Sleeper TEs for Fantasy Football in 2024

Last year was one of the best years for “sleeper” tight ends in fantasy football in recent record. The top two scorers (Sam LaPorta and Evan Engram) were drafted 13^th and eighth, respectively, at the position, the first time in at least a decade that neither of the top two were drafted in the top five.

(All ADP per FantasyPros.)

Beyond that, all the back half of the TE1s were taken in the double digits at the position, the first time in a decade no one in that group had a single-digit ADP. Yes, Travis Kelce and T.J. Hockenson and George Kittle were drafted top five and finished top five, but in the aggregate, it was the best year in a while to draft a less obvious tight end in fantasy.

So what does that mean for 2024? Does the rise of several lower-drafted tight ends mean the new normal is that lower-end tight ends will rise, or was it just a changing of the guard and now we have a new cast of top-tier tight ends?

Time will tell on that one. Today, though, we’re looking at the sleepers at the position for 2024. Which tight ends have the best chance at popping? That can mean guys drafted as low-end starters who become lineup locks, or it can mean guys forgotten in the draft who flirt with starter status. Wednesday, we’ll look at the bust candidates.

Check out our whole sleepers/busts series here: QB sleepers | QB busts | RB sleepers | RB busts | WR sleepers | WR busts | TE busts

2024 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Tight End

Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills

As a rookie last year, Dalton Kincaid finished as the TE11, a borderline starter. He improved as the season went on, not even topping 10 PPR points through Week 6 then doing it in seven of his last 11 games. Per the FTN Fantasy splits tool, Kincaid added 1.5 targets, 15.4 yards and 3.6 PPR points per game when Dawson Knox was out:

Obviously, wide receivers and tight ends play different positions, but if that was the impact on Kincaid of Knox missing games, what can we expect with Stefon Diggs now gone? (And Gabe Davis, of course.) Pending further moves, the Bills receiver room is now Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel and Mack Hollins, and that’s a 16-word syllable for “Kincaid is going to get so many targets.” Only seven tight ends topped 100 targets last year; only Evan Engram topped 130. As the Bills are currently constructed, Kincaid is set up to lead the position in targets in 2024.

Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens

Isaiah Likely finished as the TE25 last year, but of course his was a story of two seasons, only topping 3 PPR points once with Mark Andrews around, then averaging 13.9 with an 8-point floor after Andrews got hurt, the TE5 in that stretch despite having a bye in there. Andrews is back for 2024, but with Odell Beckham gone and the Rashod Bateman experience a big disappointment, Andrews and Likely will probably be two of the top three target-getters in Baltimore along with Zay Flowers. That could give them two TE1s in 2024.

Noah Fant, Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks tight end room last year (Colby Parkinson, Will Dissly, Noah Fant) combined for 175.3 PPR points, which would have been a top-10 point total if it had come from one player. Parkinson and Dissly are gone now, and while Pharaoh Brown has arrived, there’s a world where most or all of that production coalesces into just Fant, and then he’s a big fantasy factor.

Jonnu Smith, Miami Dolphins

It takes a specific tight end to succeed in this version of the Miami offense. Mike Gesicki and Durham Smythe were not that. The Dolphins didn’t want a deep passing weapon or an end-zone threat — Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle were the former, and Raheem Mostert was the latter. But Jonnu Smith might be. His career average depth is 5.7 yards, compared to 10.2 for Gesicki. He’s there to be the underneath option, get a few carries and be the creative option Gesicki couldn’t be in Miami. With the Dolphins still rolling with some combination of Braxton Berrios and River Cracraft as the WR3, there’s still room for a third pass-catcher to be relevant. This isn’t a “finish as a top-five tight end” role, but it is a “high-end TE2 or excellent bye-week fill-in” role, and it comes at a much cheaper price tag than that.

Tyler Conklin, New York Jets

If the Jets’ whole thing works out this year, it has to be because Aaron Rodgers and Mike Williams stay healthy and the rebuilt offensive line takes some massive steps forward. And if that happens, the entire offense will get a boost. Except … that “entire offense” kind of nosedives after Rodgers, Williams, Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall. It’s a very nice top of the list and just absolutely no depth. So if things work out, Tyler Conklin — comfortably the best weapon after those names — will be the beneficiary, especially with C.J. Uzomah now gone. He’s had exactly 87 targets each of the last three years, and if he can get something like that number again but with better efficiency by virtue of being part of a better offense, he can turn it into far more than 621 yards and 0 touchdowns.

Ja’Tavion Sanders, rookie
Erick All, rookie

Brock Bowers gets all the buzz from this year’s rookie TE class, and with good reason. But Ja’Tavion Sanders and Erick All are set up to be second-/third-round picks, and we’ve seen in recent seasons that rookie tight ends aren’t the absolutely stay-aways they used to be. Sanders hurt himself in a big way at the combine, especially with his 4.69-second 40, one of the slowest at the position. But he hung out in the Bowers range in his college production in 2022 and a little behind in 2023, and if he’s more the guy he showed on the field in college than the guy who tanked the combine, he could step in as a productive rookie in the right landing spot.

Meanwhile, All didn’t do a lot in college, with only 758 yards and 4 touchdowns across five seasons, the first four at Michigan. But the fifth one was spent at Iowa, and if anywhere knows tight ends, it’s Iowa. All was set up for the best season of his college career in Iowa in 2023, with 299 yards and 3 touchdowns through seven games before a torn ACL ended his year. Health is the biggest concern about All at the next level, and the main reason he’s likely a late Day 2 pick instead of higher. If he can stay healthy, he has the chance to blow that draft level out of the water. It’s positively Rob Gronkowskian.