It's that special time of the NFL offseason where we are caught in limbo between OTAs and training camp. For the most part, there's not all that much happening on a day-to-day basis. Teams are gearing up to start gearing up for the season, if that makes sense.
But given that we do have this nice break, it's a good time to take stock of what we expect to see during the 2024 season. That's why we've been running through each position, breaking down the top 20 players for 2024. We're continuing that effort here by working through the league's best tight ends.
Without further ado...
20. Luke Musgrave, Packers
Musgrave was having a really solid rookie season before getting injured and then giving way to Tucker Kraft down the stretch. He then popped up with a nice game against the Cowboys in the playoffs while playing limited snaps. Kraft is out until at least training camp with an injury of his own, so Musgrave will have a chance to solidify his hold on the No. 1 tight end role.
19. Isaiah Likely, Ravens
Spoiler alert: The Ravens will be the only team with two players on this list. And Likely would [sorry] likely be a lot higher on it if he were on another team and thus had a larger role. During the stretch run of the season without Mark Andrews, Likely posted 19 catches for 291 yards and four scores in the five games that Lamar Jackson also played. He's a high-level pass-catcher who happens to be in a part-time role.
18. Brock Bowers, Raiders
Bowers is considered one of the best tight end prospects we've seen in quite some time, if not ever. But we don't really know what to expect from him given that rookie tight ends have almost universally struggled to make an impact. Sam LaPorta and Dalton Kincaid were exceptions, not the rule. Until we really see it from Bowers, it's tough to move him any further up the board.
17. Noah Fant, Seahawks
Fant hasn't yet lived up to his lofty draft position, and he actually saw his role reduced the last two years in Seattle from where it was in Denver. But he's been efficient on his targets (his 10.28 yards per target ranked sixth out of 72 tight ends who ran at least 100 routes last season, via Tru Media) and is a good fit for new offensive coordinator Brian Grubb's offense, and the Seahawks gave him a pretty decent-sized deal (2 years, $21 million) to return to the fold, indicating that they see him finally grabbing a firm hold of the tight end job for himself.
16. Hunter Henry, Patriots
It feels fitting for Henry to land here. He's basically a league-average starting tight end, and that's what this range is. He's not an explosive athlete anymore, but he's huge so he can be effective as a blocker and a red-zone threat. He's just a solid player.
15. Cole Kmet, Bears
Kmet's role in the passing game will almost surely shrink after the bears added Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze this offseason, along with a pass-catching running back in D'Andre Swift. But he's turned himself into a pretty good two-way tight end, as evidenced by his much higher snap rates over the last two seasons. He should still be a solid contributor in what should be a much-improved offense.
14. Pat Freiermuth, Steelers
Freiermuth missed a few games due to injury but even when healthy he took a step backward, along with the rest of Pittsburgh's offense last season. He posted career lows in receptions and yards per game, as well as success rate on those catches, and his yards per reception average dropped 2 full yards from 2022 to 2023. He's going to move up the pecking order in the passing game this year, though, and in a more functional offense should be able to tap back into what made him effective during his first two NFL seasons. Hopefully.
13. Dalton Schultz, Texans
Schultz over the last few years has become the platonic ideal of a security blanket type of tight end, first for Dak Prescott and then for C.J. Stroud. He's not going to make many explosive plays, but he's reliable on checkdowns and crossers and occasionally up the seam, and he does good work in the red zone. He's still not a very good blocker, but he's passable enough to be out there for a majority of the snaps. He won't see as many targets with Stefon Diggs in town, but he's still a good player.
12. Kyle Pitts, Falcons
For all the complaining about Pitts, he's sandwiched one disaster season (2022) with a 1,000-yard rookie year and then a 543-catch, 667-yard season while recovering from multiple offseason surgeries and playing a career-low 64% of the snaps. With Zac Robinson coordinating the offense and Kirk Cousins under center, Pitts has a chance to blow up in the same way T.J. Hockenson did in a similar system with the same quarterback.
11. Evan Engram, Jaguars
Engram is coming off by far the best season of his career, at least in terms of volume. He emerged as arguably Trevor Lawrence's top target last season amid various injuries to the receiving corps, and he caught 114 passes. But he also posted a career-low 8.4 yards per reception and his 56.6 yards per game weren't even the top mark of his career despite the fact that he smashed his previous high in receptions by 41. He's also not much of a blocker. But a massive pass-catching role will keep him productive, and he shouldn't yet be in the decline phase of his career.
10. Dalton Kincaid, Bills
Kincaid is somewhat similar to Engram, but a) he's younger; b) he got his production as a rookie playing only 63% of snaps; and c) he's probably going to be Josh Allen's top pass-catcher in 2024. So while his blocking leaves a lot to be desired and he is basically a large slot receiver, there's a place for him in our top 10 thanks to the athletic profile and expected role.
9. Dallas Goedert, Eagles
Goedert is pretty damn consistent. Over the past five years, he has had between 55 and 59 catches four times, with the lone exception coming when he had 46 in 11 games in 2020.He's exceeded 10 yards per reception in each of those seasons, and caught at least 70% of the passes thrown his way in all but one. But he's also never topped 830 yards or five touchdowns. He's considerably above-average, but doesn't have the receiving ceiling of some of the guys ahead of him.
8. Jake Ferguson, Cowboys
Ferguson had a breakout second season taking over the role that Schultz vacated when he signed with Houston, but showed more explosiveness than did his predecessor. Ferguson's 6.0 yards after catch per reception were fourth-best among the 19 tight ends who caught at least 50 passes in 2023, and his 0.31 expected points added per target tied him for third among that same group behind only George Kittle and Travis Kelce. A bump in snap rate and target share could be in order with Brandin Cooks a year older and Michael Gallup no longer around as the No. 3 wideout.
7. David Njoku, Browns
Njoku's new contract with Cleveland turned some heads when it was signed, but he more than justified it with his play, becoming the latest tight end to really hit his stride after finishing out his rookie deal. He is and always has been an absolute freak of an athlete, but he finally put the entire package together in 2023, emerging as a big-play threat, a strong red-zone option, and an excellent blocker. He should be a really good player for Cleveland for the next several years.
6. T.J. Hockenson, Vikings
Were he not coming off a torn ACL, Hockenson would likely be a few spots higher on this list. He's been incredible since arriving in Minnesota, catching 155 (!) passes for 1,479 yards and eight touchdowns in 25 games. He was well on his way to 100 catches and 1,000 yards last year before suffering the injury in Week 16. He is huge (6-5, 248 pounds), an excellent athlete, and a very, very good complement to Justin Jefferson. We just need to see him get back to full health.
5. Trey McBride, Cardinals
After entering the starting lineup for good in Week 8, McBride caught 66 passes for 665 yards and three scores over the final 10 games of the year. That's a full-season pace of 112-1,114-5, by the way. And he didn't even have Kyler Murray for the first two of those games. And of course, Murray was coming back from a serious injury. Marvin Harrison Jr. is here to take over as the No. 1 receiver, but McBride is going to have a massive role, and given his immense talent, should remain wildly productive in Year 3.
4. Sam LaPorta, Lions
LaPorta put together one of the best receiving seasons we've ever seen from a rookie tight end, emerging as one of Jared Goff's top targets and a perfect complement to Amon-Ra St. Brown as the Lions repeatedly found ways for them to access the middle of the field. He's a high-end athlete who can both stretch the field and create with the ball in his hands, and he found his way into a perfect system with an offensive coordinator who will put him in position to succeed. He might not cross the goal line 10 times again, but he'll make a significant impact.
3. Mark Andrews, Ravens
Andrews remains incredibly talented and incredibly underrated. He's exceeded 50 receiving yards per game in 5 striaght seasons, averaged 11.6 yards per catch or more in each of them, found the end zone 37 times during that span, and done it all while playing in a two- or three-tight end rotation and missing several games due to injuries. (Not to mention his quarterback missing time as well.) He's an elite pass-catcher whenever he's on the field, and he's Lamar Jackson's go-to guy. Total stud.
2. Travis Kelce, Chiefs
Kelce is one of the small handful of best tight ends in NFL history. As we saw during the playoffs, he can still take over games along with Patrick Mahomes. He did have a somewhat down regular season by his standards, though, and the Chiefs are likely to continue managing his workload, taking him off the field more often on first and second downs to save him for passing situations. He was only asked to block on 30.7% of his snaps last season, the fourth-lowest mark among 81 tight ends who played 100 snaps or more. That's a good thing for him and the Chiefs, but it also holds him back from topping the list for the 2024 season.
1. George Kittle, 49ers
Kittle is an absolute monster who can take over games as both a receiver and a blocker. His absurd 15.7 yards per reception average topped the next-closest tight end with at least 25 grabs (Likely) by TWO FULL YARDS per catch. His targets turned into an explosive play (16 or more yards) 27.8% of the time last season, via Tru Media, by far the highest rate at the position. And he is the best blocking tight end since Rob Gronkowski. As good as Kelce is as a pass-catcher, right now, Kittle is the better overall player. And that makes sense, given that Kittle is still in his prime and Kelce will be 35 in October.