For the majority of teams, tight ends are typically the tertiary option in their respective offenses' pecking orders. There are obviously outliers like Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews who sit as their team’s de facto No. 1 wide receiver, but most fantasy football owners are forced to start tight ends with high-variance week-to-week scoring production. Fortunately, our list of 2023 fantasy TE sleepers can help you spot some potential late-round breakouts if you aren't lucky enough to draft Kelce or Andrews.
The high variance of this position group makes it challenging to identify legit sleepers, but given the relatively low ADPs for most of the mid-to-lower-tiered TEs, there’s inevitably going to be a handful of tight ends who end the season exceeding expectations and outperforming ADPs.
Our sleeper list attempts to pinpoint tight ends with ample opportunities for targets and touchdowns, whether it's because they boast high route participation numbers or are flexed within an efficient offense likely to make several trips to the red zone each week.
DOMINATE YOUR DRAFT: Ultimate 2023 Fantasy Cheat Sheet
Last season, Jaguars TE Evan Engram entered Week 1 as our No. 28 TE in standard formats and No. 27 TE in PPR after an underwhelming finish to his tenure with the Giants. Not many fantasy pundits, including ourselves, expected Engram to end the season as the overall TE6 in standard and TE5 in PPR formats, but he blossomed in his role as Trevor Lawrence’s primary underneath receiving option for the eventual AFC South division winners.
2023 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Ks | Top 200 | S-Flex | IDP
Which overlooked TE can breakthrough and significantly exceed his ADP this season? While we’re not sure he’s able to end the regular season as the overall TE 6 in standard and TE5 in PPR, we think there’s a chance perennial sleeper Irv Smith Jr. finally puts together a complete season, following a similar trajectory to Engram this season. Sure, there are a lot of mouths to feed in Cincinnati’s offense, but there’s a chance Smith Jr. becomes a trusted red-zone target of Joe Burrow’s. The Bengals' offense ended 2022 with the eighth-most red zone trips and another similar finish this season could result in Smith Jr. putting up a career-best TD output.
2023 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Ks | Top 200 | S-Flex | IDP
Fantasy owners should also be on the lookout for breakout seasons from second-year TEs Chigoziem Okonkwo, Jake Ferguson, and Jelani Woods along with rookies Sam LaPorta and Michael Mayer.
2023 FANTASY SLEEPERS
QBs | RBs | WRs | D/STs | Each Team
Those TEs highlight this year’s crop of potential sleepers at tight end, and below, we’ll detail why we think each player could help your fantasy team post more "W's" than "L's" this season.
2023 AUCTION VALUES (Standard & PPR):
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Ks | Overall
Fantasy Football TE Sleepers 2023: Potential tight end breakouts
Chigoziem Okonkwo, Titans
Although the addition of DeAndre Hopkins seemingly limits Okonkwo’s ceiling, the second-year tight end is now penciled in as the Titans TE1 thanks to a solid final stretch to his rookie campaign. From Weeks 13-18, Okonkwo sat as the overall TE7 in PPR and TE8 in standard formats, scoring 59.9 PPR points and 38.9 standard points.
Assuming he sees an increased snap share now that Austin Hooper is with the Raiders, Okonkwo has TE1 upside this season. Sure, sitting as the tertiary receiving option in a run-heavy offense doesn’t give Okonkwo the highest ceiling, but given he led all TEs in yards per route run (3.26) and ranked second in yards per target (9.8), he might only need a three-to-four receptions per game to end the year as a top-10 TE.
2023 POSITION TIERS & DRAFT STRATEGY:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/ST
Jake Ferguson, Cowboys
Ferguson’s another second-year tight end who’s vaulted up the depth chart after Dalton Schultz signed with the Texans, leading to an increased role within the Cowboys’ efficient aerial attack. Some fantasy owners might pass up drafting Ferguson after he ended 2022 logging just a 39-percent snap share while running a route on 16.3 percent of passing plays, but with Ferguson competing for snaps with rookie Luke Schoonmaker, it’s likely that Ferguson’s snap share and route participation numbers will skyrocket. Schoonmaker’s at his best as an in-line blocker, which should free up Ferguson’s chances of impacting the passing attack en route to a fantasy-relevant sophomore season.
Even with long-time OC Kellen Moore in L.A., the Cowboys should once again frequently target their TEs. If Ferguson can maintain TE1 status, he could put up numbers similar to Schultz over the past three years (66 receptions, 667 yards, 5.7 TDs).
FANTASY DRAFT STRATEGY:
Snake | Auction | Best ball | Dynasty | IDP
Jelani Woods, Colts
UPDATE: With Woods (hamstring) going on injured reserve and missing the team's first four games, he's got little to no draft value, even in the deeper leagues. However, he's worth watching in the free-agent pool, carrying fantasy value once fully recovered.
Woods has a chance to separate himself within the Colts' TE room, emerging as Indianapolis’ highest-utilized TE this season. For a 6-7, 275-pounder, Woods’ agility and body control makes him a threat in the intermediate-to-deep parts of the field, evident in his 10.0 aDOT in 2022 (fourth highest among TEs).
Like Okonkwo and Ferguson, all Woods needs to become a reliable fantasy TE is an increase in opportunity, and with the Colts’ lone addition to their TE room being fifth-round rookie Will Mallory, Woods sets up to get that snap promotion, taking the reigns as Indy’s TE1.
Irv Smith Jr., Bengals
Smith Jr. is now a member of the Bengals, inking a one-year deal, essentially filling the role Hayden Hurst possessed last season. As was the case in 2021, injuries derailed Smith’s chances of producing in his last season in Minnesota, playing just eight games. While there are several mouths to feed within the Bengals’ high-powered offense, there’s enough volume to go around to support a fringe TE1 in fantasy.
When on the field, Smith Jr. aided as an underneath option for Kirk Cousins, recording an aDOT of 4.8 yards last season. Hurst saw a similar aDOT of 5.1 which could be an indication he remains more of a check-down option alongside deep threats Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. If that’s the case, he’ll undoubtedly garner more appeal in PPR formats than standard ones.
Sam LaPorta, Lions
LaPorta’s the most skilled receiver in the Lions’ tight end room, and with the Lions often utilizing two-TE personnel groupings, the second-round draft pick has a chance to see a high snap count as early as Week 1.
In his final season at Iowa, LaPorta racked up 656 receiving yards on 11.3 yards per reception with a 27-percent target share. LaPorta showed out as a red-zone threat during Detroit’s OTAs, and if he emerges as a trusted target of Jared Goff’s near the goal line, LaPorta could be a late-round/undrafted fantasy gem.
Michael Mayer, Raiders
With Darren Waller and Foster Moreau out of the fold, Mayer enters Raiders training camp competing with veteran Austin Hooper for TE1 duties. While Mayer might not win the starting job ahead of Week 1, considering Las Vegas is the projected AFC West bottom feeder and Hooper signed a one-year deal, there’s a chance Mayer sees an increased role in the latter half of the season.
Mayer’s coming off the board as the overall TE23 in standard formats and TE30 in PPR formats, so fantasy owners can either draft the rookie tight end in the late rounds or snag him from free agency. Mayer did nothing but produce in his final two seasons at Notre Dame, posting back-to-back 800-plus receiving-yard campaigns as the school’s go-to pass catcher.
