5 Undervalued Tight Ends We Love

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A fantasy draft is all about obtaining the most value with each selection. Value is available throughout a draft, and grabbing it is one of the most important keys to a successful fantasy team. To point out this value, we asked our staff to look through the Top 150 and identify players that should outperform their draft position.

Related: See the 7 Undervalued Running Backs We Love >>>

Our staff came up with 13 undervalued tight ends. One dominated the responses, while four more garnered a lot of attention as well.

Here are the players who received the most votes:

• Greg Dulcich
• Juwan Johnson
• Chigoziem Okonkwo

And here are all of the players mentioned and the reasons why.

Player Receiving 9 Votes

Chigoziem Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans

Editor's Note: If everyone is on a sleeper, can the player remain a sleeper? We're about to find out.

Gary Davenport: Either the fantasy community is going to jinx Chigoziem Okonkwo, or spelling his name all season is vengeance against the said community by the fantasy powers that be. Either way, Okonkwo’s ADP will likely rise as we move farther into the summer—and for good reason. Okonkwo had the fastest 40 (4.52) of any tight end at the 2022 combine, the 6-foot-3, 238-pounder is just the sort of field-stretching tight end NFL teams covet now, and he’s playing for a team that desperately needs someone to step up in the passing game. If retail tight ends aren’t your thing, Okonkwo should absolutely be on your watch list.

Sigmund Bloom: Okonkwo became a big part of the Titans offense in short order and finished strong. Projecting his last seven games over a full season would give Okonkwo numbers in the vicinity of Pat Freiermuth and David Njoku, who are going multiple rounds ahead of him. That's still not Okonkwo's ceiling for 2023, as his game could grow in his first full NFL offseason. He's also one of the few tight ends who could credibly become the No. 1 target in his team's passing game this year.

Christian Williams: Okonkwo is currently serving as the Titans' No. 2 pass-catching option, and while they aren't the pass-heaviest team in the NFL, that should turn into fantasy output. Okonkwo flashed glimpses of greatness as a rookie last year, and his emergence as a genuine receiving threat is not only necessary but nearly inevitable with the current construction of the Tennessee roster. If he remains healthy, finishing outside the top-12 would be more surprising than him landing inside. Drafting him at TE12 gets managers a floor play with immense upside.

Matt Waldman: When a player shows you who he is on the field, you better listen. During the final six weeks of 2022, Okonkwo was fantasy TE7 as a rookie. Half of those starts were with an ineffective Malik Willis or journeyman reserve Joshua Dobbs throwing to him. If you don't want to listen to the player's performance, listen to reports about the intent of the coaching staff. This spring, Okonkwo told the media that the staff's plan is to make him a significant focus of the passing offense. Okonkwo's role in this offense is Delanie Walker 2.0.

Nick Whalen: I chase situations that are advantageous for tight ends by having a bounty of targets available. The Titans' only other quality threat in the passing game is Treylon Burks, and he's not well-established. Okonkwo also graded out as top-five in his position in advanced receiving metrics compared to all other tight ends. That is incredible for a rookie.

Dan Hindery: George Kittle was drafted in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft despite elite testing numbers and flashed some of that athletic upside as a rookie when he put up 43 catches for 515 yards and 2 touchdowns. It made him a popular sleeper heading into his second season when he exploded for 1,377 yards. Okonkwo's rookie year was similar (32-450-3) to Kittle's, and he flashed some of that same athletic upside. There is no guarantee Okonkwo will make a big second-year leap, but it makes sense to draft primarily for upside once you get deeper into drafts. Okonkwo's potential upside is as high as any of the tight ends going outside the Top 100.

Andy Hicks: Over his first 10 outings, Okonkwo had only one game with more than one reception and four with none at all. In the last seven games, he had just one appearance with fewer than three receptions. In 2023 he appears on the fast track to starting fantasy tight-end status on a team devoid of targets. A few words of caution, though. The quarterback situation is not going to be better in 2023, and we have seen, all too often, tight ends have to work on other parts of their game, apart from catching balls, for the betterment of the team.

Corey Spala: As a rookie, Okonkwo finished first in yards per reception and yards per route run among tight ends. He flashed big plays in a limited capacity playing only 37% of his team's snaps. Tennessee did little to address the pass catchers during the 2023 offseason. This creates an opportunity to be the second target in an offense, a viable tag to covet in tight ends. He is set up to smash at his current ADP.

Ryan Weisse: Okonkwo was among my favorite undervalued players last month, and he's still a value. Once Okonkwo secured the starting job in Week 12, he finished six of seven games with at least four targets, ranking as the TE7 during that stretch. With the departure of Austin Hooper and Geoff Swaim, Okonkwo will be the starting tight end for the Titans. Given the lack of significant additions to the Titans' wide receiver corps, Okonkwo has a strong chance of becoming the second-most targeted player on the team. Doubling his 46 targets from last year would put him in the conversation as a top-five tight end in fantasy football.

Players Receiving 4 Votes

Greg Dulcich, Denver Broncos

Ben Cummins: Greg Dulcich ran 31.6 routes per game as a rookie, which was the sixth most at the tight end position. Nathaniel Hackett is out, and Sean Payton is in. Thus, Dulcich’s stable role shouldn’t be expected to continue as Payton loves to utilize versatility on offense and multiple formations. But Dulcich should once again run a route on the majority of his snaps, allowing him to offer spike week potential. Payton has already called Dulcich the “Joker,” who he wants to use to take advantage of defensive mismatches.

Jeff Bell: I outlined the boom case for Greg Dulcich in this Spotlight: creative usage within Sean Payton’s offensive scheme. Days after it was finished, Dulcich was the buzz of Denver’s OTAs, with Payton saying he envisions Dulcich as the “Joker” within his scheme. Jerry Jeudy had a bit of a breakout in 2022, but the Broncos’ target math remains wide open. When digging deep, swing for the upside like Dulcich.

Daniel Harms: Greg Dulcich was third among tight ends in Average Depth of Target (ADoT) last season at 12.7 yards. It’s not a lot, but it shows how Russell Wilson preferred to attack with him. Sean Payton has a history of using tight ends deep down the field; think Jared Cook, Jimmy Graham, Jeremy Shockey, and Marques Colston (a tight end who converted to wide receiver). Dulcich was a deep field threat at UCLA as well and can move well after the catch, well enough to pay off some of those deep field targets. The addition of Payton and improvements along the offensive line should help Wilson come back this season. Dulcich is my dark horse to finish in the Top 10.

Ryan Weisse: Dulcich came to mind when I listed 8 Undervalued Players a few weeks ago. He started strong with three consecutive games of 10-plus fantasy points but struggled to replicate that success afterward. Still, he only played in 10 games and scored over 10 fantasy points in half of them. Plus, despite only playing 10 games, he finished as the TE29 for the season and averaged just over eight fantasy points per game. That would have placed him in the Top 10 over a full season. New head coach Sean Payton has an impressive history with fantasy tight ends, and Dulcich has the potential to provide significant fantasy value.

Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints

Phil Alexander: Johnson was a fringe starter in 12-team leagues last season and enters 2023 with $8.6 million guaranteed on a contract extension and a significant quarterback upgrade. You can take reports that Johnson is studying Julian Edelman's film with a grain of salt, but the former collegiate wide receiver is correct when he says, "I know the type of role I’ll be playing, and (Derek Carr) loves those choice, short-game routes." Look no further for proof than Carr's historical accuracy in passing to short areas of the field and the success of tight ends Jared Cook and Darren Waller while catching passes from Carr. Finishing in the TE8-12 range is well within Johnson's range of outcomes, making him an excellent late-round flier if you wait to draft a tight end.

Sigmund Bloom: Long-time Saints beat writer Mike Triplett said during OTAs that it's "hard not to be optimistic about the early glimpses of chemistry we are seeing with Derek Carr and Juwan Johnson." Ross Jackson, another Saints beat writer, wrote, "Johnson and Carr have a great connection growing" during OTAs. A third writer, John Hendrix, wrote, "Johnson feels like the top guy here" in regards to the tight end depth chart. It's hard to ignore that kind of drumbeat. Add in Carr urging Johnson to study Julian Edelman's film and the likelihood that Michael Thomas misses significant time again as the team's top short/intermediate range target, and it's easy to see Johnson becoming Carr's favorite target during his first year with the Saints.

Christian Williams: Juwan Johnson was quite good in 2022, and his role as the tertiary pass-catcher in the Saints' 2023 offense looks locked in. With uncertainty about a potential Alvin Kamara suspension and the lack of a proven No. 3 receiver, Johnson should earn more of the target share in 2023. Derek Carr has a proven track record with wide-receiver-turned-tight-end players (see: Darren Waller), and it wouldn't be shocking if Johnson is a force in the red zone offense. If managers miss on the first tier of tight ends in drafts, there may not be a better late-round option than Johnson.

Kevin Coleman: Johnson was a big winner this offseason when the Saints signed him to an extension and traded away Adam Trautman. Last season we did see him finish as a top-12 tight end in PPR formats, and a big reason for that was the touchdowns he scored. There may be some regression there; however, Derek Carr has been known to target his tight ends, and if you are looking for a late-round option with touchdown upside at the position, Johnson could be a fun target late in your drafts.