PodcastFrom Yahoo Fantasy Forecast

TE position preview: Who to target, monitor and avoid at ADP

STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.

1 hr 25 min

Duration

Estimated from transcript

Aug 13, 2026

Published

Thu, August 13, 2026

Player insights

Players mentioned

Topics

Colston LovelandBrock BowersKyle PittsSam LaPortaTrey McBrideTyler WarrenChigoziem OkonkwoD'Andre SwiftDalton KincaidEli StowersGeorge KittleGreg DulcichHarold FanninIsaiah Likely

Player analysis

Player insights

Brock Bowers

PositiveRole15:11

Nate Tice highlights Brock Bowers as an excellent 'F' tight end who can win one-on-one matchups against any defender.

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PositiveValue22:30

Matt Harmon is in line with Bowers' current ADP (22nd overall) and acknowledges his elite talent and potential for a 'nuclear season.' While Harmon is hesitant to reach for him due to the Raiders' offensive system and potential slow pace, he views Bowers as a strong value if he falls in drafts. Harmon compares his potential floor to a more talented version of Owen Daniels, noting that the scheme can highlight tight ends effectively.

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Chigoziem Okonkwo

PositiveSleeper63:58

Matt Harmon and Nate discuss Chigoziem Okonkwo as a late-round sleeper. They highlight his synergy with Jayden Daniels and the potential for him to benefit from Tennessee's offensive scheme, especially if they utilize more two-tight-end sets. While not an elite option, he is viewed as a cheap starter who could outperform his projections.

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Colston Loveland

PositiveRole14:45

Nate Tice identifies Colston Loveland as the epitome of a modern 'Y' tight end, capable of blocking at the point of attack while also being able to split out as a receiver and run a full route tree.

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PositiveValue36:58

Matt Harmon is bullish on Colston Loveland, ranking him 5.1 spots ahead of his 40th overall ADP. Harmon is high on the entire Bears offense, citing Ben Johnson's goal to make it the best in NFL history, and views Loveland as a strong fourth-round target.

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PositiveBreakout62:58

Matt Harmon views Loveland as a tier-one tight end and a potential overall TE1. Loveland's usage is elite; from Week 11 on, he was targeted on 25% of his routes, posted 2.57 yards per route run, and was utilized in high-value roles like the Z/X receiver in 21 personnel. Harmon ranks him 35th overall, ahead of his 40th ADP, noting that his role is clearly defined by coaching staff usage in designer plays.

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D'Andre Swift

PositiveValue37:36

Matt Harmon is above market on Deandre Swift, ranking him 6.5 spots ahead of his current ADP as part of his overall bullish stance on the Bears' offense.

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Dalton Kincaid

NegativeUsage13:31

Nate Tice identifies Dalton Kincaid as a 'tight end in name only' (Tino) who functions primarily as a receiver. He is rarely featured in the run game and must be hidden by his offense due to his limitations as a blocker.

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Eli Stowers

NegativeDepth Chart16:56

Matt Harmon notes that reports from training camp suggest Eli Stowers is not currently a significant factor in the Eagles' offense, making him unlikely to be fantasy-relevant this season.

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George Kittle

NegativeInjury59:59

Matt Harmon notes that Kittle is an athletic freak, but his fantasy value is tied to his health following an Achilles tear, which he jokingly refers to as the 'good kind' of Achilles injury.

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Greg Dulcich

PositiveSleeper63:44

Matt Harmon identifies Greg Dulcich as a sleeper who could potentially lead the Broncos in catches. He notes that Dulcich was top five in yards per route run last year, and while the sample size was small, he is expected to be on the field frequently.

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Harold Fannin

NegativeBust81:37

Matt Harmon expresses concern regarding Harold Fannin's fantasy ceiling, noting that his previous production was inflated by a high volume of screens and checkdowns in an ineffective offense. With the emergence of talented rookie receivers like Denzel Boston and Casey Concepcion, Harmon believes Fannin will struggle to maintain a high target share.

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Isaiah Likely

PositiveValue65:26

Matt Harmon ranks Isaiah Likely as his TE12, noting that while he has cooled slightly on him compared to a month ago, Likely still possesses upside as a potential second-most targeted player on the Ravens, especially in tight end premium formats.

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Josh Jacobs

NegativeBust85:58

Matt Harmon identifies Josh Jacobs as a high-risk player, citing a "stack" of red flags including declining performance, injury history, off-field issues, and a heavy career workload. Harmon also notes that the Packers' offensive line and defense may be worse, creating potential "trap doors" for Jacobs' production.

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Juwan Johnson

PositiveValue62:49

Matt Harmon highlights Juwan Johnson as a value pick, noting he is currently the TE28 on Yahoo but ranked as his TE15. Despite competition from Jordan Mims, Harmon believes Johnson will remain on the field frequently and is a viable option for those desperate for tight end production in full PPR leagues.

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Kyle Pitts

PositiveValue15:13

Matt Harmon and Nate Tice highlight Kyle Pitts as a player they are interested in at his current draft position, noting that despite being 25 years old, he remains a highly intriguing asset with significant upside.

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NegativeValue80:05

Matt Harmon views Kyle Pitts as a neutral value at his current ADP of 74th overall. While Harmon is bullish on the opportunity for Pitts in the Falcons' offense, he notes that Pitts is likely the third target behind Bijan Robinson and Drake London. Harmon prefers drafting him closer to the early 80s rather than the 70s.

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Luther Burden

PositiveValue37:44

Despite an injury, Matt Harmon remains 9.9 spots ahead of ADP on Luther Burden, viewing him as a valuable piece of the Bears' offense at his current Yahoo price.

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Marvin Harrison Jr.

PositiveValue31:41

Matt Harmon believes Marvin Harrison Jr. will see a bump in production and become more cohesive in the Cardinals' offense this year. He highlights Harrison's 81st overall ADP as a much better value than paying the 'iron price' for Trey McBride.

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Mason Taylor

NegativeSleeper69:04

Nate highlights Mason Taylor as a smooth, efficient receiver from LSU who has been overlooked in a deep tight end class. He projects Taylor as a steady, mid-level receiver who may be a better blocker than he showed in college.

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Michael Wilson

PositiveValue32:24

Matt Harmon expects Michael Wilson to have a valid and significant role in the Cardinals' offense, noting his blocking ability and fit in the 'power slot' role. He views Wilson as a value at his 111th overall ADP.

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Mike Gesicki

PositiveUsage17:21

Nate Tice points to Mike Gesicki as a cautionary tale for fantasy managers, noting that despite a high target-per-route-run rate (17%), his limited snap percentage (29% with Cincinnati last year) makes him fantasy-irrelevant.

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Rome Odunze

PositiveValue37:50

Matt Harmon is significantly higher on Rome Odunze than the market, ranking him 23 spots ahead of his current ADP.

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Sam LaPorta

NegativeUsage14:02

Nate Tice classifies Sam LaPorta as a 'surprise Tino' (tight end in name only) because, despite his Iowa background, he is frequently hidden as a blocker in the NFL and functions primarily as a receiving weapon.

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PositiveProjection88:27

Matt Harmon remains high on Sam LaPorta, ranking him 67th overall. Harmon notes that LaPorta was highly productive early last season and expects him to remain a primary look in the passing game under the new offensive scheme, which will blend elements of the previous system.

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Terrance Ferguson

NegativeRole63:27

Matt Harmon describes Ferguson as a vertical element for the Rams' 13 personnel groupings. While he has dynamic ability and was used all over the formation, his fantasy relevance is difficult to project due to game-plan dependency. Yahoo drafters are currently taking him in the 11th round as the TE16, which Harmon feels is baking in a breakout that may not fully materialize this year.

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Trey McBride

PositiveRole14:22

Nate Tice describes Trey McBride as the most balanced tight end among the top options, noting he is an adequate blocker at the point of attack while also possessing the versatility to align in wide spots.

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PositiveValue31:00

Matt Harmon is avoiding drafting Trey McBride at his current 26th overall ADP, citing a shift in the Cardinals' offensive system. Harmon believes the offense will be more spread out and receiver-centric, potentially reducing the hyper-fixated target share McBride enjoyed last year. He prefers targeting other Cardinals pass catchers like Marvin Harrison Jr. or Michael Wilson at much later ADPs.

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Tucker Kraft

PositiveValue83:22

Matt Harmon ranks Tucker Craft 63rd overall, slightly ahead of Sam LaPorta. Harmon views Craft as an explosive tight end who benefits from playing in a high-scoring NFC North environment. Despite coming off an injury, Harmon is confident in his role and ability to capitalize on layup targets.

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Tyler Warren

PositiveValue36:58

Matt Harmon considers Tyler Warren a good player and notes he is consistently drafted alongside Colston Loveland, with an ADP of 47th overall.

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PositiveValue73:24

Matt Harmon is very bullish on Tyler Warren, ranking him 47th overall. Warren is a dynamic receiver who excels against zone coverage and on play-action, leading all tight ends with 406 yards on play-action last season. While he is not a traditional inline blocker, his role as a primary target in the Colts' offense makes him an excellent value pick in the fourth round.

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Full transcript

Episode Transcript

1,090

0:00Big show for you here today. We are rounding out our position preview shows with the tight ends.

0:05Yes, it's a big one and we've got a true hand in the dirt specialist.

0:09Nate Tice joins me to talk about the tight end position.

0:12He's kind of become honestly our tight end guy on this show.

0:16He's done a lot of these with us and to great success.

0:19Speaking of which, if you're drafting tight ends this year, you can have a lot of success because there are so many different players all across the board.

0:27We go group by group based on ADP range to tell you which ones we like, which ones we like, which ones we like.

0:33We're a little curious about and frankly, there's not too many wrong answers this year at the position.

0:38All that more come up on today's show. Let's get into it.

0:42What's going on everyone? I'm Matt Harmon. Welcome to the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast and it is a hell of a day to talk ball man.

0:49It is August. I've got a draft tab over here.

0:51I've got 500 research tabs over here and I know it's definitely August because we are rounding out positional preview week with

0:57a great show for you today talking a little tight end.

1:00Position had to get a real hand in the dirt bro for this one and for that we have our good friend Nate Tice.

1:07Nate, what's going on buddy? How you doing? Not too much.

1:10I'm doing great. We have true preseason not Hall of Fame game preseason true preseason week one truly on the horizon about

1:16a little over 24 hours from now. So stoked for that.

1:19Great to see you. It's great to talk some tight ends as well.

1:23This is your specialty man. I think that's like your this is what you're known for on the show now at this

1:29point, you know whether you like it or not, you know, your first appearance here was talking tight ends and you know

1:35in fairness being well ahead of the curve, right?

1:38Like you and I had you on the show your first debut episode here on the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast.

1:43I think I think talking tight ends and you're like, you know, I think the league might skew towards heavy personnel here pretty soon.

1:50And guess what pal? You were right. You Nate Tice greater than Sean McVay.

1:53I don't know the streets are talking. Well, yeah, I got to come up with a new stick though.

1:59It's it's I feel like it's about to run its course.

2:02So I see everyone catching on what's 13 personnel became a mainstream talking point.

2:06I was like, oh, no. Oh, no. The hipster became mainstream.

2:09So no. Yeah, I really do have to come up with some some new trend, which I do think tempo.

2:14And I think some other things that we are we've talked about on football 301, but also probably was talked about on

2:20this show as well and the types of tight ends very important as well.

2:24Yeah, no question about that. You're like Mumford and sons right now.

2:27You got to you've gone mainstream and you got to ditch the banjo and experiment for a little bit and then eventually

2:34you'll just wind your way back to playing some banjo tunes.

2:37So there we go. OK, as mentioned, though, tight end preview.

2:40We are not going to be sitting here doing a meta conversation about is heavy personnel and the move to it like overrated or this and the other.

2:47We're going nitty gritty fantasy football preview here. Matt Harmon, Nate Tice coming at you.

2:52We are starting with an overall state of the tight end position and our strategies in drafts this year.

2:57We're going to come at you with the top 12 tight ends in ADP groups, a little bit different than some of

3:03our other preview episodes, because let's face it. You do not need to sit here and hear the red light players at

3:09tight end 20 or whatever, as you do with wide receivers and running backs and everything there.

3:14And then we're going to finish it as we have every single episode here with our sleeper section.

3:19However, this sleeper section is going to come with a little bit of a twist.

3:23So stay tuned for that. Let's waste no more time here.

3:26Nate, let's get into it. Overall state of the tight end position strategy this year.

3:30Lot going on in tight end world, not just, of course, the influence of all these teams skewing more towards heavy personnel.

3:36Just a note on that. I do every year the draft day blueprint piece here for Yahoo.

3:41And usually I do every single like day one or day two draft pick for rookies.

3:45I write them up essentially. I'm not doing that with tight ends this year because there's a bunch of dudes that are

3:51just going to be blocking, you know, and that was a big talking point for us throughout the entire offseason.

3:57So there's that. There's also a tight end premium now on Yahoo as well.

4:01So it's never been a better time to talk tight end.

4:04So when you look at the tight end board this year, I'm just going to throw it to you.

4:09What kind of stands out, whether it's league wide trends, fantasy?

4:12What are you looking at right now? Yeah. And it's something we'll touch on the show.

4:17And when there's just more valid bodies to play now, whether that is fancy relevant or not, depends on team situation, depends on role, all that.

4:24But just league wide, I think the position is just at a good spot because it's not the receiving only types or not just rugged blockers.

4:31We've actually gotten these athletes that are a great merger of the worlds, which we'll talk about why tight ends, but also the receiving ability.

4:38Coaches have gotten a lot more creative in using tight ends, not just as receivers, but as blockers, too.

4:43And understanding kind of the limitations that maybe some of these guys have or how to use just their strengths and athleticism

4:49and size that the guys that do have the size.

4:52So I do think that tight ends and that's what's been really, I would say, fun.

4:57So I really always appreciate you, Matt, always giving me that shout out with the tight end trend stuff.

5:02But it's also it's also horrifying sometimes to see it get bastardized over time and see people go into directions that you're

5:08just like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

5:11So but like this offseason, even though in the draft was the run on why tight ends and blocking tight ends and

5:17people were like, oh, everyone's trying to copy McVay, which I think it was more that this year's draft class.

5:22There was a lack of high end talent overall, but also it was just a good tight end.

5:27Why class like a good crop of those guys?

5:30So it was more that the tiebreakers, you know, they were winning over other tiebreakers on day two.

5:35You know, do I want a slot receiver or a blocking tight end?

5:38Do I want to pass a designated pass rusher type only?

5:42Do I want a slot only corner? Do I want a box safety?

5:45So I'm speaking to guys that are a little bit more limited in scope of what the roles can be.

5:51Or do I want a blocking tight end, which we don't really have right now.

5:55And this guy's pretty good. And so you saw a little run of that.

5:59So it's a little chicken in the egg. And so I think some people are like, oh, they're overdrafting them.

6:04But I also thought the crop of these guys was pretty dang good, especially in really.

6:09We've had a good group of tight ends like for the last three.

6:12I would say I'm trying to think maybe four, but at least three years.

6:16We've had like a good group and good mix of tight ends.

6:20I think that's just continued. And it's led to, I think, a pretty deep group of tight ends in the NFL.

6:25Yeah. I mean, there are so many interesting tight ends this year.

6:29I'll get into a little bit of how, from a fantasy standpoint, I'm stacking the board and weighing them versus other positions.

6:35But I do look across the group right now, especially the top.

6:38I mean, this is why we're going to dive deep into each individual kind of top 12 drafted players.

6:43But I would say all the way down to tight end eight, I am pretty interested in some of these guys here this year, as opposed to previously.

6:51I think one of the big trends at the tight end position was you could kind of take one of the early guys.

6:57You know, it was Gronk or Kelsey at their heyday.

7:00And then it was actually honestly not a great idea to shop into the middle ground, in the middle class of tight ends.

7:07That was honestly the worst place to be looking for that player position.

7:10It was kind of like, you know, Jason Witten, obviously a really good player, but he's the guy I think of that

7:16was always kind of that middle class tight end that was giving you solid production.

7:21But was really worth the opportunity. You didn't want to overspend on him.

7:24But if you could thread the needle, you nailed it.

7:27But it was hard to thread the needle because everyone knew what Jason Witten was.

7:31Like, you're not going to get a surprise Jason Witten season, good or bad.

7:35Exactly right. You're not going to get like a 13 touchdown Jason Witten season or something like that.

7:40I mean, maybe he did have a 13 touchdown season.

7:43I honestly don't. I hate when I do that.

7:45He's never going to get double digit sacks. He had 10 sacks last year, Nate.

7:49Yeah. To be honest, I really like the guy that actually was this was Greg Olson, who was awesome for a long time as a tight end.

7:57And, you know, it was awesome in his current job, too, by the way.

8:01You know, he's someone that was just always in that middle class of tight end.

8:05It was never going to truly give you, yeah, that Gronk or Rob Gronkowski season.

8:09So he would go in that fourth or fifth round range.

8:12And it was like, OK, yeah, you're actually getting a good pick there.

8:16You're getting on base. But is it worth the opportunity cost similar to what we've always talked about with quarterbacks?

8:21Is it worth the opportunity cost to pass up what might be that home run wide receiver or running back?

8:27Probably not. This year, though, I think there's a lot of guys in that rounds four to maybe even seven range where

8:33I do think maybe there is that. So it's an influx of some good draft classes and some other guys.

8:38I mean, really, it's a lot of young players.

8:41Honestly, that really is the answer here. It really is.

8:44I mean, just like how many rookie contract guys are up there.

8:47Like just this is just the top 10. And there's interesting guys outside the top 10.

8:51There's fun for redraft from for dynasty or slash keeper stuff, too, which makes it interesting.

8:56And we're getting better production from these guys earlier on than we've seen maybe in the past.

9:01And that's again, that's a blend of coaches being better at it and also the players being worthwhile to give those touches to.

9:07Again, chicken and the egg. But I mean, you can just look at this list like I'm as interested in seven and eight.

9:13Harold fan in the Kyle pits. Kyle pits, who I remind you is 25 years old.

9:18I was going to say, yes, not a rookie contract player anymore, but theoretically age wise.

9:22Yes. Yes. Might as well be. I mean, he's not that much older than Nate Borker that the Jags took one of those wide tight ends.

9:29So, yeah, it's it's really just a good group.

9:32And like I said before, we're going to touch on a few of these guys even outside this range and what you're seeing, too.

9:39And it is again is the wide tight ends guys that are if you're not a wide tight end, you're a Brock

9:45Bowers or a Tyler Warren or Sam Laporta when healthy, which is you can beat a corner.

9:49You can be a safety one on one. You're worth splitting out and designing plays for and getting red zone touches, too.

9:55But then the other guys or Harold fan, which is he's just his own thing.

10:00He's yeah, I don't know. I've been trying to Antonio Gates is kind of Harold fan in this, but he's kind of like he is.

10:07He's awesome. But again, that's how many times in the years past.

10:10I can even think a half decade ago. It was like you mentioned at the top of the show.

10:15Well, you got your old stalwarts and then it's all right.

10:18But there wasn't even an interesting guys. All those guys were tight end.

10:22The tight end was the fourth pass catcher, maybe third best pass catcher.

10:25Now we're getting guys that are one or two in the rotation and justifying like those touches as well.

10:31So, again, I'm just going to keep circling back to this where it's in a good spot, but we're now getting wide tight ends that can receive.

10:38And the receiving tight ends are actually dynamic enough that it's not just one guy like Travis Kelsey.

10:43And that's it. That's getting just a receiving touches.

10:46But it's guys that can do both. Yeah. Can you kind of go into because, again, this is sort of blends into

10:52the heavy personnel discussion, but just kind of blend kind of go into your kind of distinctions between the why tight ends

10:58versus the what you've been calling the Tinos, the tight ends in names, tight end in name only.

11:03So for the people who don't listen to Nate Tice on this podcast feed, you know, all throughout the year.

11:08Remember, this is August. People are coming back and be like, all right, I'm trying to cram for my fantasy draft here.

11:14What the hell is Nate Tice talking about with why tight ends and Tinos?

11:18Let's go into sort of the distinctions between the two and maybe give some examples here.

11:23Yeah. And a Y tight end is when you're looking at just you talk about X receivers and a Y tight end is part of that.

11:30The traditional labeling of players, there's the X receiver, the Z receiver, and then the Y tight end in the middle.

11:36And traditionally, a tight end was a tight end.

11:38He was the guy next to the tackle. The X is this split end in technical terms.

11:43So and then Z is the flanker. But no, and they so with the Y is, I mean, just really in history,

11:49it was always that guy was essentially a blocker.

11:52You started to get guys. Mike Dicke was actually one of the first receiving tight ends.

11:56Kellen Winslow, senior. He was one of the first kind of receiving tight ends.

12:00Tony Gonzalez was one of the first receiving tight ends that actually was like split out and ISOed up.

12:05But it was always just once in a blue moon.

12:08It was like, no, you're a blocker. And if you can receive, that's great.

12:12Like, that's awesome. We get to see that. Kellen Winslow, the second was supposed to be a new age kind of guy.

12:18Vernon Davis was supposed to be a new age kind of guy.

12:21He actually ended up being like a good blocker.

12:24So it was just one of those things where you always that was a prerequisite.

12:28But then it got into the 2010s, I would say, where it was it really got split with the Y was like,

12:34OK, heavy handed, truly a tackle type and then receiving only guys.

12:37So the Y always is usually in line. They're next to the tackle.

12:41They have to be part of the run game.

12:43They have to be part of pass protection sometimes if you're doing play action, which is very relevant right now because those

12:50guys will have to help against defensive ends. They have to make big boy blocks.

12:54You can't hide the Y too many times. If you want to have an expansive run game, you can't hide the Y.

13:00Like, you can hide them in some instances if he's a poor blocker.

13:03Like, you can hide them on the backside of a run play.

13:07But if you really want a good run game, that guy is at the point of attack.

13:11It's funny. They bring up Dalton Kincaid as a great example of a tight end that has to be hidden a little bit.

13:18But that brings the attention or brings us to Tinos or tight ends a name only, which is receiving tight ends or the F.

13:24You know, if you go into 12 personnel, they are the F is the second tight end.

13:29The U, the H. There's different names for it or different letters for it.

13:33But the F tight end, now they have to be a decent enough blocker.

13:37But if they want to stay on the field, they have to be enough of a receiver to do the receiving things, if that makes sense.

13:44They have to win man against – in man-to-man situations against safeties.

13:48They have to be able to create enough with the ball in their hands on underneath throws.

13:52Dalton Kincaid is a perfect example of that. He is a receiver.

13:56I mean, every – I mean, just truly gets designer plays.

13:59He's barely featured in the run game ever. He's always hidden.

14:02And Sam Laporta is hidden a lot as a blocker.

14:04He tries, but he has to be hidden a lot.

14:07That's another guy that's – he's kind of like a surprise Tino.

14:11You would think Iowa tight end. Oh, yeah, he's going to be a good blocker.

14:15So those are two kind of the guys at the top of the head that I think are those kind of tight end name only.

14:22Trey McBride is a fine blocker. He's kind of the guy that's the most balanced, I would say, where he's an okay

14:28blocker at the point of attack, but he can align in wide spots next to the tackles in line.

14:33These other guys have to either be on the back side if they are in line or have to be split out

14:39into a slot or outside spot as well. But if you're looking at the epitome of what you want, a modern why,

14:45that's Colson Loveland because he can block at the inline position at the point of attack.

14:50You can split him out as a single receiver, and he can run a full route tree.

14:54He's the best of both worlds. So he's the epitome of what you want in the tight end.

14:59And I mean, there's a few good ones, Tucker Kraft, but he's a different kind of route runner.

15:04But I can keep going on and on. But anyways, Loveland is kind of the epitome of what you want in the why right now.

15:11And I would say with an F, Brock Bowers is a pretty dang good one because he can kind of go one-on-one against anybody.

15:18Yeah, it's very similar to the receiver conversation where it's not as fragmented or segmented where this is the tight end in

15:24name only and this is the why tight end.

15:26As you mentioned, some of these guys are blurring and really meeting in the middle.

15:31Very similar to just like, well, this isn't just a traditional X anymore.

15:34He plays all three receiver positions. He's weaponized by being moved around.

15:38Whereas, yeah, a guy like Colson Loveland is a great example.

15:41He's somebody that does move around the formation. Could you stick him as a Y tight end on every single snap?

15:46Yeah, probably. He probably could survive in that, but he really becomes weaponized by doing much more than that.

15:52So, yeah, that's the way it is right now in these modern offenses.

15:55You kind of have to check multiple boxes. And I think from a fantasy standpoint, it's sort of shifting a little bit, at least for me.

16:03Just me personally, I've found success thinking about it this way is typically those in-line blocker types are ones you just kind of ignored from a fantasy standpoint.

16:10Unless they were obviously the best, like Gronk, the best of the best, sure.

16:14But the traditional just like Y tight end, you wouldn't even think about that guy because he's really just in there to block.

16:21You wanted the guy who, when he was coming on the field, was coming on the field to run routes.

16:26The problem with that is when he's coming on the field.

16:29That's the emphasis there. So, some of these guys that are the tight end in name only, they get kind of caught between two positions.

16:36And then their playing time ends up getting limited.

16:39Once again, the producers are doing a great job showing Dalton Kincaid here, who we will talk about specifically.

16:44But I think a guy actually that's a better example of this who probably is not going to be fantasy relevant right

16:50now is Eagles second round pick Eli Stowers. Basically, all reports from training camp are kind of like, this guy's not really in.

16:56And maybe we end up being wrong. It's August 12th.

16:59But it doesn't sound like he's going to be a big factor in the offense this year because.

17:04That's where the Tino nickname came from. I wrote him up and that's it.

17:08I just was like, he's a tight end name only.

17:11I was like, Tino. You know, so I was like, yeah, he's the guy.

17:15So, that's a great example of one of these guys.

17:17Mike Kosicki is kind of like a midline historical comp for him.

17:21I like Stowers better for his prospect, but I don't want to digress from here.

17:25But I mean, Mike Kosicki is a great example of a guy that he was on the field, you know, for like

17:3129% of the snaps last year for the Cincinnati Bengals.

17:34And, you know, when he was on the field, yeah, he was getting targeted, but he wasn't on the field enough to play in fantasy whatsoever.

17:41Yeah, like targets per route run 17% when he was on the field, which is way higher than almost anybody else that's

17:47in that zip code of tight ends in terms of snap percentage.

17:50But, yeah. And that therein lies the rub. Is because also, too, is that defenses go, oh, he's on the field.

17:56Where's the ball going? Like, you know, he's on the field for a reason, you know, and that's where, I mean, that's

18:02where a lot of modern football is right now.

18:05As truly as the opponent scouting has gotten so good.

18:08What we see in a public forum, you know, what PFF has done, what we see on true media, your own charting, like stuff.

18:14I mean, there's so much good data out there that used to only be available by your own quality control coach or assistant coaches inputting their own data.

18:22That's essentially what PFF and other companies done. They've professionalized charting that those that those coaches would do, and they kind of standardize it.

18:29And so I really want to bring that all up is that coaches now are so well equipped to opponent scout.

18:34So they don't look at bigger sample sizes now.

18:37And now they can go, I mean, if I'm able to do it sitting here as a neutral person, third party, these

18:43coaches that are hyper fixated on all this stuff, they're easily able to find it that every time Mike is sick, he's

18:49on the field and he's aligned here. It's not only just a pass.

18:53It's this particular concept. Oh, the running back is aligned here.

18:56This running back that's never in on pass protection.

18:58Well, now we can start keying in on this.

19:01And I talk about all the time on here, but just making it fancy relevant is this where you can find cheapies

19:07or guys that really outplay their draft spot is because they can do those hidden roles and their other aspects kind of

19:13get to shine more because they just get the run.

19:16Like they just get the usage. They're like actually get opportunities to score touchdowns.

19:20It's kind of the Zach Charbonnet of it all.

19:22The coaches are just like, hey, this guy is just reliable.

19:25Everybody else ebbs and flows around him. But at least we got this guy that we know he's our B minus, you know, C plus.

19:32We know what grade we're getting with him. So there.

19:35But really, that is a big part of this is that defensive scouting has just gotten so good and just so particular on tendencies.

19:42And they know how to tee off on the good defenses at least, which there's a good a lot.

19:47There's a lot of good defenses right now. It's so relevant at tight end and running back, especially these guys who are

19:53hyper role players and can kind of be not the straw that stirs the drink.

19:57But, you know, maybe that little umbrella on the side of your, you know, frozen cocktails at the beach.

20:02It's like, oh, this really does. The garnish. It's a little garnish or something.

20:06But it's necessary to really make it all feel like it's coming together here.

20:10Because, yeah, I mean, the straw that stirs the drink, that's usually a quarterback or a superstar receiver, you know, whatever.

20:16But, yeah, these guys, the garnishments or whatever, the garnishes that kind of make it all come together in the picture there.

20:22And that, to me, like especially tight end wise, really is apparent in Dynasty.

20:26That's where I felt the most, which is, again, why we're doing this will come up later when we do the sleeper section.

20:32But just to close the loop on the Stowers thing, this is where it's just like you have to meet certain thresholds.

20:38And the good news is right now there's so many guys who meet the threshold of being like he's good enough as

20:44a blocker or he's fine enough that we can do the Laporta where he's we can we can blend.

20:50And we've talked about this a lot. You and I over the years, you're the first one who brought it up.

20:56Like we can blend the Amon Ross St. Brown power slot receiver with the, you know, the tight end and name only

21:02ish type player in Sam Laporta to put together a competent offense.

21:05So that's good news for you guys in your fantasy drafts, because as we're showing on the screen here, there's a ton of really interesting buckets.

21:12And we are going to break down each of those buckets and all of these players when we come back from our first quick break.

21:19We'll see you guys in just a second. All right, we're back.

21:22It's time to get into these buckets at the tight end position.

21:26So the way I grouped these guys, and again, this is different than the rest of our preview shows we've been doing

21:32this week where we've been giving kind of red light, green light, yellow light players, you know, all throughout.

21:37It just really does. Tight end. It doesn't really matter.

21:40Like we need to get the guys right that are in the top 12, the tight end ones right now.

21:45And because Nate, I have not really found it all that appealing to punt tight end this year.

21:50I kind of do want to get some like strategy wise.

21:53I kind of want some of this. Yeah. Yeah.

21:56Quarterback is the position to punt this year. There's so many good late round quarterbacks, and that's been a theme throughout the course of position preview week.

22:03But at the same time, because I also think that I really want to leave as Boone and I talked about yesterday.

22:10I want to leave if not the first five rounds.

22:12I mean, probably the first four rounds really with at least a couple of running backs.

22:17But I also want to make sure my receiver room looks really good.

22:20I truthfully haven't been shopping in the first bucket of tight ends here.

22:24The rounds two to three guys, the true vanity tight ends this year, which Yahoo ADP rounds two to three.

22:30We've got Brock Bowers, 22nd overall tight end one.

22:32Trey McBride, 26th overall tight end two. I haven't really been shopping in this bucket all that much, but that's not because

22:38I don't like especially Bowers, who, by the way, is again, the 22nd overall player in Yahoo Drafts right now and is

22:44my 22nd overall player in my ranking. So technically it does line up, but I just haven't clicked a lot of Bowers

22:50this year because structurally it doesn't feel feel as good.

22:53But that doesn't mean I'm not excited about Bowers because, Nate, there's a lot of reasons to be excited about Brock Bowers this year.

23:00There are. And I think maybe it's just some of that Raider stank that just kind of cools me off just a little bit.

23:06Bowers dynasty is still thrilled. Still like, hey, like I'm still just one of those elite assets.

23:11I really do think that. But I think in this one, it's one of those if he falls to a right price.

23:17So like right now, what are you saying? 22nd?

23:20Say if it's I'm at 28. I'm like, OK, like I think it's more of that.

23:24I would not want to reach for him, but a nice safe fall would be great if you did take him at price or at value right now.

23:32Face value right now. Market value. I do think that you're OK.

23:35Like because I think that offensive system is going to be great for what Bowers wants to be.

23:40It can be really good. I think of in the kind of Kubi action and offenses.

23:45I always think we're kind of the floor if you have a decent enough talent is like Owen Daniels.

23:50Like so if you have an Owen Daniels who at that time was actually fantasy relevant, you're not the sexiest player in the world.

23:57Bowers is a much more talented player than Owen Daniels.

23:59But at the very least, it's like he's going to design plays for him.

24:03There's not too many mouths to feed. It's just kind of one of those things where I just have to kind of

24:09I'm not going to be like hunting for Bowers, but I appreciate it.

24:13I appreciate him if he does fall to me, if that makes sense.

24:17Kind of a coward's way out. But man, he's so talented.

24:20And I'm excited about where the Raiders are going, but I'm kind of just like still a little hesitant on buying on anything fancy relevant this year.

24:27Maybe Gentia price too. Sure. Yeah, I think I think that's fair.

24:30There's really like a nuclear season available for Bowers at some point.

24:34Maybe it isn't this year. Maybe it is 2027 because he is so talented.

24:38Now, one of the things we're going to hit on throughout the course of this show is that in order to find

24:44like the right answer at tight end in fantasy is you kind of want a unique, unique depth chart where a guy

24:50can be, if not the first, at least the second targeted player is often.

24:54You really don't kind of want to want that third target.

24:57There's not a lot here that's going to compete with Bowers to not just not even be the one, but be the one going away.

25:04I mean, they have a collection of interesting role players like Trey Tucker, as you pointed out, can obviously burn Jalen Naylor.

25:10I think fits really well on some of the out cuts that they're going to want out of this offense.

25:15I still have the candle lit for Jack Besh to be like a useful role player in the NFL.

25:21They're talking about Malik Benson, who's another speed guy, maybe like Trey Tucker's replacement at some point.

25:25But none of these guys scream, oh my God, yeah, this is a breakout receiver this year.

25:30So Bowers is going to dominate targets here. When you think about him from a scheme perspective, though, Nate, there's at least

25:36like a small group of – like Ian Harditz is leading this charge.

25:40We've all tried to find who's the next Jackson Smith and Jigba at wide receiver this year, and I've talked about this a ton.

25:46And Ian's point is like, well, why isn't it just going to be Brock Bowers because he's the extremely talented pass catcher

25:52with the guy who just made – not made, but, you know, guy who's coaching Jackson Smith and Jigba.

25:58Clint Kubiak coming over here as the head coach.

26:00Like, can Brock Bowers have wide receiver level production in this offense from a structural perspective?

26:05Absolutely. Absolutely. It's more availability than with him because he just has been getting banged up, and that's something he had in

26:11college because – you know, it's just one of those things with the Raiders.

26:15It's just like – I really like – and also the Kirk Cousins starting is – I don't think it's actually going

26:21to be – he actually played okay for a stretch last year where I don't think it's going to be the worst thing in the world.

26:28I'd prefer – I want to see the Mendoza touches as well.

26:31Well, I think your availability thing is – or not availability, just the chart, the depth chart is a very valid thing

26:37here too because that's why I bring up the Owen Daniels thing a bunch is that they're willing to design plays to the tight ends on third down.

26:45Those touches don't always just have to go to the X receiver, which led us to last year, which was the Andre Johnson JSN thing.

26:52We just saw that tweet too. But I do think that that kind of gets lost in the sauce sometimes is that

26:58this offense can highlight tight ends if they're valid enough.

27:01When I say this offense, the Shanahan-Kubiak offense. I also think of guys like Jordan Reed with Washington.

27:06In 2015, he went for 87, 952, and 11 touchdowns on an offense that like – that was that situation.

27:11So again, that's the floor I see with this.

27:14So if he's playing 16, 17 games and he's fully healthy for this or as healthy as Bowers has been, this is, yeah, like easy tight end one.

27:22Easy kind of like, holy crap, this is a huge advantage we have every single week no matter who the other tight end is.

27:28Kind of like prime Travis Kelsey levels. You know, like we're that kind of value at one point.

27:33But for me, it's just availability. Yeah. Again, from an ADP perspective, I'm in line with Bowers.

27:38I'm fine taking him. I'm not avoiding him whatsoever because I do want to account for that like real nuclear possibility here.

27:44Absolutely. And I think we – yeah, we like the system.

27:47I'm excited to see Fernando Mendoza at some point.

27:50It's just like he could run away with like – he could have 140 targets in this season, which is super rare

27:56for a tight – Rich Rebar had a great point this offseason where he said – he pulled up the stats of

28:02the guys who are consistently tight end one overall in any given season.

28:05It's just whichever tight end leads the NFL in routes is the one who's going to be the tight end one overall,

28:12which is the next guy that we are talking about here.

28:15Spoiler alert. But I don't know if that's going to be Bowers, though.

28:18Like that is my one hesitation here of why I'm not like four or five spots ahead because I do think this

28:24offense is probably going to play pretty slow. They're probably going to try to be pretty run heavy, hide the quarterback, whether

28:30it's Cousins or Mendoza, learning how to play under center, learning how to play in a pro style offense.

28:36That's like my one hesitation with Bowers why I'm just in line with ADP.

28:40But when you get on the clock and it's him versus George Pickens who's the guy right after him in ADP, but I have Pickens several spots ahead.

28:47I've got like Nico Collins a couple of spots ahead just because getting that like alpha receiver I think is going to

28:53be a little bit more tricky than cobbling together production at the tight end position.

28:58That's the thing is that if you miss out on Bowers, it's not the fault.

29:02It doesn't fall off of complete cliff. Like again, prime Kelsey was always that like, OK, he's the tight end one.

29:08All right. And then, all right, there's a little group here.

29:11It's like there's a decent group. Like, I mean, shoot, you have another guy in his tier.

29:15Again, this kind of funny tie and I didn't even bring this up was Jordan Reed.

29:20Also, that year he led Washington in targets with 114 receptions with 87 yards, 952.

29:24The quarterback, Kirk Cousins on that Washington team. So, he's willing to target the tight ends.

29:28This offense features tight ends. Yeah. So, really, it's just more like you said.

29:32It's whether they're going to be a plotting team.

29:35They are going to be run first. And even with an iffy run game last year with an iffy offensive line and

29:41inconsistent running for most of the season that really picked up in the second half of the season, they're still going to run the ball.

29:48That's what they did in Seattle. That's what Kubiak does.

29:51So, they're going to run. And Ashton Gentry is going to be worth those touches, I think.

29:55And I think the offensive line will be a little bit better and a little more cohesive.

30:00So, that's the other thing, too. It's going to be a little bit more shot play maybe sometimes, too.

30:05Like, you might have one of those games where it's like three catches for 68 yards, you know, as opposed to 14

30:11targets where he's just getting peppered left and right because it's going to be more of play action.

30:16But, again, it's just you can't be unhappy if you have Brock Bowers, if you ended up with Brock Bowers on your team.

30:23That's how I'm just going to keep putting it.

30:25No question about that. And just last point on this, and this will actually transition us into the next player that we talk about.

30:32Remember the show you and I did last August, and I do want to run it back this year, was just looking

30:38at projected offenses and which guys were going. Like, the ADP was out of whack in terms of how many players were going.

30:44And the Raiders were one of the number one candidates because they had two guys going in the first two rounds.

30:50Well, we're doing it again this year, I guess.

30:53So, we'll see how it works out this time.

30:55We'll see how it goes this time. But another player who's definitely going to pop up in that regard is tight end

31:01two overall, 26th overall player off the board. That is Trey McBride, who was the guy that led the NFL in routes last year.

31:08But new offense. I am just did the finally I did the video on my YouTube channel.

31:13I got Jordan Roderick to do it with me.

31:15Cardinals curious. I am admittedly Cardinals curious. So, with that admitted, I haven't really been drafting a lot of Trey McBride, which I'll get into a little bit.

31:23But Nate, how does Trey McBride set up this year with last year in mind, the new scheme, everything like that?

31:29I like buying Trey McBride the last two years more than this year.

31:32Because really, it's just not even just a ding at him.

31:35It's more of a – the offensive system is going to be – I mean, it's just receiver-centric, I think.

31:41Because the receivers are worth the touches. I think Marvin Harrison Jr.

31:44will take a little bump up. I know you don't want to get dragged into another Marvin Harrison Jr.

31:49conversation. But I do think he will get a little bit more solidified, a little bit more cohesive surroundings.

31:55I really do think it – God, that observation, I'm telling you, last year, it was last September, and it was just burning in my brain.

32:02You're like, sometimes they just don't fit together. And it's like – so I think he fits a little bit better with

32:08Willifler how he's going to use him because he's going to just use him as kind of the Brandon Cooks role if you're looking at the Rams offense.

32:16And I also just think Michael Wilson, as many people are keen on him, as am I, is he's going to have, I think, a very valid role.

32:24Like a big role, but also one that he's worthy of having because I think he's such a good blocker, can do

32:30the power slot stuff that this offense does. It's going to be run-centric.

32:33The Rams have been super run-centric as well, you know, like under Sean McVay as well.

32:38It's going to be a lot of at-you runs.

32:40They have a really good running back room, weirdly.

32:43So why I'm bringing that all up is nothing against McBride.

32:46I just think the offensive flow is going to be a little bit more spread out than how hyper-fixated it was on

32:52him because he was the only reliable cog that this offense really had.

32:55The running backs fell apart. Arvin Harrison Jr. just got the yips.

32:59I mean, and then Michael Wilson kind of came on, but he was kind of just been the steady Eddie of this offense for a few years now.

33:07And he also had amazing chemistry with Kyler Murray.

33:09Turns out he still has great chemistry with Jacoby, but him and Kyler had like a special connection that like, you know,

33:15just one of those weird synergies that sometimes forms.

33:18And so that might, there's just might be a little devaluing there as well.

33:22So yeah. And with Trey McBride too, what he, what he told me back in February was that he really wasn't the

33:28first read on a lot of those plays. As we know, like a lot of the first read on those concepts were, was it's the X receiver.

33:35That's where the offense, the offense wants to flow.

33:38As, as Michael Wilson himself said in an interview, this off season, the reason I wasn't getting a lot of targets early

33:44is because I was the Z receiver. And in that offense, in drew Petsing's offense, it flows through the Y and the X and that's Trey McBride.

33:51And that was Marvin Harrison jr. And then as soon as Mark goes down, Wilson's playing X and he's getting, what do you know?

33:58He's getting a lot of targets, but targets are earned.

34:01Don't worry. A lot of touches there. So, um, Trey McBride though, his point was like, yeah, I wasn't the first read

34:07on a lot of those plays, especially with Kyler, but the ball kept finding him because of that connection.

34:12Now it did continue to find him with Jacoby reset, but it is just a change in system.

34:17I think he's going to be an awesome fit in this offense.

34:20I think he will do so much for them.

34:23I just think there could be a small step back fantasy wise.

34:26The good news is that that is kind of baked in here.

34:2926th overall ADP is far from offensive. The thing is just, I just have a few spots behind here and I haven't

34:36been pulling the button on, on Trey McBride because of all the other players around him.

34:40And if you are Cardinals curious, which I am, and I don't advise anyone else to be, but I am, you can

34:46get the receivers just so, so much later. 26th overall ADP for Trey McBride.

34:50Jeremiah Love goes 28th overall, but then it's 81st overall for Harrison.

34:53111th for Michael Wilson. It's just like, to me, if I, if I want to have weird optimism for these guys, which

34:59I do, I just know I can get exposure to this Cardinals offense.

35:03Later on, rather than paying the iron price for Trey McBride.

35:06And I hate to say that because McBride is an awesome player.

35:09He just hasn't been somebody I've just, I haven't just, I just haven't drafted him very much at all, but it has

35:15no reason to do with him as a player.

35:18I've no one, when I put it this way, my home league, my oldest league, I play in way too many leagues,

35:24but my oldest league, I took him and most members of that league who are pretty sharp.

35:29I would say they were most like, Oh, that guy kind of like, they weren't like hyper fixated on him.

35:34They just thought of him like, Oh, okay, cool.

35:37What about Marvin Harrison Jr. Rookie year? Like, Oh, can't wait.

35:40No. What about that? And then I'm like, okay.

35:42And then led to kind of fruition that this year or even last year, cause I had to keep him as a

35:48keeper that then it was like, Oh, okay. Like his price was X amount of dollars.

35:53Like he's just like, you know, not even threefold, 10 fold, 15 fold, 20 fold from what he was a couple of years ago.

36:00Just his stock is recognition has gone up. It's gone through the roof.

36:03So it was kind of even the normies price, you know, it's kind of like, it really has kind of been baked into this.

36:10And I, so long winded way to say, I agree with you that I'd much rather be shopping in different aisles of the Cardinals lane or Cardinals.

36:17Costco. I was trying to think of a C word, the Costco of Cardinals, I guess.

36:22I want to find something else there rather than Cardinals commissary.

36:25I don't know. Very nice. Yeah. That works better though.

36:28I was trying to think of something there, but the commerce of Costco, no, the commerce of the Cardinals.

36:33There we go. Oh, too long on this. But anyways, I'm also Cardinals curious.

36:37So I hate to hear you say that because I was trying to find 31 other teams to talk about this here.

36:43Tough break, buddy. You were just, you were trying to get off.

36:46I'm pulling, I'm going to pull you back in because I was out on the last Cardinals group, but this one I'm

36:52in on another group that this is where I am in on drafting tight ends is ADP group two, which is the

36:58fourth rounders, which what do you know? Colson Loveland and Tyler Warren.

37:02They're still stacked together, baby. They'll never get away from each other.

37:05Same draft class, two great players. There was like weird debate between how could you have this guy over the other guy?

37:11Turns out they're both good. Colson Loveland and Tyler Warren, both good players.

37:1540th overall ADP for Colson Loveland, 47th for Tyler Warren.

37:17Let's start with Colson Loveland. I love to see Ben Johnson in an interview.

37:21I think it was Dan Pompey did the piece with him where he says his goals are that he wants to be

37:27the best offense in NFL history as somebody that is above market on all the bears.

37:32Okay. Every single one of them. People are like, which, which, which Chicago pass catch you to want to draft?

37:37I'm like, yes, I'm six and a half spots ahead of ADP on Deandre Swift.

37:42I'm five and a 5.1 spots ahead on Colson Loveland.

37:44I'm still 9.9 ahead on Luther burden, despite the injury, just because on Yahoo, he actually goes at a reasonable ADP and

37:50I'm 23 spots ahead on Roma duns. So I'm in on all these guys.

37:54Colson Loveland included. I just drafted him in the fourth round of a draft today.

37:58So Nate, why is Colson Loveland a good fourth round pick in fantasy?

38:02You know, I know, you know, Ben Johnson's a real sicko.

38:05And I meant to tweet this as well, is that he goes, I know how many points that like the leading, you

38:11know, the record is for an offense in the NFL.

38:14And he didn't do total points because he realized that the NFL has gone to 17 games since the Broncos did that in 2013.

38:21I think it was. And so he did. He knew points per game was the number.

38:25Yes. Not total points, points per game. I was like, you, I'd love you.

38:29For those who don't know, Ben Johnson's after my own heart with his office.

38:33He cares about the denominator. I was like, I was like this guy.

38:36Yes. He gets it. No, it's Colson Loveland is.

38:39And I started the show talking about this is that he is the epitome of what you want with the wide tight

38:45end, which is that he can block at the point of attack.

38:48He can block a defensive end or an edge.

38:51You don't want him going against 290 pounders. But guys that, you know, defensive ends have gotten lighter and outside linebackers have gotten lighter league wide.

38:58But he can hold up and also be blocked behind at actually runs like zones and duo runs, the runs that are

39:04very important right now in the NFL. But on top of it, and they want to do this because there's several times

39:10Ben Johnson started a half, either the second half or the first half, first drive.

39:14He would get into something like 22 personnel or 13 personnel for them.

39:18I'm sorry. Three tight ends and look in a 20 and they get into a 21 personnel look, which is an high formation.

39:24So they make it look like just a fullback look.

39:27And then the one of the tight ends, which was Colson Loveland, would be the Z or X receiver.

39:32And it's just when you're getting not only like drawn up like, OK, we want them on the field, but you're getting

39:39designer plays to open drives with in 20. Like those looks where you're the primary.

39:43Not only does that mean, hey, we as like neutral analysts, oh, this guy looks pretty good.

39:47But just kind of speaking code that like coaches code, that means we freaking love this guy and we want to highlight him every way possible.

39:55And he's a rookie and he's like, well, he's very young as well.

39:58I think he's only gonna be 22 this year.

40:01So if you can't tell, very excited. I'm excited about Warren as well.

40:04But Loveland is just kind of where it's at right now.

40:07And Bowers is exceptional as a player. McBride is very good.

40:10Loveland is kind of what not only just us as fancy people, us as fans, but coaches in the league.

40:16That's what they want at the tight end position.

40:18Yeah, I mean, God, he just checks so many boxes.

40:21Again, I like both of the receivers. I'm very much in on those guys.

40:25But man, when you look at just how the season ended for this team and, you know, Roman Dudes wasn't 100% healthy.

40:31Obviously, that's a big part of it. Luther Byrden was still a rookie, you know, making mistakes and the whole deal.

40:37That was another thing from that article I thought was interesting.

40:40Ben Johnson was talking about how that interception that Luther Byrden, and he made sure not to name him.

40:45He just said a wide receiver mess, you know, kind of messed that play up.

40:50Yeah, we all know who it was. That was his favorite receiver or favorite interception that Caleb Williams threw because of the intent of the play.

40:57But anyway, so that was what was going on with the receivers.

41:00Meanwhile, from week 11 on, I mean, it was the Colson Loveland show.

41:04Among tight ends from week 11 on, he's targeted on 25% of his routes, which was sixth most, fourth most in yards per out run.

41:11The guy runs around on 77% of the dropbacks and is targeted on 33% of those routes, 2.57 yards per route run.

41:17Like this guy is a star out wide on 17% of his snaps in the postseason in the slot on 24%.

41:23Like he is a credible split him out wide, isolate him, do all these things with, which is why I think, yeah,

41:29football sickos like us prefer Colson Loveland, you know, kind of compared to some of these other types.

41:34But I mean, even still, that's why I have him as a tier one player.

41:38And that's honestly why I don't end up with a lot of Trey McBride, because I think that Colson Loveland could straight

41:44up just be the tight end one overall this year.

41:47I think he could be a top two scorer at the position.

41:50And he, to me, is closer to the top two than the fourth player.

41:54Now, I have some worries with Colson Loveland, which is just like if Raman Dunze really breaks out and Luther Byrd really

42:00breaks out, does it get a little too crowded?

42:02Like he's probably the one, although Trey McBride, I think, is maybe susceptible to this.

42:07But just because I think both these two receivers are still ascending, he's probably the one of the top three guys that is most at risk.

42:14Wouldn't you agree of like being the third targeted player on his team?

42:17I don't think it happens, but he's probably a risk of it just because we've got two young ascending receivers here.

42:23And the weirdest way I also, though, with Loveland is that I feel safest about him with that trio, all talented, all guys I like.

42:30Yes. Is because I know his role. Like I know what he gets and I know how the coaches feel about him.

42:36Because with Nduze and Byrd, I mean, we go back and forth on this, not me and you, but just like everybody does.

42:43It's like, well, who's their guy? Well, last year was Nduze.

42:46Now they have Byrd. Are they Byrd people now?

42:48But they talked about Nduze being the exes. But Byrd was doing this and getting that designer play.

42:53I just know Loveland in the playoffs was getting on the sale concept, which features a sale route.

42:58So you kind of know who the primary is on a sale concept.

43:02Loveland was getting the sale route called for him.

43:04So it's kind of for me that the floor of him is very high, but also that, like you mentioned, he could end up a tight end one.

43:12He still has more to tap into. So I go back and forth with Nduze and Byrd.

43:17And if in redraft league wise, I have more Nduze dynasty wise.

43:20But I go back and forth redraft wise. And it's kind of like, I would just rather have Loveland, you know, rather

43:26than just figure out the other two. At least I know I can envision his role, which has even more ceiling.

43:32Like he's just entering year two. Totally agree. And that's the way I have it rankings wise.

43:37I've loved it as my 35th overall player. Again, ahead of aggressive ADP of 40th overall.

43:41But I'm still very much in on those two receivers as well.

43:44Tyler Warren, again, he's just coming into his second year as well.

43:4847th overall player. He's the tight end for this.

43:50A lot to like about him, even if he doesn't quite check all of those.

43:54Like he's going to line up at every single position player like a Colson Loveland will.

43:59Yeah, he is more of like kind of he's not all the way there, but more of how Travis Kelsey was kind

44:05of used where he's just kind of do everything player, everything.

44:08But he is not a true inline guy. He's been kind of stereotyped as that.

44:12I get it. He's a big white guy with long hair.

44:15So I think a lot of people just go, oh, he's a burly blocker.

44:19He's not a great blocker. Like he's good. They'll use them as kind of almost like a de facto fullback as a lead blocker.

44:26But as far as the why stuff, like again, why is usually the guy that's in line next to the tackle?

44:32He's not that great at that. They have to hide him.

44:35And that's that's fine because he's so good as a receiver.

44:38And he's very dynamic as a mover. Like he just has that kind of feel for space.

44:42Really good against zone. Really good hands and kind of strong hands, even if he's not the longest player, which is what

44:48shows up more in blocking than as a receiver, I would say.

44:52But even for him, it's just also, oh, we talk about the Bears.

44:55When doing a burden, all the run game is going to cook, too.

44:59All right. With the Colts, Alec Pierce is still limping around.

45:02Josh Downs, as much as I love him again, it's like him.

45:05It was some of his availability as well. Who's the guy I can set my clocks to?

45:10All right. It's Jonathan Taylor. It's Tyler Warren. And Tyler Warren's role was just going to be cleared out.

45:15They again were just like with Loveland at the end of the season.

45:19All season with Warren, who was a little bit older, was featured.

45:22He was used on designer plays. He was used in the red zone on rushing plays.

45:27So I think his fancy production is going to be great this year.

45:30Like, I have no real qualms because I think role production wise and even Daniel Jones injury wise, I'm one of the

45:36few people that's super bullish on Riley Leonard. So even that, I'm kind of going, whee!

45:41So, yeah, but I would say, you know, Tyler Warren's still very bullish on.

45:45So I agree with you, your overall assessment that I kind of like this tier better, even though the top tier, like

45:51I like the tier at this price of Loveland and Warren more than the shopping app price for Bowers and maybe Bowers and then, but for sure McBride.

45:59Yeah. And the only tricky part is just on Yahoo.

46:01He has a 47th overall ADP, which is higher than on other platforms.

46:05When I was drafting it elsewhere this offseason, it's like, oh, so easy to get Tyler Warren here.

46:10I'm just kind of in line with 80. Yeah.

46:12I was like heroes just because this is fair.

46:15Yeah. Oh, yeah, totally. Because like you said, we're talking about a guy who should be first or second on his team and targets.

46:22Tyler Warren is definitely that guy, especially with Alec Pierce banged up.

46:25And Alec Pierce had a career high 84 targets last year.

46:28I mean, if you just look on play action last season, Tyler Warren led all tight ends with 406 yards on play action last year.

46:35He eats on those concepts and he's going to get a ton of first read stuff in this offense.

46:40So, yeah, he's kind of insulated even if the offense goes.

46:43If it's running efficiently, he's going to get those play action targets.

46:47If it goes into chaos, you know, Daniel Jones not running as much.

46:50He's trying to get the ball out quick. Tyler Warren and Josh Downs will be the outlet receivers.

46:55But it's like, yeah, I think he just wins basically either way.

46:58And as much as, yeah, I love Josh Downs and I'm drafting a ton of Josh Downs.

47:03I think Josh Downs is probably the favorite to be the top scoring receiver on the Colts right now.

47:08I've just moved ahead of Alec Pierce with all the injury stuff at this point.

47:13And I love Downs. The answer still can be Tyler Warren in the fourth round is an absolutely awesome pick.

47:18So, yeah, we are both very much in line with these two group two ADP players.

47:23But we've got a really interesting third group of players to talk about.

47:26We're going to get into those guys right after this break.

47:29All right, we're back. Time to get into ADP group three.

47:32These are the round six to seven players. No fifth round ADPs on Yahoo!

47:36It's headed position. We've got Sam Laporta, 61st overall.

47:39Tucker Craft, 63rd overall. Harold Fannin, 72nd. And Kyle Pitts, 74th.

47:42All right, we don't need to break all these guys down necessarily in detail, like every single one.

47:47But give me, of these four guys, Nate, who's one to you that really stands out at that ADP that you want to click this name?

47:54And I know that they're all four really. This is a juicy section for me.

47:58And the weirdest way, and this is not a real football thing, but this is more opportunity and opportunity cost, which is what fantasy is about.

48:05It's actually Kyle Pitts, which is not maybe what I would think because of just their circumstances in Atlanta right now.

48:11And just also Kevin Stefanski loves his tight ends.

48:14So I think there's opportunity here. And I think he's actually priced about right, maybe.

48:18But I'm a little higher on this, but I'm more bullish, I should say.

48:22But he's the guy, I just think maybe it's because I talked about the Falcons with Josh today.

48:27And oh, boy, their defense, too. That's also part of this is you might be coping with some of that and might be more pass heavy.

48:34I know. So it's definitely we should have mentioned that with the Bears, by the way.

48:38That defense is going to force them to throw that football a lot.

48:42Which is throwing a wrench into my NFC North prediction pod.

48:45I am still I am pushing that one back because I am scared to make a prediction on that division.

48:50But no, I'm as much as I really this group is a group I kind of am targeting if it's all fair.

48:57Harold Fannin, I think, is phenomenal. But the problem there, too, is, you know, QB, as always.

49:01Also, maybe a run first attack. O-line actually should be a lot better.

49:05But also the rookie receivers look really, really good.

49:07Not just because you and I both. I like Denzel Boston.

49:10You like Casey Concepcion. We're kind of the two leading stalwarts of those two receivers.

49:15So we're not. We also are lobbying for each of the other one, too.

49:18Like, that's the thing. I know. Those are two my favorite players.

49:22I know. Oh, my God. By the way, how funny is it that you're getting all these rave reviews from training cameras?

49:28It's like, yeah, Denzel Boston, he's kind of like a Drake London, like Michael Pittman type of receiver.

49:33I'm like, I wonder who was saying that the whole time.

49:36I know it's not. I'm not taking a victory lap off.

49:39Mike Evans. Mike Evans light, which was a Super Bowl comparison for you.

49:43We can find that clip at some point. Watch like three games of him.

49:46So, you know, just shooting from the hip on that one.

49:50I mean, when the head coach is dropping that comparison, too.

49:53So, yeah, it tells you all you need to know.

49:55But also, as someone that has more stock than Scrooge McDuck of Tucker Craft, I really also, too, it's more just the injury.

50:02And he says he's the warlord. He's going to be ready, which I'm sure he will be.

50:06But it's just more like, yeah, I'd love to have Tucker Craft on my team.

50:11It's just he's coming off an injury. And also just their offense is kind of I kind of envision the offense being

50:17a little bit more receiver downfield centric. And maybe Tucker Craft just gets some touches eaten from him.

50:22But it's nothing about him or his ability because he's one of the best tight ends in the game, period.

50:27We're talking about why tight ends are explosive. He's phenomenal.

50:30But, yeah, it's just more just coming off that injury and just other better players kind of coming up.

50:35Remember, streamlined players, I should say, receiver. So, I, man, I actually think there's a separation in this group between Sam Laporta

50:41and Tucker Craft down to Harold Fannin and Kyle Pitts.

50:44And let me throw it. Laporta's the one. Him and Tucker Craft kind of go back and forth on it.

50:50They're so, so close to my rankings. I have Kraft 63rd.

50:53I have Sam Laporta 67. The reason I break ties in favor of Kraft is one I just I think Tucker Craft's awesome.

50:59Maybe I'm like, he's a lot of fun. Take lock from last year.

51:03Yeah. Take lock from last year. And his, like, he can eat on those layup targets, too.

51:07And I think this team is just going to throw it.

51:10Like, that's the crazy thing about this NFC North, other than the Vikings, which is the team I have the least confidence in.

51:17That will probably age poorly. All three of these defenses in Green Bay, Detroit, and Chicago are all probably going to be worse this year.

51:24That's another thing to maybe break ties in favor of NFC North players is there's going to be a lot, a lot,

51:30a lot of high-scoring affairs, especially when they play against Detroit inside, you know, it's, it's, man, it's, it's really exciting to

51:36think about that division from a fantasy perspective because of that and how good all these offenses are.

51:41So I think Green Bay throws a football game this year.

51:44The Packers run game might be iffy this year because the old lines, a lot of question marks, you know, I just,

51:50I like some of the guys, but I just got to see him as a cohesive unit.

51:55And then Josh Jacobs got huge question marks. So it's just, I know.

51:58So the run game might just might not be.

52:01Josh Jacobs has every red flag that you could possibly imagine as a running back.

52:05I was talking about this with James Cote today where it's like kind of took a step back last year.

52:11Injury issues currently and in his history, off field issues, kind of a ton of workload on his plate at this point.

52:17Offensive line is probably worse. Defense is probably worse.

52:19Team. It's just like you just start stacking red flag, red flag, red flag, which means I'm going to say this and

52:25he's going to, you know, dunk on me and have a great season.

52:29But it's just a lot of trap doors that he could fall through this year.

52:33I know that. And that's where I'd rather lean on a craft than a Jacobs.

52:37So like, I like, that's the thing is like, even you asked me, like, who do I like?

52:42Cause I like all these guys and I like the prices they're at right now.

52:46It's just more just, I would kind of, if I had to stack this group, it'd go.

52:51Maybe really craft pits. No craft, the porta pits fan.

52:54And actually as much as I love fan. And it's just that I just feel better about the other parts about that offense right now.

53:01Yeah, that's exactly how I have it. And I think there's a tier gap between craft and la porta, la porta.

53:07I mean, he was balling before the injury. He was people think about it.

53:11Oh, James Williams broke out. Cause Dan Campbell took the play calling back.

53:14No, he got, he started balling. Cause Sam la porta got out of the way and was averaging 20, uh, his target

53:20per route rate was like 20, 54.5 yards per game.

53:23Eighth, most among tight ends in the first nine weeks of the season.

53:27And now he's getting that drew petsing offense coming in here.

53:30And I, it's still going to look very Ben Johnson ask Dan Campbell.

53:33Like there's, they have a set passing game as you and I talked about in three Oh one, but they're going to mix.

53:40They're going to blend some worlds here. And a lot of that blending is going to be the tight end is going

53:46to, is going to get a lot of first looks here.

53:49So I really like la porta and yeah, they're just to me, the red flags for, pits and fan and are just

53:55that Kyle pits is still probably the third targeted player on the team.

53:58Cause B. John's going to eat targets and Drake.

54:01Like there, to me, it's, it's still a little difficult to square that Kyle pits is ascension really happened last year when

54:07Drake London got hurt because he kind of, this is very well done on the screen right now.

54:12Uh, like I'm not out on Kyle pits by any means.

54:15I, and I do have him ranked ahead of Harold fan and as my tight end seven.

54:20Um, he just goes kind of a touch early for me in the seventies.

54:24Where I think he's more of like a early eighties pick.

54:27So there are spots where I get him. I'm not all at avoiding him.

54:31Fanon is the one to me. I'm most concerned about because Nate wasn't last year, just like the pure run out for him.

54:37Terrible receiving room, you know, bad team where a guy, what do you think?

54:41What do you think of fan? And as a blocker, do you think he's a guy that can be a true?

54:47Why every down type of player, uh, you know, he he's effective as an off ball guy.

54:51Like he, he's limited if he has to go against longer edges and that's kind of what was to be expected.

54:57And it's just that as a receiver, you know, he's just, I've always said this kind of runs like a doc.

55:03And so it's just, it's kind of like, he's, he's just funny, goofy player.

55:07And I mean this in the best way possible.

55:09It's so much fun to watch. Yeah. And, but that's the other thing too.

55:13You're talking about ineffective offense last year is that, yeah, it was the perfect storm.

55:17Everybody else was falling apart on that team. The offense wish it her Sanders or even Dylan Gabriel, a lot of screens.

55:24I think the, they had one of the highest screen rates on record.

55:27If you look up the 2025 Browns. Um, so a lot of those screens went to Harold Fanden, a lot of checkdowns

55:33on third down because Shadour didn't really push the ball.

55:36So a lot of checked and Dylan Gabriel didn't either.

55:39So the, a lot of checkdowns went to him as well.

55:42So that kind of boost some touches, you know, a catch for 10 yards is still counts the same in fantasy, but

55:48it might've been third and 18 that catch for 10 yards went, you know, so it's just kind of like some of

55:54those kind of boost up his numbers as well.

55:57And again, just the circumstances around or the personnel around him, I think is improved.

56:01And we got Quinton on junkens, hopefully healthy. I think they can run the ball a little bit more effectively this year.

56:07Um, I just, yeah, so just whoever's that quarterback is just going to be, woo.

56:11Yeah. It's going to be cold out of your hat.

56:14It's just the problem there is man. Most NFL offenses is you and I talk about a lot, like don't want to

56:20run through the tight end like this. And they have two really good receivers.

56:24Like, I don't think people realize how good Casey Concepcion and Denzel Boston are.

56:28I mean, again, Boston, he fits the archetype of the guy that just kills people in training camp because he's a contested catch monster.

56:34But we know also Nate that he can win in the, you know, in the small game, right?

56:39As a separator as well. Like he, that's why I gave that like Michael Pittman, Drake London family type of, you know, Tedrow McMillan.

56:46This is the same family of receivers guys that can actually get open despite the size.

56:50So I just think their presence fundamentally changes the offense and it's going to make it harder to me for fan and

56:56to hit that like target ceiling this year. Yeah, that's it.

57:00It really is. I mean, it's not even just because we like Boston.

57:03I mean, shoot. The training camp reviews are just like people.

57:06I mean, they're going like people are tripping over themselves to hype them up.

57:10Like it's ridiculous when it's coming from every source.

57:13That's when you kind of know when it's just one or two guys just, you know, hyping up JJ McCarthy and everyone else is saying he sucks.

57:20Like, it's kind of like, you kind of, you know, you kind of know, you know, what's steam to kind of like follow.

57:26So I think really too, is that that's what it is.

57:29It's making me bullish on it all. And like you said, it's an archetype that you would, what, what they mentioned before the offense runs through the X.

57:37And also this is a coach that has run an offense through the X when he was in Tampa and it was

57:43a different quarterback situation, different offensive situation. Totally. But you know, Munkin is going to run through his best players.

57:49I think that's his best asset as a play caller.

57:52It's kind of a grab bag offense, but he'll just, Hey, if I'm got Derek Henry on my team, we're getting an eye formation.

57:58Hey, I got Stetson Bennett. We're going to run you around a little bit, put you on bootlegs.

58:03If I have Lamar Jackson, we're going to use you in a certain way.

58:07If I run Fitzpatrick. So I think this offense is going to try and hide the quarterback.

58:12So again, limiting touches, but then it's also going to try to run through the X, which is going to be a little bit more vertical.

58:19It's going to be more like downfield attack, which I think Casey Concepcion and Denzel Boston, right?

58:24Or I should reverse that Denzel Boston and Casey Concepcion can do as well.

58:28Like I'm actually, I want to see Concepcion with a little bit better quarterback play, but he just might not get it.

58:34Like you did it compared to the Texas A&M situation was a little rough, but it's also, I've seen some of these highlight reels from, from camp.

58:41And it's, you know, I see some wounded ducks out there as well.

58:45Yeah. I'm not looking so great there. All right.

58:47That's a good looking group of tight ends. We're going to take another quick break.

58:52We come back. We've got the last group of tight end ones in fantasy drafts this year.

58:56We'll get into that right after this. All right.

58:59Final group of the tight end ones here in fantasy.

59:01This is group four rounds eight to nine. This is where we round out the top 12 at the tight end position.

59:08Uh, this is kind of last call. Okay. And even some of the names here are very last call.

59:13Yes. George. This is, this is before we get to some of the sleepers here, we've got the, uh, the George Kittle,

59:19Travis Kelsey, 88th, 93rd overall, 101st overall Dalton Kincaid, and then Dallas Goddard 108th overall.

59:23Like I said, these are the like, all right, I know this guy's name.

59:27I need a tight end. Yeah. Well, I'll click Travis Kelsey at tight end 10.

59:31However, Nate, I don't know that we really need like, do we really need to talk about Dallas Goddard and Travis Kelsey?

59:37Like we, we know what the deal with that is.

59:40George Kittle is just how healthy is he going to be?

59:43He's, he's a complete, you know, athletic freak show.

59:46Um, but it's an Achilles tear. I know I've been told it's the good kind of Achilles tear.

59:51I didn't know there was a good kind until George Kittle told his towards Achilles.

59:55We'll see what that is. The name I do want to discuss with you here is the, one of these things doesn't look like the other.

60:02And that is Mr. Tino Dalton Kincaid. I don't know, man.

60:05I think I'm in on Kincaid this year. I I've never really been a Kincaid guy, but I kind of think this

60:11is one year to wear you down. I think this is, I think no, please.

60:15How dare you? I think this is the year to be in on Kincaid, not last year, but this year, because, and

60:21I, a lot of this comes from a little bit of your theory here that may be good, may be bad with

60:27the bills is the substitute teacher theory. You know, this is Joe Brady being promoted from Josh Allen's best friend to being

60:34promoted to offensive coordinator now being promoted to head coach and a lot of whispers out of training camp that this team wants to throw the ball more.

60:41Now that the defensive head coach, the boomer, you know, old man, Sean McDermott, we got him out of the way.

60:47It's time to go throw the pill around with Josh Allen and the boys.

60:51I'm kind of buying that a little bit. Like I'm, I am kind of buying that narrative that they're going to still have a great run game.

60:58They will, but I think they throw the football at a higher rate this year.

61:03I also think they're going to cut out the everybody eats nonsense.

61:06They're pretty much, they did the thing in mini camp.

61:09It's like, Hey, Skylar bell looks great now in training camps.

61:12Actually, no, he doesn't look great. So I think a lot of that is, I haven't seen a single report about him.

61:18Like period. I went searching too. Yeah, I know.

61:20Okay. So our guy Zane Danani, who we had on the show, he's, he follows up and pulls on every, uh, every thread.

61:27He did dig that up that. Yeah. The report was, Oh yeah.

61:30And OTAs, he was crushing it. And then a training camp, not as much.

61:34So it's, it has really been a thing. Anyways, point being, I think DJ Moore is going to come in here and get a lot of targets.

61:41I've really risen DJ more of my rankings. Khalil Shakir is going to have his role, but Josh Palmer.

61:47Okay. Fine. Third receiver, Keon Coleman. That's it. Little battle.

61:49Really? I don't think that moves the needle at all.

61:52Kinkade's a guy who could be the second most targeted player on this team.

61:56And I think that if they're going a little more pass heavy, that's going to allow them to get him on the

62:02field, hide him a little bit more. And he's been an efficient player when he's been out there.

62:07I mean, his yards per hour run was right up there with the best player tight ends of all time.

62:13Last year, he just wasn't running many routes. So I think we can sacrifice some efficiency for more volume right now.

62:19Like I don't really want to punt, punt tight end, but if I am waiting on tight end and I'm in this

62:25kind of, all right, last call bars, close in group.

62:27I, I think I'm, I'm taking a look at Dalton Kincaid in that regard.

62:31I'm kind of, I'm zagging with him too. So it's funny you say this because I can see the vision of this all happening.

62:38Joe Brady, no, no longer have to run the ball.

62:41No longer have to be under center, even though that's some of the best stuff that we do.

62:46So, but I do think that if you're going to be more spread heavy, I already mentioned at the top of the

62:52show, like Kincaid is one of the epitomes of the, you know, the guys that do not block.

62:57Like he is, he is, he's just a negative in that play in that way.

63:01But the thing is he is a good enough receiver, especially underneath to be efficient that you can find a role for him.

63:07He's still like, I think he's not worth it in this way, but I think Kincaid is, but with Kincaid too, with

63:13Joe Brady, and if they want to be more spread, if they want to be more gun heavy, if this is what

63:20I'm envisioning at least, is that, or, and my thing too, as I think that, or I think too, is that they

63:26might go a little bit more, I wouldn't say totally fast, but a little bit more.

63:30We're going to keep the same personnel grouping out there for multiple snaps in a row.

63:35And I think with Kincaid doing that, that means more RPOs.

63:38That means more of those bubbles. That means more of the quick game stuff.

63:41So I think on top of the designer plays, some more of those cheapies come back to him as well.

63:47So like, that's why he got, he got so many touchdowns.

63:50Like I've used the designated hitter joke about a few people, but like he Kincaid was kind of the designated hitter of this offense.

63:57I was like, all right, we're in, we're past the 30.

64:00Here comes a wheel route to Dalton Kincaid. Like it was like, they have like two plays.

64:04It was the wheel route to James cook going through the tackle.

64:08And then also Dalton Kincaid on a wheel route going up the, up the sideline.

64:12Um, but I do think that there's going to be more of just more targets, whether they truly are good for the, their real football sense, the bills.

64:20No, but in front of fancy sense for Dalton Kincaid.

64:23Yes. I think there are going to be available there.

64:25So I see this, like the three I see is DJ Moore, don't Kincaid.

64:29And then Khalil Shakira and Joshua Palmer, depending on what role they want to use them for, like Palmer being the better

64:35blocker, Shakira, be kind of being a do it all kind of guy.

64:39So, but why I'm bringing that up is that I think the other guys, like, I think Kincaid is going to get

64:45a role carved out for him, uh, in this offense.

64:48And sorry, last thought on all this is Sean Payton has made, you know, I know it's Joe Brady, but Sean Payton

64:54has had proof of concept of making non-blocking tight ends work.

64:57Jimmy Graham was of course the, the ace of that, you know, the, but he's his own category talking about Tino, like

65:03the, he's the epitome of a Tino, but also guys like he's gone after non-blockers.

65:07Yeah. Literally basketball player and didn't block anybody in five years in New Orleans.

65:11Um, but he is like, truly, but those are other guys too, that they have found roles for these guys splitting them out.

65:17So maybe you see some creativity there as well.

65:20Maybe just some things opening up for him. And, uh, you know, who was the offensive coordinator for those saints teams with Sean Payton, Colin plays.

65:27It was Pete Carmichael, the current office coordinator for the Buffalo bills.

65:30So, uh, yeah, there's a thread to all of this.

65:33Yeah. He's always there. Six degrees. Yeah. There's a thread.

65:36I mean, with that and, you know, James cook, we have, we, I, we should have a fun video coming out about that.

65:42We're talking about him catching passes. We'll, we'll see a little teaser alert for the social media stuff there.

65:48Uh, yeah, I think we can, I think go ahead and assume he's catching more passes.

65:52That just means more passes. Don Kincaid's healthy. I think this is the year to draft Dalton Kincaid.

65:57All right. Some just quick green light players at ADP outside the top 12 tight ends.

66:01These guys are honestly all pretty much Tinos to me, but I think they could, if you squint, sneak into like top two pass catchers on their teams.

66:09These guys here are Juwan Johnson who did this last year, by the way, this is exactly why you do sometimes want

66:15the Tinos in fantasy where it's Chris Olave and dot, dot, dot, dot, dot.

66:19Uh, and it's crazy that people just have kind of written off Juwan Johnson completely.

66:23He's the tight end 28 drafted on Yahoo. I have him as my tight end 15.

66:28I know Jordan Tyson's in here and like, he's going to be that second receiver now, which is going to push Johnson down the board.

66:35But I still think Juwan Johnson's going to be on the field with a ton.

66:39And if you're absolutely desperate in your full PPR league for tight ends, Johnson makes sense.

66:43The other guys are, are a little more dark throw ish here.

66:47Uh, Terrence Ferguson, second year tight end for the Rams.

66:49He's going to be basically their third receiver in my mind might be their fastest player on offense, which is kind of

66:56insane to say Jake Tonjes for if George Kittle misses games, he's basically just going to walk into being a full-time player

67:02and they, they're got injuries all over the place.

67:04Greg Dulcich, another just guy that could lead this dolphins team in catches.

67:08I mean, he's going to be on the field.

67:10He, as we showed Hayden stat earlier, he was top five in yards per out run last year, small sample, but nevertheless, it is a thing that happened.

67:18And then the last guy who I know you want to talk about here, Chica Conquo 127th, overall in Yahoo right now,

67:24admittedly, Nate, I was higher on a Conquo before the dig signing and then the Laramie Tunsell injury, but still a good, uh, late round sleeper here.

67:32Oh man, no, actually this is, this is more of my aisle.

67:35This is the muck. I want to play around it right here.

67:38Uh, no, but this is, this is exciting. Uh, well, yeah, let's start with chick.

67:42Um, with him is, is more of just that kind of synergy that I brought up even with like Kyler and Trey McBride.

67:49I think this is like a diet Coke version of that where, what Jane Daniels and Zach Ertz of all people had great chemistry.

67:55Um, and, and just certain routes that he was really good at and, and, uh, or certain routes that Jane Daniels was

68:02really comfortable throwing kind of these bender routes over the middle.

68:05And I think, uh, Chig is one of these been this guy that's, I'm not sure how good he actually is, but

68:11the Tennessee ecosystem hasn't really been really beneficial to anybody that's been in there.

68:15I know. So it's one of those, but I do think he could be a nice cheapie, like where the other Washington

68:21receivers are finding their way, whether Terry is getting older, where Stefan Diggs, who's old as well, whether anything happens with them,

68:27where I can just see the role of this.

68:29And also if this offense wants to use more too tight end looks, which I think they do, he's going to be

68:35the beneficiary of that because they have a blocker and John Bates, if healthy, I think he's banged up again, but they have enough where I can squint.

68:43And I can kind of see it working out synergy with Jane Daniels, offensive personnel.

68:47The receivers are just sold. And even the young guy that they drafted Antonio Williams, I still think that they could work in unison with each other.

68:55So it's kind of one of those things where it's just, he can out kind of outperform his projections, not saying, Oh

69:01my God, this is a hidden elite tight end here.

69:04But if you're just looking for a cheapie, you know, at the very end of your draft, Hey, you already got another

69:10guy that maybe has some injury history like that last group.

69:13And we, Hey, we just grab another guy. That's a starter that should get some touches.

69:17Like this is the guy I've kind of, you know, highlighted a little bit.

69:21Totally. Yeah. Him and Isaiah likely were the guys a month ago that I really liked late.

69:26Likely I've also cooled on a little bit just because the big case for likely was what Malik neighbors is going to miss time.

69:32He could potentially lead this team in targets now, obviously that feels a little less likely.

69:37Sorry, pun intended there. That neighbors is trending pretty well.

69:40Now I still think likely is my tight end 12 ranked.

69:43Like I do have him ranked as a tight end one.

69:46He goes tight end 13 off the board just because it's like to me, you know, there's some upside there.

69:51My point when you get to this range is instead of looking at the guys, like no disrespect to these players, but

69:57like, you know, Mark Andrews, you know what you're going to get Jake Ferguson, even, you know, you know what you're getting with Jake Ferguson.

70:04You're, you're getting on base with those guys. If you're for whatever reason, drafting a second tight end, like you're in a tight end premium format.

70:12I kind of think you're looking for that home run here, like guys who could be the second most targeted players on

70:18their team, which Jake Ferguson probably can unless somebody gets hurt.

70:21Mark Andrews, I guess could, but they've got some more interesting receivers now in that room as well.

70:26Jacoby Lane getting a lot of pop from camp or shot Bateman getting to move around the formation, the whole deal.

70:31So to me, I just think Nate, when you get into this range, like that's why I kind of like these Tino

70:38types, the Terrence Ferguson's, the Dulcich, the Oconquo, even if again, I've cooled a little bit on Oconquo and likely the two

70:44like big sleepers from this range for me. No, Ferguson is the other one that has a chance, just dynasty and redraft

70:50because just what he made, he helps make that 13 personnel go and the multi-tied and looks go because he's the vertical element of it.

70:57Colby Parkinson, who I might talk about in a sec also is like kind of what really makes it go like, cause

71:03he's the blocker and is also a valid receiver, but Ferguson is what brings the, you know, dynamic ability to that.

71:09I always mess up diamondism. So I always, I always get hesitant.

71:12I have to say that live. Yeah. It's a weird word for me.

71:16And yeah, if you ever want to notice as I read a lot, but I don't say the word.

71:21So it's always like I'm live on a show and I'm like about to say a new word.

71:26Um, but no, it's tired. Terrence Ferguson. I do think though, is like, he's the one that can unlock parts of the

71:32offense, but it might be just a, such a game plan thing.

71:35Like it might just be one game and he's so highlighted in another game.

71:39And that's, what's so hard to like, kind of go like, yeah, he's totally going to break out.

71:44He is going to break out, but I don't know how fancy relevant that is.

71:48I like to have them in some way, shape and form this year.

71:52Um, definitely would like to have him from dynasty.

71:54You got, it has to be remembered that Sean McVay tried to trade up for Brock Bowers and Ferguson ended up being

72:00kind of his like consolation prize of what he envisioned basically the Cooper cup replacement was.

72:05So that's what Ferguson is in this offense. Oh, absolutely.

72:08And I mean, he was a guy that absolutely was used all over the formation last year.

72:12I mean, you would see him split out and be, you know, like the number three receiver and he would run the clear out routes.

72:19That's why, again, you mentioned he really does, even if he's not getting targeted, bring 13 personnel to life because he truly can actually take the lid off.

72:27Uh, he ran 22.3% of his snaps. He was out wide last year, 26% in the slot.

72:32So he is definitely a mismatch weapon. I agree.

72:34It's probably 20, 27 or 20, 28 where he really breaks out.

72:38I have him on a dynasty roster, so I'm definitely counting on that, but I'll tell you what, man, Yahoo drafters are

72:44taking Terrence Ferguson in the 11th round as the tight end 16.

72:47Overall, he, he's not one that I, I, I thought I'd be lower on, but I mean, he goes like, I looked at this list.

72:54I was like, wait, excuse me. Yeah. These are, these are just the rankings.

72:58Like all of us at Yahoo, we have him ranked as the tight end four in aggregate or tight in 24 in

73:04aggregate, which is, I haven't tied in 21. So I'm actually one of the higher folks on Terrence Ferguson, but Yahoo drafters,

73:10like I said, tight end 16, they're baking in the breakout.

73:13So, um, probably not going to see that this year, but I do think he is a really good appealing player for dynasty formats.

73:20No question about that. Speaking of Nate playing in the muck here, that is what we're going to do in our final segment, our sleepers with a twist.

73:28We'll get into that right after this. All right, we're back.

73:31And usually we just do a straight sleeper segment here to end each of these position previews guys outside the top 100 and Yahoo ADP.

73:38We're not doing that. Okay. That does not fly here for the tight ends.

73:41All right. We thought, I mean, Dalton Kincaid would be a sleeper.

73:45No, no, no, no, no. We're not doing that.

73:47All right. This is sleepers with a twist here.

73:50And really, Nate, I expect you to cook in this segment because this is essentially where I want to try to find

73:56the next guy on what I'm calling the Tucker craft slash AJ Barner continuum, which is, this is a true wide tight

74:02end who could end up with a much higher snap share and therefore maybe some sneaky fantasy football appeal.

74:07I mean, AJ Barner absolutely was that guy. I talk about this all the time in the Kings classic league that we

74:13draft at the fantasy football expo, which is just absolutely sicko level stuff where 14 teams, three flexes, you know, you're, you're down bad at least one spot.

74:21And I was, I was starting AJ Barner like every week in that league, which is, and by the way, went, went to the semifinals.

74:28Okay. Or lost the week before the semifinals. I was whatever that is.

74:32I don't know. Semi. Yeah. No, semi. Yeah. One of the final 14th.

74:35Lost to Jim Coventry of Roto wire. Um, but yeah.

74:38And in that game, AJ Barner exploded. Cause that was the Rams Seahawks game.

74:42I think he had like a monster week, uh, in that one.

74:45So anyways, this is like, you can end up having some random fantasy value and be kind of, you know, involved a little bit.

74:52So that's the guys we're looking for here. We're looking for the true wide tight ends.

74:56You could end up having some sneaky fantasy value.

74:59Nate. I'm just going to, I'm going to sit back.

75:02Oh yeah. I'm going to let you cook on this one.

75:05Yes. No. And this is too, we're talking about those tendencies talked about how defenses are so good at it.

75:10And this is where, again, you can just find the sneaky guys in fantasy running backs that can block kind of going away.

75:16Like basically everyone can now at running back or they're a lot better now league wide, but tight ends that can block.

75:23And this is where you can just find it because they're just going to be on the field more.

75:28If you're able to do this, there's more of the menu that you are able to access for coaches, I should say.

75:34And if you're a guy at tight end, like a block and you're a valid enough receiver, you're going to be on the field.

75:41So I'll start a couple of year, two guys here, Mason Taylor.

75:44It's kind of just gotten lost in the wash.

75:46Like just weirdly jets were kind of a dead team to everybody.

75:50I understand. Also just other tight ends were a little more fun from that class.

75:54When you're in a class with Colson Loveland, Tyra Warren and Harold Fannin, just to name three.

75:59Yeah. You kind of just get lost as another guy.

76:01Mason Taylor to me though, was a guy that I thought was just very smooth, very efficient receiver in college at LSU, steady Eddie underneath mid-level receiver.

76:09And I thought I projected him as maybe a better blocker than he was in college.

76:13I thought he was kind of what I call a shield blocker.

76:17But as a rookie in the league, I was much more bullish on him.

76:21And I was a guy that was already pretty bullish on him as a overall.

76:25I really do think that he held up in line and also was a plus blocker at times as the season went along.

76:31He's very young. He's got NFL pedigree as well, his dad and uncle.

76:35But also too, is that he has enough receiving ability.

76:37And on top of it, Kenyon Sadiq, who I know is the other tight end.

76:42I know they have a bunch of young mouths to feed.

76:45Kenyon Sadiq has already been battling a hernia. Also young tight end.

76:48That's more receiving only. Even if he is a gritty blocker that tries.

76:52Mason Taylor to me, and I said this to you, I think the other day was there's some glimpses of Jason Witten

76:58here, of all people, which is so funny. We just talked about him earlier in the show.

77:02There's just something. There's a timeline where he hits that, where he is just that good receiver, good blocker, not elite, but

77:08just good at everything, stays on the field for 80% of the snaps, and just kind of is always valuable in that sense.

77:15So I'm bullish on Mason Taylor, not only just this year, but dynasty wise as well.

77:19I'm kind of rebuying back into him as he kind of got lost in the wayside.

77:24He is a completely forgotten about man. People just have moved on to Sadiq and the whole deal, but yeah, I feel

77:30like he's going to play a lot, especially now that Sadiq's banged up.

77:33I've even then felt like he was going to play a lot this year.

77:37It's so interesting to think about that Jets rookie class.

77:40Like someone's getting squeezed for snaps, I think, whether it's Sadiq or Omar Cooper Jr.

77:44So we'll see about that. Obviously, Sadiq behind the eight ball with the injuries, but go to one of your other ones here that you want to highlight.

77:52Oh, yeah. Keep on rolling. Next one is Mitchell Evans.

77:55Somewhere, somewhere kind of discussion. A guy that I liked.

77:58It's kind of, I could just be lazy and just bet on Notre Dame tight ends and you're all right.

78:03Scouting wise, because the next guy is going to be a concept.

78:06Yeah. But Mitchell Evans is like this, even just this projection right now.

78:10I, I'm very safe in saying, I feel very bullish that he's going to outperform that easily.

78:15Not saying he's going to go crazy. There's other mouths to feed in this.

78:19There want to be a run centric team, but again, run centric team.

78:22Why tight end that can legitimately block and already was a plus blocker as a rookie.

78:27Those are guys I'm trying to buy into because they get lost.

78:30Again, they're not the sexiest names, but their roles are already, are always there.

78:34You mentioned AJ Barner. He's the perfect example. He could block.

78:37And if you're able to block and play action, once you get into the red zone, you get those juicy touchdown books.

78:43So that those four catches for 38 yards, you weren't happy about turns into four catches for 38 yards and one touchdown.

78:49And then you really like the performance of that blocking tight end.

78:52So Mitchell Evans is one of these guys that I love Tetrault McMillan.

78:56As you know, we're you're, we both like Jalen Coker.

78:59I know you're the biggest co-cat I know. But I do think Mitchell Evans opportunity of it all.

79:04He's going to get them. And also just Bryce Young is more of a check down guy.

79:09So you get some of those cheapies and it's just going to be on the field for run play.

79:14So he's a guy I've really swooped up in a lot dynasty wise.

79:17He might be a year away to see kind of really what his role might be as a true professional, but he's

79:23a guy that's a really, I think a great buy low candidate just league wide.

79:28And injury at the start of camp, but he's healthy.

79:30Love this one, especially because and it's a little bit different now that Brazel is out for the season, but still, I

79:37think they're a team that can spread the formation out with all these big receivers and block and get but having a

79:43true why to do that with for an special team that has some issues that tackle.

79:47I think he's going to play a lot over the kind of guys, the smaller move tight ends that they've had in the past.

79:54So I do think Evans is a great call out for the next AJ Barner here.

79:58But we had a comment earlier in the show and I can't believe it's taken till, you know, 526, like almost an

80:04hour and a half into the show to not bring up.

80:07I mean, your boy Goose was saying in the chat, Eli Raritan.

80:11This is your guy. People were listening to the show during draft season.

80:14They heard you highlight him. Been getting some good reviews.

80:17I saw a headline today. Just reading headlines. No media.

80:20This is I'm always railing on people for media literacy and I'm doing it here.

80:24I saw Eli Raritan pushing Hunter Henry question mark.

80:26Yes. Getting first time team snaps over Hunter Henry on past place to again.

80:30Juicy looks. I know. Apparently. Yeah. No extension. Did not cool them.

80:34Apparently extensions, you know, it doesn't mean another player gets canceled out immediately.

80:37No Raritan super high on him in the draft process.

80:40He was my, my John Travolta meme player where I was in the living room looking around where, where the heck ever there's everybody else during that.

80:47There's a couple other people that liked him as well.

80:50So that was nice, but no, I think just as a college player at the very least, he was already a great blocker.

80:57And, and I really mean that when I use the word great and inline blocking defense events didn't have to be hidden,

81:03but on top of it, I thought he was just big athletic.

81:06His main negative was that his high school senior year in his first year in college, he had an ACL.

81:12So that, that will scare you if that's on your medical medical records.

81:15Hasn't missed time since then. The production wasn't outlandish in college, but it was good enough.

81:20Um, but I did think that just, man, his testing is how he played.

81:24And the film was just so good. Super high on him.

81:27He ended up being my tight end too. Um, I, he was a top 50 player for me.

81:32And I, I just really do think that, uh, uh, like it, the camp stuff's been so positive about him, but I'm

81:38all in on him dynasty at the very least.

81:40And he could be a sneaky redraft guide this year at the very least keeper league.

81:45I'd definitely be looking at him. Love it. The people needed their Eli Raritan talk.

81:49I, I have him in a draftable ish range this year, but truly like just deep dart throw for the most part.

81:55It is dynasty. By the way, fun fact, our top performing video, uh, not like a full show, just like a clip

82:01out from the show on our YouTube channel, the, the Yahoo fantasy YouTube channel, which by the way, if you're watching this subscribe to the channel, please.

82:08We love you. We need you subscribe to the channel, subscribe to the Yahoo sports NFL channel to Nate's crushing it over there.

82:15Yes. Anyways, our highest performing video of all time on the channel is indeed your Eli Raritan, uh, prospect breakdown.

82:20So yeah, I mean, Eli Raritan kind of the, uh, he's this, I mean, uh, Tucker craft was like the guy for the show last year.

82:28Scott talks about that all the time. We were all Tucker craft guys.

82:31Maybe Eli Raritan as our highest performing video can become our guy this year.

82:35So these are your why tight ends. Maybe the next guys, the one we didn't hit on just real quick.

82:41Cause we got to get out of here. Charlie Kolar from the chargers.

82:44He's a guy that I've stashed in dynasty. Now 20th round in their best ball drafts.

82:49That guy's going to end up leading that tight end room and snaps.

82:52I hate to break it to the Raritan gas and bros.

82:55Uh, and David and Joku weirdly gets drafted super high on Yahoo.

82:59Like folks, seriously be, be so for real right now.

83:01This is going to be the Charlie Kolar show.

83:04He is going to be the one blocking and everything.

83:07So he is a good call out there, but Nate, that's going to do it.

83:11We talked the sicko. Why tight ends? The Tinos.

83:13I think we gave you guys a full preview for what you need for the tight end position.

83:18So Nate, appreciate you, man. Uh, what do you got working on that people could check out right now?

83:24Well, thanks for having me. Always, always fun to talk to tight ends.

83:27No, I have the division preview series going on football.

83:30301 as you are on half of them. We just did NFC South with Josh and the, what did we do together?

83:36NFC East. And then we got some other stuff kind of coming up, but also on the Yahoo site, uh, I have

83:42a kind of a training camp battles or kind of storylines or people to watch, uh, for week one of the preseason, which it is this weekend.

83:50Cause we're back, baby. We're fully back. Love it.

83:52If a 90 minutes of this wasn't enough for you people go check out like a two hour football 301, uh, division preview, just content, content, content.

84:00We all need it. Cause it's happening here at Yahoo.

84:02And what else is happening here at Yahoo? It is our 29th year of Yahoo fantasy football.

84:07And to celebrate day three of 29, we are revealing our collaboration with cameo Yahoo fantasy and cameo.

84:12Now let's your league book a celebrity to announce and reveal your draft order without even leaving the app.

84:17Any league member can purchase celebrity cameo, which will activate the experience for the entire league.

84:22I mean, come on, how could it get any better than that?

84:25And speaking of getting better tomorrow, Josh Norris jumps on the show with me to highlight the biggest findings from our latest Yahoo staff mock draft.

84:32Speaking of tight ends, it is our tight end premium format mock draft.

84:36That's going to be live right here on this YouTube channel at 4 PM Eastern on Thursday.

84:41Until then we are out.

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