TE Rankings

Kelce has been the gold standard at tight end for the better part of the last decade, but he looked like he'd lost a step for much of 2023 and finished 16 receiving yards short of an eighth consecutive 1,000-yard campaign. His postseason performance was vintage, however, as the 34-year-old had 355 yards and three touchdowns in four playoff games to help the Chiefs win another Super Bowl. Kelce missed the 2023 season opener with a knee injury and was rested for the regular-season finale, but he played 15 straight games in between, marking the 10th consecutive campaign in which he’s played at least that many. Even if Kelce’s best days are behind him, he should still be the most trusted pass catcher for QB Patrick Mahomes, after leading the Chiefs in targets (121), catches (93) and receiving yards (984) last season (each mark was top four among NFL tight ends). Free-agent signing Marquise Brown and rookie Xavier Worthy both are undersized speed merchants who don't figure to draw many targets in the parts of the field where Kelce thrives, while second-year pro Rashee Rice has a legal situation threatening his 2024 availability. Kelce remains the safe bet to pile up short and intermediate targets in Kansas City, with potential to rebound in the TD department (five last year) even if he doesn't get back to his peak volume (143.4 targets per season 2018-22).

Andrews was on pace for another excellent season in 2023 before a lower-leg injury ended his regular season in Week 11. He returned for the AFC Championship Game and is healthy heading into 2024, his age-29 season. Despite missing seven games last year, Andrews tied for second among tight ends with six touchdowns, and his 544 receiving yards would prorate to 925 over 17 games (which would've been fifth most among TEs). Andrews’ 153-target, 1,361-yard season in 2021 looks to be an outlier, but he's also posted yardage totals of 852 and 847 while averaging 7.4 touchdowns over the past five years. His second-highest target total was 113 in 2022, and Andrews was on pace to exceed 100 targets again in 2023 while working as Lamar Jackson's co-No. 1 option alongside rookie WR Zay Flowers. Fellow tight end Isaiah Likely filled in admirably after Andrews went down, but Likely hasn’t otherwise cut into Andrews’ playing time or production and now figures to get most of his snaps in multi-TE sets. A healthy Andrews has the right mix of skill and situation to remain among the top performers at his position in 2024.

Young tight ends often take a year or two to find their footing in the NFL, but LaPorta bucked that trend last season with 86 catches for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns on 120 targets. While he couldn’t quite catch up to Mike Ditka’s rookie-TE records of 1,076 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns, LaPorta’s 86 receptions became the new standard. No other tight end scored more than six touchdowns last year, and the second-round pick out of Iowa also ranked top five at his position for catches, targets and yards. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown is likely to lead the Lions in receiving volume again in 2024, but the 44-target gap between St. Brown and LaPorta last year was smaller than the 49-target gap between LaPorta and Jared Goff's third-favorite target, RB Jahmyr Gibbs. Being the clear second option in a top-notch offense should work out just fine, even leaving the 23-year-old tight end some room for volume growth relative to last year. While he's unlikely to outscore all other TEs by four TDs again, the ingredients are there for LaPorta to follow up his superb rookie season with another strong campaign.

Kittle quietly jumped back over the 1,000-yard threshold for the first time since 2019, leading all tight ends with 1,020 receiving yards last season. He also tied for second at the position with six touchdowns, making the most of pedestrian volume. With plenty of other mouths to feed in San Francisco -- namely Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel -- Kittle had to settle for 90 targets, tied for ninth among tight ends. Kittle’s robust average of 7.5 yards after the catch coupled with Brock Purdy’s accuracy allowed the tight end to produce a career-high 11.3 yards per target, following five straight years between 8.9 and 10.1 YPT. He also tied a career high with 16 games played, a mark Kittle previously reached in only 2018. From a health and efficiency perspective, 2023 was about as good as it gets for Kittle, though there is some risk of a down year in 2024 if he suffers regression in those areas and doesn't get more targets per game to make up for it. While Kittle is recovering from offseason core muscle surgery, McCaffrey and Samuel have their own checkered injury histories and Aiyuk is embroiled in contentious extension talks. There are a few avenues that could lead Purdy to pepper Kittle with more targets, but it's also possible those lanes don't open up until next offseason.

Pitts had 1,026 receiving yards in 2021, becoming the first tight end since Mike Ditka in 1961 to reach 1,000 yards as a rookie. In two subsequent seasons, the 2021 fourth overall pick had just 1,023 receiving yards combined, struggling with knee injuries and poor QB play (Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke) in run-heavy offenses coached by Arthur Smith. Fortunately for Pitts, big changes are coming. The Falcons canned Smith in favor of Raheem Morris, hired former Rams assistant Zac Robinson as their offensive coordinator and then signed QB Kirk Cousins to a four-year contract. Atlanta even added QB Michael Penix with the eighth overall pick, creating a solid backup plan in case Cousins isn't the same after last year's Achilles' tear or otherwise ages faster than hoped for. Cousins mostly will be tasked with getting the ball to Pitts, WR Drake London and RB Bijan Robinson, as the Falcons have minimal receiving depth unless WR Darnell Mooney can rebound from an ugly 2023 in Chicago. It's a good situation for the 6-foot-6 tight end to pile up targets, and getting him more involved near the end zone should be a priority for Atlanta’s new coaching staff.