Keep Trade Cut – Dynasty League Football (Week 7)
Welcome back to another edition of Keep Trade Cut. In this series, we break down players who are in a similar range of rankings or ADP for dynasty league football purposes. This week, we are breaking down three tight ends.
During this Week 7 Keep Trade Cut, we turn our focus to the tight end position. Last week, we broke down three running backs. This week, we take a look at three tight ends who are valued outside the TE1 range according to RotoBaller‘s most recent dynasty rankings. We will take a look at Pat Freiermuth (TE13), Isaiah Likely (TE14), and Cole Kmet (TE15). These three assets are still young, so their future surroundings and long-term role are the most important factors for their dynasty fantasy football outlook.
Keep Trade Cut – Dynasty League Football (Week 7)
The top tight end hierarchy has been shifting in the NFL, and it’s no different for dynasty league football. Each of the tight ends we’ll talk about has found themselves as top 10 dynasty tight end values at certain points in their careers, even this season.
Despite showing those talents, they still find themselves as high-end TE2 values according to the RotoBaller rankings. Between Freiermuth, Likely, and Kmet, let’s take a look at who may gain momentum over the next few weeks. More yet, who could head into next season as a desirable TE1 asset for dynasty fantasy football managers.
Keep – Cole Kmet TE Chicago Bears (TE15)
We head into Week 7 and start with Cole Kmet. Currently, he finds himself as a top three tight end option in full PPR and half PPR formats entering the Bears bye week. Kmet has shown enough efficiency and fantasy ceiling to be this week’s keep, in no small part due to his growing chemistry with Caleb Williams in the offense.
Impressively, Kmet has at least three catches in all of the Bears’ last five games. Including a large Week 3 output of 10 catches. It would take until Week 6 for him to provide another TE1 finish, with Kmet leading the Bears receivers on 70 yards and providing two touchdowns.
Clearly, Kmet can provide top finishes for fantasy, and the Bears are now healthy in the receiving game. However, it’ll take more consistency to prove he’s a solidified TE1. With his most recent showing in London, it appears Kmet may finally be ready to take advantage of his role in the offense. That should also allow dynasty league football managers to have a set-and-forget tight end option for the foreseeable future.
Trade – Isaiah Likely TE Baltimore Ravens (TE14)
Baltimore Ravens Isaiah Likely started the fantasy season strong in Week 1, providing a top tight end overall output. He again achieved a TE1 finish in Week 5. However, Likely’s current TE5 overall status is largely pumped up by that explosive opening night performance.
In five subsequent games since Week 1, Likely hasn’t exceeded 27 yards or four targets a single time. Additionally, he has only caught more than two passes one time in that period, further displaying that Likely’s floor is very low. Just as his ceiling is quite high if he’s a focal point on offense.
Likely’s season-high snap percentage is from Week 5 when he played 71% of offensive snaps. While Likely is talented and always capable of the big play, it hasn’t shown up often enough for this high-end TE2 price quite yet. He still is valued quite highly in dynasty league football and it’s worth exploring his potential selling price, starting right now.
Cut – Pat Freiermuth TE Pittsburgh Steelers (TE13)
We finish in Pittsburgh for Week 7, with the top-ranked of the trio and TE13 Pat Freiermuth coming in as our cut. Currently, Freiermuth sits as a top 10 tight end option in fantasy at this time. This is largely due to a consistent if small week-to-week receiving role.
Notably, Freiermuth has gotten at least three targets in all six starts. However, he also has only eclipsed 40 receiving yards one time this season. The forthcoming quarterback change from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson may allow Freiermuth to see a small uptick in usage. However, it remains to be seen if the depth of target and quality of targets from Wilson will be enough for an improvement to his fantasy output.
Besides the quarterback carousel, Freiermuth is performing very consistently to how his career has shaped up in fantasy football, up to this point. Freiermuth operates well in the short-yardage passing game and at times can accrue a big target game. Having said that, the small yardage skillset isn’t leading to a multitude of touchdowns from Freiermuth and there isn’t enough production in other areas to make him a confident weekly play.
Keep Trade Cut – Dynasty Football Outlook
Overall, the tight end landscape will surely change once again with the impending return of T.J. Hockenson. As well as the emergence of young players such as Brock Bowers and Tucker Kraft. Likely, Kmet, and Freiermuth all have shown dry patches in their fantasy football production that can’t be ignored.
Based on the start of this 2024 season, it appears Kmet may have the best chance of panning out in the long term. He sits as the Chicago starter and is finally being used as a building block with a franchise quarterback. Meanwhile, Likely has shown ceiling flashes. However, with the presence of Mark Andrews and overall talent on the Ravens offense, most expectations of the TE2 in Baltimore should likely be tempered at this time.
Hopefully, that top tight end spot is Likely’s one day, but that day is not today. Finally, with a limited role and already teetering fantasy value, Freiermuth appears to have the lowest floor and perhaps the lowest ceiling from this trio right now, making him the cut of these tight ends. Join us next time as we break down the quarterback position in dynasty league football in next week’s Keep Trade Cut.
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