. He usurped Albert O. with ease, and while the Broncos offense is struggling heavily, Dulcich could be one of the answers they are looking for. Maybe the last 3 games were a straw fire - or maybe this is the last chance to acquire Dulcich for a halfway reasonable trade value.

  12. Zach Ertz / ARI

  13. Trey McBride / ARI
    Right now, it’s still the Ertz show in Arizona. He is putting up great numbers, while McBride is being eased onto the NFL stage. This could take another year, as Ertz is signed through 2024. It certainly makes sense to stack Ertz and McBride in dynasty formats.

My personal dynasty TE rankings:

  1. Mark Andrews (handcuff to Isaiah Likely)
  2. Kyle Pitts
  3. Travis Kelce (can retire any day)
  4. Dallas Goedert
  5. Pat Freiermuth
  6. T.J. Hockenson
  7. George Kittle
  8. Greg Dulcich
  9. Zach Ertz (handcuff to Trey McBride)
  10. Darren Waller
  11. Dalton Schultz (rise 5 spots if he gets a new contract in Dallas)
  12. David Njoku
1 Like
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I like your rankings, except…

No Isaiah Likely? Of all the TE’s from this year’s rookie class, he is clearly the best. Yes, he is stuck behind Mark Andrews, but I don’t expect that to be forever. When he breaks out, maybe a few years from now, or sooner if Andrews gets hurt, then he will be a genie that’s hard to put back in the bottle.

I have him in all my dynasty leagues. Based on FP’s rankings, I’d at least have him above McBride. He should be at least #13 on your rankings too, although I’d take him before Waller at this point.

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Yes - but only as a handcuff to Mark Andrews at this point.

When I do dynasty rankings, I’m usually looking at the current season and max. the next two. The NFL is simply too volatile to plan ahead any longer.

And, as a matter of fact, Likely will have little standalone value at least for this and next season.

Andrews is signed through the 2025 season. The Ravens could get out after 2023, saving $5m against the cap. But why would they? Andrews is doing great, he’s a key part to their success. NFL coaches don’t drop a good and highly paid player just because a rookie looks exciting. Because if the rookie would then show signs of struggle, the coach who made the decision would be fired.

If your dynasty is deep enough to stash Likely for 2-3 years, by all means, do it. But he is not a top 12 dynasty TE at this point, because, as a matter of fact, he hardly has any standalone value. And while dynasty is all about stashing the stars of the future, my top assets should give me some production now.

That is true, and I have McBride also as a handcuff only.

Handcuffing TEs usually makes no sense whatsoever. I made the mistake a few years ago, when the Greg Olsen era was nearing its end in Carolina. So I stashed Ian Thomas, expecting him to just take over Olsen’s production. But when Olsen left for a final year in Seattle in 2020, Thomas did nothing.

The same can happen in KC, once Kelce retires. I’d be very surprised if Noah Gray inherited Kelce’s volume. Instead, I fully expect Mahomes to target the TE position less than he does right now.

In Baltimore, we have already seen that Likely can play the Andrews role, in case the latter misses a game. In Arizona, we can only hope that the same would happen if Ertz were to miss time, or would retire.

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I’m not sure McBride will play at the same level as Likely. We’ll see.