• A league of his own: Travis Kelce has spent his NFL career separating himself from the pack as the best tight end in fantasy football.
• Options outside of Kelce: There will still be several options who can put up weekly TE1 performances as drafters begin to target the position in earnest.
• Check out the other 2023 positional fantasy tiers: Running backs, quarterbacks and wide receivers!
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Breaking fantasy football rankings down into tiers helps fantasy managers better understand what separates each group and how to value each player at the position for this coming season.
Be sure to check out the rankings page for updates as the offseason progresses.
TIER 1: The Travis Kelce Tier
RANK | PLAYER | TEAM |
1 | Travis Kelce | KC |
Having a top tier that includes only one player is usually a recipe for disappointment…unless that player is Travis Kelce. The Chiefs tight end and the word “disappointment” simply don't go together: He's finished as the PPR TE1 in six of the past seven years, with his lowest finish coming in at TE2.
On a weekly basis, Kelce’s worst PPR finish was TE15 last season, and he gave fantasy managers 11 top-five finishes. No other tight end had more than seven.
Among tight ends who saw a minimum of 30 targets in 2022, The Chiefs star ranked second in yards per route run (2.23) and saw nearly nine targets per game (8.8). No other tight end managed to hit the 7.5-target average.
Kelce’s 18.6 points per game led the position. The next closest tight end, George Kittle, averaged only 13.5, making the gap between Kelce and his peers greater than it is for any other position.
Tier 2: The talent and target share to be TE1s