Last week, we took a look at why the TE0 draft strategy was superior to taking mid-round tight ends. If you missed it, click here to get up to speed. The most important part of the theory is to wait until after the 12th round to grab your tight end.
What we didn’t go over when discussing the TE0 draft strategy was who you should be targeting in 2020. Here are the players you should look to grab in fantasy football this season if you’re going TE0.
*All APDs are from Yahoo Fantasy Football.
3 TE0 draft strategy targets
1) T.J. Hockenson
Current ADP: Late 13th/Early 14th round
Hayden Hurst is currently a sleeper darling while T.J. Hockenson is an afterthought despite the fact they put up almost exactly the same stat line in 2019.
| Player | GP | Rec | Targets | Yards | TDs |
| Hurst | 16 | 30 | 39 | 349 | 2 |
| Hockenson | 12 | 32 | 59 | 367 | 2 |
Many people have assumed Hurst will walk in and takeover Austin Hooper’s workload in Atlanta. That may be the case, but Hockenson is just as likely to carve out a significant workload for himself with the Lions. We know rookie tight ends struggle but the Iowa product still had an okay year even with the cannon fodder Detroit was running out there after Stafford got hurt.
It’s also safe to assume Stafford will target him even more in year two. Eric Ebron was a complete enigma during his time with the Lions, but his production doubled between his first and second seasons. Assuming Hockenson can play close to a full season, he could finish with around 70 catches and 700 yards, which would be top-10 TE numbers.
2) Jack Doyle
Indianapolis Colts
Current ADP: Undrafted
Jack Doyle has the safest floor of any tight end on this list. We probably won’t see him post numbers like he did with Andrew Luck, but Doyle is poised to have a top-10 season in 2020 thanks in large part to his new quarterback.
Philip Rivers throws passes to tight ends and running backs in bulk. In six of Rivers’ past seven seasons, the tight end position has received at least 80 targets. And the Colts have a ton of question marks at wide receiver beyond the oft-injured T.Y. Hilton. Doyle may not be the most athletic guy in the NFL, but 60 catches and 500 yards are his floor if he plays at least 14 games.
3) Dallas Goedert
Philadelphia Eagles
Current ADP: 14th round
Dallas Goedert received 87 targets and caught 58 passes in 2019. Despite this, people seem to think adding Jalen Reagor and the continued presence of Zach Ertz will cut into his stats this season. That doesn’t make any sense.
Goedert played on 66 percent of the Eagles offensive snaps while Ertz was at 80 percent. They will continue to be on the field together a ton. More importantly, Philadelphia doesn’t have the talent at wide receiver to spread the field out even if they wanted to. DeSean Jackson couldn’t make it back-to-back weeks without getting hurt. Meanwhile, Marquise Goodwin and Greg Ward Jr. are hardly threats to Goedert.
It’s hard to feel great about drafting someone classified as a “backup” tight end. However, it’s easy to see him playing more snaps that Rob Gronkowski or Evan Engram in 2020, both of whom are being taken much earlier in drafts.
Want to learn more about the TE0 draft strategy? Checkout our video on YouTube!
