2023 NFL Tight End Report Week 4

Heading into Week 4, there have been 25 touchdowns scored by tight ends. Donald Parham leads the way with three scores despite only having six catches for 32 on seven targets on the season. He’s been on the field for about 50% of the Chargers’ snaps. T.J. Hockenson leads tight ends in targets (28), followed by Sam LaPorta (22).

In Week 3, only LaPorta (22.40) scored more than 20.00 fantasy points in PPR formats, thanks to a 45-yard touchdown. Nine tight ends finished between 10.90 and 19.90 fantasy points. Only two tight ends scored more than 20.00 fantasy points in a week.

Here are the top five tight ends after three weeks:

·        T.J. Hockenson (51.90)

·        Sam LaPorta (42.60)

·        Hunter Henry (37.50)

·        Evan Engram (35.30)

·        Travis Kelce (32.50)

These are the only tight ends averaging more than 10.00 fantasy points per week.

Top Tier Options

Travis Kelce, KC (DK – $7,400/FD – $7,800)

After three games, Kelce averaged 16.25 FPPG in PPR formats in PPR formats over his two starts. Last year, his season average was 18.88 fantasy points, putting him about 14% behind his pace in 2022 if he didn’t miss a game. The Chiefs had him on the field for 61% of their plays last week due to a blowout game, down from 64% in Week 2. On the positive side, his light workload did make him look swifter vs. the Bears. Kelce has done more of his work close to the line of scrimmage (8.6 yards per catch – 12.2 in 2022 and 12.7 in his career before this season). Patrick Mahomes looked his way 8.5 times a game in his two starts.

The Jets fell to 30th in tight end defense (16.97 FPPG) after getting beat by New England’s tight ends in Week 3 (5/108/1). Most of the damage came on a broken play touchdown (58 yards) to the Patriots’ third tight end (Pharaoh Brown – 2/71/1). Tight ends have 16 catches for 169 yards and three touchdowns on 21 targets against New York.

Kelce remains an edge at tight end due to his upside potential, but it does come with a price in the DFS market due to his high salary. He must score 30.00 fantasy points at DraftKings to be viable, an outcome Kelce reached twice in 2022 (33.50 and 35.50). I don’t see the Jets pushing the envelope on the scoreboard, costing Kelce the follow-through needed to be an edge in the daily games in Week 4.