There’s such a narrow window for the tight end position, so if you draft one highly, you’re hoping to start them every week without an issue.
Here, I’ll discuss three tight ends going inside the top 10 at the tight end position and tell you why I think they’ll be a bust in 2024.
Remember that while I may label someone a fantasy football bust, that doesn’t mean they’re still not worthy of a draft pick. The fantasy football bust tag is assigned because I lack confidence in them meeting their average draft position (ADP).
- 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- 2024 Fantasy Football Rankings
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator
Overvalued Tight Ends to Avoid
David Njoku (TE – CLE)
David Njoku finished as the TE6 last season, but much of his production came with Joe Flacco under center. With quarterback Deshaun Watson hopefully playing the entire season, I question Njoku’s value in this offense.
Watson appeared in six games last season. This included Weeks 1, 2, 3, 7, 9 and 10. He completed fewer than 62% of his passes for seven touchdowns and four interceptions. Over those weeks, Njoku caught 25 passes for 230 yards and one touchdown.
This accounted for the following percentages of his stats at the end of the season:
- Receptions: 30.9%
- Yards: 26%
- Touchdowns: 16.67%
Njoku’s production just wasn’t the same with Watson under center. Now, he’ll also have wide receiver Jerry Jeudy to throw passes to. Plus, running back Nick Chubb will be back at some point during the season.
Travis Kelce (TE – KC)
Travis Kelce is going as the TE1 and No. 21 overall in fantasy ADP. Kelce will still be productive in 2024, but this might be too high for him.
The Chiefs added Marquise Brown and Xavier Worthy. Brown is set to miss Week 1 and potentially more, but Worthy has looked excellent during the preseason. There’s a chance something will happen with Rashee Rice regarding a suspension, but if it doesn’t, that’s even more time with him on the field taking targets away from Kelce.
In 2023, Kelce finished with 93 catches for 984 yards and five touchdowns. He didn’t catch a single touchdown from Week 12 through the end of the regular season. Kelce had just two games with double-digit targets and two games with more than 100 yards. During the fantasy playoffs, he didn’t score more than 9.4 PPR points.
Kelce had a fantastic postseason, but again, this offense has more weapons.
In taking Kelce No. 21 overall, you’re passing on players like Josh Allen, Chris Olave and De’Von Achane.
Kelce will still be valuable, but there are other players I’d rather have at this spot than a tight end in his mid-30s with plenty more target competition.
George Kittle (TE – SF)
I’ll start this section by saying that if wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is traded, George Kittle’s value should improve, but it’s unclear if that’ll happen.
If not, Kittle will battle Aiyuk, wide receiver Deebo Samuel, running back Christian McCaffrey and rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall for targets.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy attempted fewer passes last season than Russell Wilson and Justin Herbert, two players who played fewer games than him.
The 49ers could throw more next season, but we must also see if left tackle Trent Williams shows up.
In 2023, Kittle was the TE5 with 65 receptions for 1,020 yards and six touchdowns. He did have some inconsistency, though, including scoring six points or fewer four times over the first six weeks. He also scored 7.4 or less in two of the three fantasy playoff games.
If Aiyuk stays, Pearsall will get targets and hinder Kittle. If Aiyuk goes, I can get on board with Kittle going where he is.
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