5 Tight Ends You Should NOT Draft Early In 2021 Fantasy Leagues

TJ Hockenson is TE5 with his ADP at 64.
Noah Fant is listed as TE8 with an ADP of 107.
Rob Gronkowski is the TE10 with a 111 ADP.

LAS VEGAS — With the NFL season just around the corner, those die-hard fantasy football GMs have already begun doing their research on which players to target and which ones to stay far away from when drafting.

More specifically, when drafting a tight end, there are some that should be drafted early on in the draft process and others that fantasy owners can let slip through the cracks with no worries. With those tight ends that owners should not be taking the chance on, this is also a chance for bettors to dive into their NFL player props to make a potential profit on their performances throughout the season.

Some things that make certain tight ends avoidable throughout the fantasy draft are sometimes their surrounding cast, the performance of their quarterback, or even the teams’ schedule for the upcoming season.

TJ Hockenson

Even though many have high hopes for the third-year Detroit Lions tight end, GMs should not make the mistake of drafting him too early. Hockenson is listed as the TE5 this season being that the tight end position as a whole is scarce.

When looking at the value that he brings to a fantasy team, some might be fooled by the fact that the Lions lost Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones Jr. to free agency leaving Hockenson as the top option. However, the Lions also lost Matthew Stafford under center for Jared Goff, who has been in a downwards spiral over the last two seasons.

Hockenson is not “un-draftable” but his value just isn’t there to be drafted early on. With that, bettors can keep an eye out for his player props on legal sports betting sites for a chance to make a profit on his total yardage on the season.

Noah Fant

Like Hockenson, Noah Fant is another tight end that has very high expectations in the 2021 season after he had a strong finish to the 2020 season. However, in those games, his high production was due to the receiving core dealing with countless injuries. Now, with the team back to full health, Fant could see a drop in his numbers across the board.

There is also plenty of uncertainty surrounds the Denver Broncos and their quarterback situation as they have yet to decide on Drew Lock or Teddy Bridgewater. Also, the Broncos have been tied to numerous Aaron Rodgers rumors which could help Fant’s value.

Knowing this, bettors especially can take advantage of his overrated value and bet on Under for his receiving totals no matter what they are and when they are listed on online sportsbooks.

Rob Gronkowski

There is no doubt that Gronk still has plenty left in his tank and he proved that in 2020. Fantasy GM’s though should not be confused with how much he has left to give and his fantasy value this season. Gronk is a solid tight end for what the Buccaneers are in need of, but fantasy GMs should face the reality that the receiving core is just too crowded for him to get a significant target share as he shares the field with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Antonio Brown.

That alone should be a strong enough reason for fantasy owners not to rely on Gronk being their TE1 this season and another indication for bettors to keep an eye on his reception total for the season.

Evan Engram

Those season-long and daily fantasy football owners that took the chance on Evan Engram have certainly felt pain over the last three seasons and have hopefully learned their lesson regarding his value. After what seemed to be a solid rookie season in 2017, Engram has yet to match or exceed those numbers at all.

Fantasy owners can expect even less from him this season as well being that the Giants have a deep receiving core that is led by newly acquired Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard, and Darius Slayton. Not to mention, if he can stay healthy, Saquon Barkley will take targets away from Engram as well.

Bettors should be looking out for any of his season totals on sports betting sites and take the Under in all categories.

Austin Hooper

It is time to consider Austin Hooper as a one-hit-wonder after solid 2019 and an eye-opening 2020 season. Hooper saw his fantasy value decrease from one season to the next after from the Atlanta Falcons to the Cleveland Browns. That has to do entirely with there being too many receivers in the Browns locker room.

Backing that up is that Hooper was TE17 last season in terms of targets averaging 5.4 a game and was not able to put up any significant value on those targets either. He is overshadowed by the likes of Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham, Nick Chubb, and Kareem Hunt, who is used as the Browns receiving back which takes targets away from Hooper as well.

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Sam Profeta

Samuel has been writing professionally for 4 years. He comes from a sports writing background where he enjoys writing mostly about basketball and football both professional and collegiate. He is a recent graduate of Florida State University where he majored in Editing, Writing and Media with a minor in Communications. During his free time, you can find him watching or playing sports as well as playing videogames and listening to music.