I’m very much of the belief that 2024 will be the year of the Elite TE (be sure to check out Ian’s TE tiers below, by the way), but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still be hunting for the next Sam LaPorta.

It’s just that we just don’t have many late TE options with true breakout profiles like we did last year. Sure, there are interesting names who can help our squads, but there are very few players who could realistically make a jump into the Top 5 rounds of 2025 drafts like LaPorta, Trey McBride, and Dalton Kincaid did this year.

I had hopes that Commanders rookie TE Ben Sinnott could be an oasis in the late-round TE desert, but that doesn’t seem to be panning out right now.

Not all hope is lost, though, because Giants rookie TE Theo Johnson is making noise at camp right now.

Coach Brian Dabboll is showing him Gronk clips for inspiration, he’s getting a bunch of first-team reps, and looks the part in slo-mo.

Let’s see how the preseason shakes out, but he’s firmly on the radar.

What else is in today’s newsletter?

1. Ian Hartiz’s TE Tiers

2. Watercooler: Training camp nuggets

TE Tiers: 4 Guys w/ Top-10 Upside

by Ian Hartitz

The red flag with this group is brighter than the higher-ranked options at the position. Then again, we're still dealing with the sort of high-end talents capable of racking up fantasy points in a hurry. Don't color us shocked if these players find a way to boom more often than they bust in 2024…

• Raiders TE Brock Bowers: Led all Power 5 TEs in PFF receiving grade (94.1), passer rating when targeted (148.9), receiving yards (2,541), receiving TDs (26), and yards per route run (2.64) during his three seasons at Georgia. Nobody is debating Bowers is really good at football, but the target competition is high in the form of both Davante Adams and fellow (good) TE Michael Mayer inside of an offense possibly dealing with the worst QB situation in football.

• Texans TE Dalton Schultz: Went from 6.3 targets per game to just 4.9 when the Texans offense was fully healthy. The difference in PPR points per game (10.6 vs. 9.5) wasn't too drastic, but it was enough to reflect the difference between a borderline TE1 and someone who needs to be in fantasy lineups even if there's a fire. Of course, the Texans now have 36 million reasons to keep Schultz heavily involved on a weekly basis.

• Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth: The 25-year-old talent struggled to build on his promising first two seasons in 2023, but perhaps a new scheme and relatively better QB room could bring out the best of the former second-round pick.

Most likely to emerge as THE late-round TE of 2024: Pat Freiermuth

Freiermuth is the new frontrunner to be in Arthur Smith's "Kyle Pitts" role. Reading that sentence likely sent a shiver down your spine, but it's worth noting Pitts earned the position's 10th-most targets per game (5.9) from 2021 to 2023. Only Mark Andrews had more total air yards than Pitts during that span.

I'm more inclined to believe Pitts' lack of production to start his career has been more of a QB/health problem than a complete indictment that Arthur is an imbecile. Apologies to your fantasy teams, but Jonnu Smith was objectively more efficient with his opportunities in 2023. Was Jonnu often given more YAC-friendly targets? Yes, but maybe that was actually a decent idea considering, you know, Pitts has forced exactly one more missed tackle than Zach f*cking Ertz over the past two seasons?

Okay, sorry, got carried away there. This is supposed to be about Freiermuth. ANYWAY: The former second-round pick doesn't turn 26 until October and deserves credit for working as fantasy's TE10 in PPR points per game during the first two seasons of his career. Obviously, last season's 32-308-2 performance wasn't exactly a step in the right direction, but suffering Week 1 chest and Week 4 hamstring injuries didn't exactly set him up for success, either.

Look, Freiermuth doesn't deserve to be a top-10 option at the position ahead of 2024, but that doesn't mean the following three factors aren't working in his favor:

• The Steelers QB room is in a better place this year than last.

• There are 143 vacated targets (10th most) in this offense, primarily from the Diontae Johnson and Allen Robinson departures.

• 2023 third-round pick Darnell Washington earned a whopping 10 targets last season and was used as a blocker on 72% of his snaps. It'd be VERY surprising to see any of Connor Heyward, MyCole Pruitt, or Rodney Williams earn any level of meaningful route participation.

RELATED CONTENT:

• Dwain’s QB Tiers for 2024

• Ian’s RB Tiers for 2024 & WR Tiers for 2024

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The latest fantasy nuggets, silliness, and NFL gossip from our merry band of football nerds:

🚨 Our 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit is live and completely free! Check it out!

🤝 The best Zero RB draft strategy. We’ve got you covered.

✍️ Not a Zero RB fan? Don’t worry, we ran through more RB strategies for 2024.

🤔 Two TEs on the field at the same time? Often promised, but maybe this time?

📊 Sleepers, breakouts, busts, and more. Your RB primer for 2024.

🎧️ This podcast is going to be a must-listen. Can’t wait.

🧀 This Packers WR keeps generating buzz. Take notes…

🏃 I’m expecting this rookie WR to get off to a fast start. Bullish reports.

🤖 Are the robots coming to the sidelines? Long overdue, sorry chain gang.

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