2017 fantasy football rankings: Rookie tight ends

We take a look at the top fantasy football tight ends who will be rookies in 2017.

May 15, 2017, 11:50 AM UTC

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Now that the NFL draft has concluded, we have a good idea of what the fantasy football landscape will look like in 2017.

At tight end, there will be a big shakeup thanks to a deep class of rookies here. There were three first-round picks and five top-50 selections used on tight ends in the draft, so you can bet they’ll be playing early and often as rookies.

Let’s take a look at which rookie tight ends are in the best positions to make an impact in fantasy football this year.

1. David Njoku, TE, Cleveland Browns

While O.J. Howard is getting most of the hype as the best tight end in this class, David Njoku is in the best position to make an impact early and often in Cleveland. Shortly after Njoku was selected, Cleveland parted ways with Gary Barnidge, which assures the rookie of having a major role in 2017.

In college, Njoku had a decent 2015 season with 21 grabs for 362 yards (17.2 avg.) and one score in 10 games. He burst onto the national scene in 2016 with 43 grabs for 698 yards and eight touchdowns. He’ll look to be the latest star tight end in the long lineage of Miami Hurricanes at this position.

Njoku’s blocking does leave a lot to be desired, and that should prevent him from having a full-time role right away. But with the Browns being deep in a rebuild, they’ll let Njoku work through his weaknesses and have a major role in the passing game this season.

The fact that the Browns traded back into Round 1 to take Njoku with the 29th overall pick shows just how committed they are to him.

2. O.J. Howard, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

There was no question the best tight end in this year’s draft was Alabama’s O.J. Howard. Though he went a little lower than expected, Howard still went pretty high when the Bucs grabbed him with the 19th overall pick.

Howard emerged as a full-time starter in 2015 and went on to grab 83 passes for 1,197 yards and five scores over the next two seasons. However, Howard has some competition for reps in Tampa after Cameron Brate had a breakout 2016 season.

As good as Howard is, he won’t be the primary tight end in 2017 as often as a guy like Njoku will be.

3. Evan Engram, TE, New York Giants

The Giants surprised a lot of people when they took Evan Engram with the 23rd overall selection. Most experts pegged Engram as a second- or third-round pick, but the G-Men are apparently high on him.

At 6’3 and 234 pounds, Engram was used more like a wide receiver in Ole Miss’ offense, catching 65 balls for 926 yards and eight touchdowns in 11 games last season.

As good of a pass catcher as Engram is, he’s a terrible blocker who really looks like a receiver trying to block. That will likely keep him from having a full-time role as a rookie, at least right away, but you can bet he’ll get plenty of targets in the passing game.

After all, the Giants got little production at this position last year. It’s hard to see either Jerell Adams or Will Tye improving on their disappointing 2016 campaigns, which is great news for Engram and his fantasy owners.

4. Jordan Leggett, TE, New York Jets

The Jets badly needed tight end help coming into this draft, and they got a productive one in Clemson’s Jordan Leggett. One of the most dynamic tight ends in college football over the past two years, Leggett caught 86 passes for 1,261 yards and 15 touchdowns across 28 games since 2015.

That came in a loaded offense full of future NFL players like Mike Williams and Artavis Scott, so Leggett may actually be better than advertised coming into the NFL. With the Jets being weak at this position, expect Leggett to get a lot of reps as a rookie.

The question is, will he have an adequate quarterback throwing him passes?

5. Bucky Hodges, TE, Minnesota Vikings

Coming into the draft, Virginia Tech’s Bucky Hodges was viewed as one of the best tight ends in this class. Somehow, Hodges fell all the way into Round 6 before Minnesota grabbed him with the 201st pick.

While it’s hard to hype up a sixth-round pick, Hodges is a major playmaker who joins a Vikings offense that’s been devoid of them. During his 39 college games, Hodges racked up 133 grabs for 1,747 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Hodges will have to battle Kyle Rudolph for tight end snaps, but Minnesota will figure to use a lot of multi-tight-end sets for the short-throwing Sam Bradford. That should make Hodges a viable fantasy tight end at some point this season.