10 top week 1 fantasy football tight ends, including Evan Engram

Last year’s top fantasy football tight end once again earns the top spot on this list. He averaged 11.4 fantasy points per game last season, good for the most among all players at his position. Despite being ejected against the Jaguars last year, Kelce still managed to have over 100 receiving yards and score 10 fantasy points. He’s the top play at his position in week 1.

Kittle was one of the only bright spots on what was an otherwise disastrous 49ers offense in 2018. The talented tight end enters the 2019 season as the premier option in the passing game once again, but this time he will get to catch passes from Jimmy Garoppolo. In week 1, he’ll get to play against a Buccaneers defense that looked like swiss cheese for most of the season in 2018.

Ertz had yet another good season with the Eagles in 2018 and it didn’t seem to matter who was playing quarterback. He averaged about 10 fantasy points per game and was one of the most consistent options at the position last year. He’ll be a top three tight end almost every week in 2019.

He’s finally back. After missing last season with an injury, we’ll finally see the connection between Philip Rivers and Henry. There’s no question that he’s one of the most talented tight ends in the league, but now he’ll get to prove it Expect plenty of production in week 1 against the Colts.

If it seems like Jared Cook is on a new team every year, that’s because he is. Last year, he had a very productive season with a bad Oakland Raiders team. This year, he’ll join one of the most talented offenses in football in New Orleans. That’s a recipe for success, especially considering how much Drew Brees spreads around the football. Cook is a great play for week 1 and has high upside moving forward.

With Odell Beckham gone and Golden Tate suspended, Engram becomes the Giants best option in the passing game for week 1. That makes Engram one of the better starts among the fantasy tight ends. In the four games Beckham missed last season, Engram averaged 10 fantasy points, which was good for 3rd best among all tight ends. Start him with confidence in week 1.

The Panthers tight end has been one the best in the league over the past few seasons, but injuries derailed his 2018 campaign. Olsen has been one of Cam’s favorite targets and that won’t change in 2019, so expect a rebound performance right out of the gate against the Rams in week 1.

At some point, you might have believed that Aaron Rodgers and Jimmy Graham would make a powerful combination. But that just didn’t happen last season. Graham finished just 12th in fantasy points, is 32 years old and seems to have lost a step. The good news is that other than Davante Adams, Rodgers doesn’t have many other weapons, so perhaps Graham can make strides in 2019.

Antonio Brown is gone. Jesse James is gone. Those two took up a significant portion of targets in the Steelers offense. Many of those targets will likely go to JuJu Smith-Schuster. But some of them will go toward McDonald. And Big Ben throws the ball enough to make McDonald a viable weekly starter, and a good play in week 1 against the Patriots.

Bruce Arians is looking to get Howard more involved in the offense and that has made him a top five tight end target in some fantasy drafts. Howard hasn't proved that he can produce at that level just yet, but he should be involved enough in week 1 to be a fringe top ten tight end.