Complacency is not a desirable trait in fantasy football, particularly in dynasty formats. The weeks after the Super Bowl and before the NFL Draft are prime times to shore up rosters by sending out trade offers.
Knowing which players make solid value buys and which are at or near their peak values is integral towards shoring up your roster in the offseason.
After already breaking down quarterbacks to target, here are the tight ends that dynasty fantasy football enthusiasts should consider buying or selling in the early part of the 2022 season.
Buy Low
Kyle Pitts (Atlanta Falcons) – “Buy Low” is a bit of a misconception, here. Pitts is generally considered the top tight end in dynasty formats but off the heels of a disappointing one-score showing, do your due diligence and see if the manager in your league that invest the 1.03 or 1.04 on Pitts last spring is willing to listen to offers. Even if you’re paying the fair-market value for Pitts, he’s a player you want to try to target if at all possible.
Irv Smith Jr. (Minnesota Vikings) – A popular breakout candidate last summer, Smith missed the entire 2021 campaign with a knee injury. With Smith absent, Tyler Conklin managed to haul in 61-of-87 targets and produce a solid TE17 showing. Smith offers far more downfield ability and scoring upside than Conklin, and with the Vikings’ offense returning mostly intact, Smith will once again offer TE2 value and his price should be steeply discounted.
Cameron Brate (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) – With both Rob Gronkowski and O.J. Howard slated to hit free agency, Brate currently sits atop Tampa’s depth chart. Brate easily surpassed Howard in the pecking order last year and posted a respectable 30/245/4 line as the No. 2 tight end. Tampa’s roster is loaded with skill-position talent that could depart this offseason, so there’s a chance Brate could be in-line for a fairly significant role in 2022.
Blake Jarwin (Dallas Cowboys) – Injuries have torpedoed each of Jarwin’s last two seasons but with Dalton Schultz currently set to break the bank as our top-ranked free-agent tight end, there’s a small chance Jarwin reclaims the starting job in Dallas. Schultz is also a candidate for the franchise tag, but he’s essentially free right now, and acquiring him wouldn’t involve much dynasty capital.
Sell High
Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs) – Kelce’s run as the undisputed No. 1 PPR tight end came to an end in 2021, with Mark Andrews taking top honors. As good as Kelce has been, it would be unprecedented for a tight end that will be 33 in October to continue to put up elite numbers. There is a notable drop-off in production for most tight ends when they turn 32, and Kelce’s receiving yards, yards per catch, and fantasy points per game figures from 2021 were his lowest in five years. Having Kelce as your fantasy starter has been a cheat code for most of eight seasons, but father time catches up to everyone, even the goats. Dynasty managers would be wise to be proactive now while Kelce will still bring a considerable asset haul.
Hunter Henry (New England Patriots) – Among top-10 PPR tight ends from 2021, Henry had the fewest targets (75), yards (603), and receptions (55.) A full 32.8% of Henry’s total points came from his nine touchdown grabs. That’s not a sustainable number in a low-volume New England passing attack that should look vastly different sans Josh McDaniels. Among tight ends last season, Henry ranked 6th with 17 red-zone targets and second with 12 looks in the end zone. Even a small correction, which should be expected, could cause Henry’s fantasy production to drop precipitously.
C.J. Uzomah (Cincinnati Bengals) – Uzomah had a career-best showing in 2021 but still only posted overall TE19 numbers. While an appearance in the Super Bowl is fresh on the minds of many football fans, Uzomah will likely fetch more in return than he will this summer. A free-agent who just turned 29, the Bengals will have no trouble finding a better option via the draft or could simply choose to push forward with Drew Sample, who was the club’s second-round selection three seasons ago.
