Tight End Rankings - PPR Leagues

There is a big misconception when it comes to tight ends in fantasy, and that is: Rob Gronkowski or bust. It sure does seem that way with Jimmy Graham landing into a run-first offense, Julius Thomas going from one of the leagues best offenses to one of the worst, and Antonio Gates serving a four game suspension. I can't argue that Gronk is in a tier of his own, finishing with 37 more points in PPR leagues than second place Jimmy Graham. But, that doesn't mean if you don't get Gronk in the draft the position is over. Last year there were 12 TE's that scored more than 150 points in the PPR format. Although tight end is somewhat top heavy, you don't have to score a top-3 tight end on draft day to be successful.

There is a lot of skepticism around Kyle Rudolph. He has been plagued with injury, missing most of last season after having sports hernia surgery. However, his offensive coordinator is Norv Turner, and if there is one thing to know about Turner, it's that he loves his tight ends. Rudolph will be targeted heavily in this offense and should give you more value than his ADP (11th round) indicates.

Another man with great upside in Dwayne Allen. At this point, I'm not worried about his timeshare with Coby Fleener. Fleener isn't polished enough to capture the bulk of the work. He isn't the greatest blocker and he has issues with dropping balls. Allen's value may not actually come from receptions itself, but from his activity in the red zone. He scored eight touchdowns last season and if he remains healthy that trend can easily continue. Allen is the premiere TE in Andrew Lucks system, and that could potentially propel him into a top-10 season.

If I have to pick a sleeper in this bunch, it's Eric Ebron. He had an extremely disappointing 2014 campaign, but it's tough for any rookie to excel at the tight end position. The last one to really have a good season was Jeremy Shockey in 2002. Now Ebron enters his second year looking to prove himself. He has all the tools to become a top-ten tight end in this league, especially in an offense that loves to throw, throw, throw.