What 6-12 ranked TE has a legit shot at top 5 PPR & Why? And pick one who’ll bust! (1 Viewer)

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Topic title says it all. Much like the hotly debated RB topic & the heated discussion in the WR topic, let’s get to the TEs. One of the most volatile positions year after year, there always seems to be a surprise performer. 

Right now the consensus top 5 TEs are Kelce, Kittle, Ertz, Engram & OJ (the last two flip flop depend on who’s list) 

Dodds top 250 PPR has 6-12 like this:

6. Cook

7. HHenry

8. McDonald

9. Njoku

10. Andrews

11. Goedert 

12. Hockenson 

13 ~> ?

Surely one or more of these players could rise to elite status this year. Who’s it gonna be? And who’s your bust (for this topic, “bust” merely means they fall out of the top 12) 

 

[rockaction]

I'm not trying to be a jerk or a pedant when I say this, but when I look at them ranked, it's usually in tiers that don't neatly cut off at around five. It's more like...

Kelce

Ertz, Kittle

Engram, OJ, Henry

I have no faith in my prognostication ability, but I'd say Hockenson, despite the first-year status, has a real shot at joining the O.J. Howard tier. Depends completely on usage. 

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

For me, Hockenson has a great shot at surprising the community and becoming an elite TE. He has opportunity, looked great all preseason, and could be a target hog on a team that passes a lot. Stafford was hurt all last year, and is better than what we saw. 

I also love Vance McDonald but I don’t see him improving on last year’s numbers. For the ADP I think he’s a good value, but I don’t see him elevating. Plus he gets hurt a lot (last year was an exception I believe)

Outside the top 12 I could see Uzomah cracking the top 12 - Eifort can’t stay vertical, and Uzomah has looked fantastic. He’s a nice lottery ticket as a TE2 if you wait. 

For the “bust” I’m going with Njoku. I don’t believe he belongs on this list, much less at #8. That team wants to run more, they have (on paper) an awesome defense to keep them in games, and they’ve got target hogs at WR. Even Higgins may be used more.  Maybe I’m wildly underestimating his role, but I’m not feeling Njoku ahead of these others. 

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

I'm not trying to be a jerk or a pedant when I say this, but when I look at them ranked, it's usually in tiers that don't neatly cut off at around five. It's more like...

Kelce

Ertz, Kittle

Engram, OJ, Henry

I have no faith in my prognostication ability, but I'd say Hockenson, despite the first-year status, has a real shot at joining the O.J. Howard tier. Depends completely on usage. 

Look at them however you like - that’s the list of top 5 on Dodds top 250 PPR. 

It’s just a point of reference. If you look at lists of projections & rankings they all have the top 5 the same. How you choose to tier them or observe their ADP is up to you. 

 

[need2know]

Love cook.

As an eagles fan goedert seems high to me

 

[joffer]

Hooper will be top 6

 

[Long Ball Larry]

Love cook.

As an eagles fan goedert seems high to me

The thing about Goedert is that that he probably has top 3 upside in the event that Ertz gets hurt and honestly, even with Ertz, he certainly has a chance to be number 11.  Number 11 TE last year looks like it was Evan Engram, who put up 45-577-3.  Goedert can do that, or even being conservative at like 40-500-3, would still not be that far off that pace, so the 11 seems reasonable based on the talent and the scheme.  

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Hunter will kill defenses.

 

[rockaction]

Hunter will kill defenses.

I'm worried he's just in it to thin it, though. 

 

[travdogg]

Well, I guess I have to answer Hunter Henry, because I'd argue him in the Kittle/Ertz tier. I think 10+ TD's is squarely on the table, as well as 750+ yards. Basically 2018 Eric Ebron stuff. I have more confidence in him than Engram or Howard, as they don't have top notch QB's, who throw guys open. This probably would have happened a year ago if not for the injury. Truthfully, I think Henry/Ertz is a coin flip.  

If Ertz goes down, I expect Goedert to produce at a level greater than Ertz was. He's sooooo good. I agree with others that he might be a low-end TE1, even without an Ertz injury.

You'll have to wait until week 6, but I think Chris Herndon could be a top-5 PPG TE. I think its within reason that he ends up being Darnold's favorite target, in what looks like an underrated offense to me. Depending on how deep your league is, Herndon might be a waiver pickup or a last 2-3 round pick.

ETA: As for a bust, I think Jared Cook stands out. New team, improving defense, doesn't have a ton of passing volume to go around. Saints haven't really used a TE heavily other than Graham. This feels like Fleener 2.0 a little bit. How he's going ahead of Henry in any draft blows my mind. 

 

[dahabi]

Surprised to not see any mention of Waller in here yet. I think if you miss out on the value of Hunter Henry/Njoku/Andrews, he is the player to target.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Surprised to not see any mention of Waller in here yet. I think if you miss out on the value of Hunter Henry/Njoku/Andrews, he is the player to target.

I like Waller a lot. 

 

[Don't Noonan]

Delanie Walker

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Delanie Walker

Which list? 

 

[Don't Noonan]

Which list? 

I think he could finish top 5.  That is all.

 

[EBF]

I would take Henry first of those guys. Good player with a QB who can find the TE. The downside is that there are lots of mouths to feed there.

After that, I'd go with Andrews. He's a playmaker. Produced in college and produced as a rookie. Big output on a modest target load. Baltimore has nothing at WR besides the rookie Brown, and nobody to catch the ball in the red zone. That bodes well for Andrews. I look for a nice season from him.

One monkey wrench there is that I also think Hurst is a big talent at TE, but their WR group is so bad that they may lean heavily on the TEs instead.

 

[ratbast]

i grabbed Noji and backed him up with Hooper. My league is TD heavy though, I like Noj for red zone. 

Herndon and Watson as guys who I’m watching hoping might be available in a few weeks. 

I like Hoch and Henry but they were too pricey for me. I’d like to have Fant rostered.

 

[Milkman]

Goedert is an injury away from top 3. 

Waller way more likely but doesn't have Goederts ceiling. 

 

[Efritch4]

Goedert is an injury away from top 3. 

Waller way more likely but doesn't have Goederts ceiling. 

Love me so Goedert!! Wentz seems to love him too! 

 

[Milkman]

Love me so Goedert!! Wentz seems to love him too! 

He's the closest thing to Gronk since Gronk.