Last year’s rookie tight end class was deep but was lacking a premier prospect. This year’s class is the complete opposite — there's a premier prospect, but the draft is lacking quality depth.
One thing the dynasty community is catching onto is the need for quality at the position. Let this be your guide to the coming rookie class.
EARLY 2024 DYNASTY ROOKIE TE RANKINGS
1. Brock Bowers, Georgia
Age: 21
2023 Stats: 56 receptions, 714 yards, seven touchdowns
Elite prospects aren’t common at tight end. There have only been three since 2006: Vernon Davis, Rob Gronkowski and Kyle Pitts. Brock Bowers looks to be the fourth, and he might have the best production profile among them.
He posted at least 15.0 points per game in his first three seasons at Georgia, the only tight end to accomplish that feat. He did that on the back of at least 20 percent receiving yard shares and 2.25 yards per route run every season.
With likely top-10 draft capital on the way, Bowers is one of the best tight end prospects we’ve ever seen.
2. Ja’Tavion Sanders, Texas
Age: 20
2023 Stats: 45 receptions, 682 yards, two touchdowns
It was a slightly down season for Ja’Tavion Sanders compared with his sophomore year. Still, he has a solid production profile for a tight end prospect.
In his two eligible seasons, he posted 17.8 percent and 14.1 percent target shares, respectively, along with 1.51 and 1.44 yards per team pass attempt.
It’s worth mentioning he posted these target shares alongside NFL-level talent in Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell and Jonathon Brooks, so it’s not as if Texas' target competition was easy. Assuming Sanders can hold his second-round draft capital and solid athleticism projections, he will be an intriguing prospect come April.
3. Bryson Nesbit, North Carolina
Age: 21
2023 Stats: 41 receptions, 585 yards, five touchdowns
It’s up in the air whether Bryson Nesbit will declare for this year's NFL draft, but if he does, he’ll be one of the sleepers in this tight end class. This past year, in his junior season, he posted a 14.1 percent target share and 1.38 yards per team pass attempt.
Those are adequate peripherals for a 20-year-old tight end prospect, but he instantly becomes interesting if he can achieve Day 2 draft capital and solid athleticism. He’s currently projected for fringe-Day-2 draft capital and a 4.60 40-yard dash time at 6-foot-5, which would be solid tight end athleticism.
4. Cade Stover, Ohio State
Age: 23
2023 Stats: 41 receptions, 576 yards, five touchdowns
Cade Stover doesn’t have a very intriguing prospect profile, but he’s currently projected to be drafted as the third tight end off the board behind Bowers and Sanders. That alone is enough to propel him into these early tight end rookie rankings. Still, Stover has an underwhelming profile outside of that.
He didn’t clear 10.0 points per game until his fifth-year-senior, 23-year-old season, and even then, he barely cleared it — with 10.7 points per game. He possibly has solid athleticism, with a 4.55 40-yard dash at 6-foot-4.
Possible adequate draft capital and solid athleticism could at least be enough to make Stover's profile relevant.
5. Theo Johnson, Penn State
Age: 22
2023 Stats: 34 receptions, 341 yards, seven touchdowns
Theo Johnson does not have much of a production profile but is an über-athlete in the position. He’s never had a season of even 10.0 points per game, but he's currently projected for a relative athletic score of 9.79, which would be the 13th-highest ever for a tight end and clearly gives him a freak profile.
Of tight ends drafted on Day 3 with freak-level athleticism, 25 percent have posted at least a 12.0 point per game season. So even if Johnson doesn’t get solid draft capital, which he’s not projected to, there's still upside in his profile due to his athleticism.
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