Maybe you aren’t ready to be done with fantasy football yet and have joined a playoff league. A lot of the playoff formats use cumulative scoring, so it’s not just about picking good players — it’s about picking good players who are going to play multiple games.
In a season-long fantasy league, you’d never pick Gabe Davis ahead of Tyreek Hill, who’s a far superior player. In a playoff fantasy league, it might be worth taking Davis ahead of Hill because the Bills are expected to play at least two playoff games and perhaps as many as four, while Hill’s Dolphins are double-digit underdogs this weekend and will probably only play one game.
Here are my tiered positional rankings for cumulative playoff leagues. And here’s a closer look at Tight Ends.
Check out our consensus rankings for the Wild Card Round and full 2023 NFL Playoffs 
Fitz’s NFL Playoffs Rankings & Tiers: Tight Ends (2023 Fantasy Football)
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 5
I mentioned earlier that Christian McCaffrey should probably be the top pick in cumulative playoff league drafts, but you could also make a case for Travis Kelce as the No. 1. There’s an enormous chasm between Kelce and all the other tight ends, so you get a huge positional advantage by drafting him, and the Chiefs are likely to be around for a while. But with Kansas City the top seed in the AFC, Kelce and the Chiefs will be idle on wild-card weekend and can play a maximum of three games.
George Kittle is on a TD rampage, with seven touchdowns in his last four games. His yardage numbers vary wildly from week to week, but Kittle has become Brock Purdy‘s go-to guy in the red zone.
Speaking of touchdown binges, Dawson Knox has found the end zone in four consecutive games. He was a fantasy afterthought for much of the regular season, but he could be a valuable asset in playoff leagues, particularly if the Bills are able to make a run to the Super Bowl.
There is a BIG drop-off from Tier 3 to Tier 4. Make sure to get a tight end from one of those first three tiers. Some people might argue that Tier 4 denizen Hayden Hurst is a viable TE in playoff leagues with the Bengals likely to play at least two games, but Hurst is usually an afterthought in the Cincinnati passing game when WRs Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are both healthy.
If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant, which allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.
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