As always, there are so few difference-making tight ends that after the top five of the position, there’s only moderate to mediocre fantasy value in all the rest. But as with the other positions, here are how tight ends fared considering how they stacked up against all other tight ends that faced the same defense.
Better than average: QB | RB | WR
The biggest surprise from last year was Dalton Schultz, who fared nearly as well as any NFL tight end when he faced any opponent. Schultz also gets the benefit of Amari Cooper’s departure and having Michael Gallup returning from injury.
Maxx Williams owning the top performance against two defenses was a true surprise, but it was also the only thing that he did. That also reflected the injury problems that the Arizona Cardinals had last season. It was encouraging to see that Kyle Pitts landed a top-8 performance against an opposing defense on nine occasions. He’ll likely improve on that for 2021.
As usual, there are three top tight ends that stand apart from the rest, and the other tight ends decline rapidly in value.
Once again, Schultz was the surprise of 2021 tied with Mark Andrews and Travis Kelce by lodging the best fantasy performance against a defense with four different opponents.
