Three Tight Ends to Trade Away in Dynasty Leagues
The tight end position is often streamed week-to-week in fantasy football. Locking down the position potentially provides an edge in dynasty leagues. Trading away a tight end is counterintuitive to this statement.
Selling an aging asset like Travis Kelce or Darren Waller makes sense. These tight ends are depreciating values, but this does not mean their production will also fall over the foreseeable future. Recommending trading away Kelce provides you a disservice.
This article will utilize our Dynasty Trade Analyzer and recommend trades. The trade suggestions will line up in value, but not perfectly equal. The recommended tight end to trade away may have higher or lower value within 25 value points. Your league market will also be a factor in your trades. This article assumes tight end premium and points per reception scoring. Here are three tight end trade recommendations.
Tight End One
Let’s play a game. Following an age-23 season, this tight end had 60 receptions. Why would I recommend trading away this player? Let’s look at two tight ends following the 2021 season:
Which tight end do you want? The age-23 tight end is Pat Freiermuth, and the age-22 tight end is Cole Kmet. I purposely left out touchdowns which provided Freiermuth with the fantasy edge. Utilizing our trade tool, you can trade Freiermuth (179.0) to receive Kmet and additional assets:
- Kmet, 2022 2.05 (191.3)
- Kmet, Christian Kirk, 2023 second (154.6)
- Kmet, AJ Dillon (183.4)
Trading for the undervalued Kmet is the main focus. I would not recommend trading away a proven (and young) tight end just because. Recommending trading away Freiermuth is capitalizing on the hype and allure of his TE13 finish as a rookie. But if Kmet had five touchdowns, he would have finished as TE14, right behind Freiermuth.
Enjoy the free second-round pick or player like Dillon.
Hunter Henry, NE
Henry is the second tight end I recommend trading. The first-year Patriot provided rookie Mac Jones with a red zone threat. Henry finished with nine touchdowns and had the seventh most red zone targets among tight ends, concluding as TE10. Henry will turn 28 in December, but 28 is not old for a tight end. This can provide a trading edge to a contending team in need of a tight end.
Henry only had two games over 10 PPR points without a touchdown, while the aforementioned Kmet had eight games. Trade away Henry (87.4) to receive:
- Kmet, 2022 3.01 (95.9)
- 2023 second (91.3)
I am operating under the assumption the Patriots will bring in talent for Jones. There is a possibility Henry will remain fantasy-relevant due to red zone usage. I just do not want to bet on touchdowns. Your roster and trading partner’s team will matter when making a trade. Utilizing the trade analyzer will make finding a trade easy for you.
Dawson Knox, BUF
I would be trying to trade away Knox. A high-powered offense with Josh Allen creates a mirage in the desert of dynasty tight ends. Similar to Henry, Knox is a red zone threat finishing with nine touchdowns and the fifth-most red zone targets. Unfortunately, he only came away with a 13.2% target share and had only 2 of 7 games above ten points without a touchdown.
The Bills will need to bring in weapons for their franchise quarterback. The Emmanuel Sanders experiment failed, Cole Beasley is a cut candidate, and they even had to lean on Isaiah McKenzie for a game. It is never a bad thing to have too much talent at the receiving position.
Knox could be just a younger Henry – a red zone threat on a team likely to add surrounding talent.
Discussion
There are different trade options to explore based on roster construction and the market of your league. I just recommended a few I would try and explore. Utilizing our Dynasty Trade Tool will help you find the trade needed for your team. Trading away a tight end has the range of outcomes to be detrimental to your team.
It is important to note a touchdown-dependent tight end like Freiermuth does not mean his future will remain the same. An expected quarterback upgrade and the potential for JuJu Smith-Schuster leaving in free agency can bring more targets to the main Steelers receiving options. The history of a team can provide useful information, as the Steelers loved utilizing Heath Miller in the offense. Miller only saw an 800+ yard season once in his 11-year career but did average 4.1 touchdowns per season.
Do not trade away a young and proven tight end if you have zero depth to replace the production. Albert Okwuegbunam and Harrison Bryant are intriguing tight ends, they just are not reliable to plug and play. They are more of a plug and pray… for a touchdown.
Conclusion
The main takeaway of this article should be trading away value and not an emphasis on production. Having depth at the position will make trading easy and having talent will make it even easier. The important edge to find is capitalizing on a great fantasy season within a not-so-great fantasy situation. Touchdowns will boost fantasy finishes. Identify the tight ends who exploit the touchdown boost while not having the target share. There are multiple variables surrounding trades and utilizing the trade analyzer provides a baseline when sending out trades.
Remember, people were throwing away future second-round rookie selections for Marquez Callaway following Michael Thomas’ 2021 absence. The value is in the eye of the beholder, always capitalize on value.
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