Fantasy Football 2024 TE Exit Interview: Is chaos actually a friend to the position?

Is it possible to be on a Hall of Fame trajectory and still somehow be underrated? For my first case, I call George Kittle to the podium.

Kittle was fantasy football’s No. 1 tight end for standard, non-PPR scoring leagues this year. It wasn’t Brock Bowers or Trey McBride, who had all the catches. It wasn’t Travis Kelce, whose decline phase sadly continued. It sure as heck wasn’t perennial tease Kyle Pitts or last year’s rookie darling, Sam LaPorta.

Kittle has always been hiding in plain sight, a reliable dominator. He missed about half of the 2020 season, so let’s throw that out. Otherwise, here’s what he’s done in his last six fantasy seasons: TE2, TE3, TE4, TE2, TE2, TE2, TE1. And that doesn’t even account for his dynamic blocking — if Kittle were a full-time lineman, he’d still be a yearly Pro Bowler.

Start getting a speech ready, big guy.

What’s fascinating about the top tight ends this year is how so many of them thrived despite chaos around them. Consider the top four tight ends in half-PPR scoring: Brock Bowers (a star despite the messy Las Vegas quarterback play), Kittle (a rock while everything crumbled around him), Trey McBride (so darn good, not even Kyler Murray could sink him) and Jonnu Smith (the only good thing about Miami’s downfield passing game this year).

Is it easier for a compromised quarterback to find throws to his biggest target? Do lesser offenses commonly look to feature a tight end more than the better teams? I guess these are plausible theories. Then again, if you look at the clouds long enough, you’ll swear you see patterns that aren’t really there.

Let’s examine some of the hits and misses from Tight End 2024.

The Hits

Brock Bowers, Raiders

Sam LaPorta rewrote the rookie tight end rules last year, but the new book didn’t last long — Bowers torched it. He set new rookie marks for catches and yards by a tight end, despite the fact that Las Vegas had one of the worst QB rooms in the league. Everything will be new in Las Vegas next year — new coaches, at least one new quarterback, new plan — but after watching Bowers thrive in 2024, I’m not betting against him.

Jonnu Smith, Dolphins

If you saw this career year coming, please send us the next batch of lottery numbers. Smith finally became a breakout star in his age-29 campaign, smashing on an offense that otherwise couldn’t do much downfield. Smith was undrafted in most Yahoo leagues and turned into one of the waiver-wire gems of the midseason; it was the classic case of “don’t question it, just follow what’s working.” Smith will be a tricky draft call next summer; nobody expects a late-career season to repeat, but I suspect his ADP will also be in a friendly place.

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George Kittle, 49ers

The San Francisco offense struggled in the red zone most of the year, with Kittle being the lone exception. All of his eight touchdowns came from 12 yards and in, which was oddly contrary to his previous profile (from 2021 to 2023, he scored 11 touchdowns outside the red zone, astounding for a tight end). Kittle’s starting to creep into that dangerous age pocket — he turns 32 next October — but if you like a Vanity TE approach at the draft table, I’ll sign off on his ticket for at least one more year.

Trey McBride, Cardinals

He finally scored touchdowns in Week 17 and Week 18 after missing in his first 14 starts. I look at this as a Kyler Murray problem more than a McBride problem. Still, it’s a little worrisome that McBride has 253 targets and 192 catches in the last two years but just five touchdowns. The Cardinals are long-term invested in Murray, for better or for worse. He didn’t bring out the best in Marvin Harrison Jr., either.

Mark Andrews, Ravens

His season had a curious shape — he was hardly used in September but became a low-volume, high-touchdown dominator the rest of the way. Check his final 12 games — he saw a modest 55 targets, but he caught 45 of them and scored a stunning 11 times. We’re trained to not trust touchdown rates like that, and Andrews steps into his age-30 season next year. Then again, Lamar Jackson has never been better. I’ll be more reactive than proactive to Andrews next year, but I’m not dismissing him out of hand.

The Misses

Sam LaPorta, Lions

Sharing isn’t always a fun thing, no matter if you’re in Kindergarten or in the NFL. LaPorta was the odd man out for much of the Detroit season, but he did have a nifty rally in the final five weeks of the fantasy season, grading as the TE8, TE11, TE2, TE5 and TE5 over that span. The Lions will probably lose esteemed OC Ben Johnson this offseason, so we’ll need to read the tea leaves carefully with the next play-caller. LaPorta is a star talent, but he has lots of company on this offense.

Travis Kelce, Chiefs

Player development isn’t always linear, but player decline almost always is. Kelce received enough volume to cobble together 823 yards and a TE10 finish, but his YPC collapsed to 8.5 and his yards per target was a puny 6.2 yards. Heck, he didn’t even make the Pro Bowl. I’m going to pass on Kelce as he steps into his age-36 season.

Kyle Pitts, Falcons

Maybe it wasn’t Arthur Smith’s fault after all. And even if you want to blame Kirk Cousins for another Pitts washout year, we have to note that Pitts did little in three Michael Penix Jr. starts (7-66-1). Next year is merely the age-25 season for Pitts, but he’s behind more talented options in this Atlanta offense.

Dalton Kincaid, Bills

A handful of injuries didn’t help but Kincaid looked ordinary when on the field, scoring just twice and never making it past 53 receiving yards. Somehow Josh Allen is going to probably win an MVP award despite no one in his pass-catching room having a dynamic season (Khalil Shakir wasn’t bad). Kincaid was a first-round pick in his draft class but he looks like just another guy on the field.

Cole Kmet, Bears

After steady TE7 and TE8 seasons, Kmet collapsed to TE18, just another unsatisfying part of the broken Chicago offense. If the Bears make the right hire, I’ll be interested in a possible bounce-back from Kmet next year. Mind you, Kmet also has to share with three talented Chicago wideouts (if Keenan Allen returns as a free agent). But Kmet’s a talented player.

Way-Too-Early 2025 Tight End Rankings

• 1. Brock Bowers, Raiders

• 2. George Kittle, 49ers

• 3. Trey McBride, Cardinals

• 4. Sam LaPorta, Lions

• 5. Mark Andrews, Ravens

• 6. T.J. Hockenson, Vikings

• 7. Tucker Kraft, Packers

• 8. Travis Kelce, Chiefs

• 9. David Njoku, Browns

• 10. Jake Ferguson, Cowboys

• 11. Jonnu Smith, Dolphins

• 12. Pat Freiermuth, Steelers