If you were screwed over by your fantasy football tight end last season, get in line. The 2020 NFL season was one of the worst seasons for tight ends in fantasy production since I can remember. With many matchups being decided by just a few points, it’s crucial that you don’t suffer the same fate. Every win is crucial and eliminating duds is the name of the game.
Everybody likes to talk about the running backs and wide receivers, but when a position like tight end is so volatile, it may be even more important to hit on your TE1. It may be tough to draft George Kittle, Travis Kelce or Darren Waller so early, so where do you go from there?
Here are the three fantasy football tight ends you need to start, sit or cut in your fantasy drafts for the 2021 NFL season. The “start” will be the most valuable player, based on their average draft position (ADP). On the other end, the “cut” is the player with the least amount of value, based on where they are being selected. The ADP of these players was taken from Fantasy Football Calculator on August 9th, looking at 12-team PPR draft data.
Fantasy Football Start-Sit-Cut: Tight Ends
Start: Logan Thomas
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. How does Logan Thomas fit into this? We at FlurrySports have been telling you since before last season that Logan Thomas is a problem. It took major “experts” about 10 weeks to figure this out. Spoiler alert: it’s going to take them just as long again this year. All he did was end up at TE4, behind Travis Kelce, Darren Waller and Robert Tonyan last season. In fact, Thomas was less than two total points behind Tonyan; a guy who hauled in 11 touchdowns last season.
It’s a no-brainer that Tonyan is going to see some regression. Even if Kittle comes back to top form, Logan Thomas is as good as it gets outside the elite fantasy football options you’ll have to use an early pick on. Add in the fact that his ADP rank is eighth among tight ends, and 80th overall, and he is slated to be a steal yet again. According to our consistency rankings, Thomas was a “boom” (top three) or “start” (top 12) candidate just under 69% of the time. For a guy who is picked around the same spot as players like Leonard Fournette and David Johnson, he can certainly be the difference maker on your team.
Sit: Mike Gesicki
When you think of a solid fantasy player, they don’t usually hail from the Miami Dolphins. Nevertheless, Mike Gesicki fits the mold. Gesicki wasn’t exactly electrifying last year, but he was TE7 last season. So, someone tell me why he’s ranked 16th among tight ends this season? Gesicki gets an improved and matured quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa, and the offense as a whole should be much better.
Last season, Gesicki was a “bust” (outside of top 18) candidate just over 46% of the time. While that may seem high, it was 14th among active tight ends. Remember that it came with multiple quarterback changes and Tua not feeling comfortable to call audibles when he was behind center. Now with a much more steady offense, Gesicki should be able to replicate and build on last season’s success. Seeing his ADP is 155th overall and ranked around kickers and a bunch of rookies, why not wait and use your pick on proven talent instead of a late round flyer?
Cut: Mark Andrews
While I could again drop the quote about insanity, I’ll let you off the hook this time. Everyone, once again, expected Mark Andrews to step up last season. He wasn’t bad, posting numbers worthy of making him TE6, but remember that’s just one spot and less than 12 points ahead of Mike Gesicki. This guy was mostly drafted in the third to fifth rounds. While he did drop a little bit, he is still slated to be a fifth round pick. This is for a guy who was a “bust” just under 43% of the time.
The question of whether Lamar Jackson can throw consistently will seemingly be with him the rest of the career. Add in the drafting of Rashod Bateman in the first round, and Andrews’ ability to produce consistently has yet another question mark added to it. If having a run-heavy offense, more receiving weapons for Jackson and Mark Andrews‘ inability to stay consistent wasn’t enough, the Ravens also have the sixth-toughest schedule when it comes to tight ends. All this spells disaster, and for a guy who’s drafted around the same spots as Diontae Johnson, D.J. Moore and Tyler Lockett, I’ll pass and you should too.
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