Welcome to my strategy article for Best Ball Football, correctly punting tight end.
I am a big proponent of Best Ball Football tournaments. I do all my championship drafts/tournaments on Underdog Fantasy and RTSports. Drafting hundreds of teams every season. I have had a lot of success advancing to the finals in multiple tournaments, and finishing at the top of RTSports, among other contests.
So please join in on our Best Ball Football articles through the season, as we're here to give sound advice that can help you win life-changing money.
Let's get to the part that you're here for. "How to correctly punt tight end in Best Ball formats."
Best Ball Football Punting Tight End
Become an All-Access Member to get access to our award-winning rankings, draft tools and more.
If you are already a member, sign in.
What Is "Punting Tight End?"
If you're new to fantasy football, the term punting in fantasy football is when you do not draft any players of that specific position till nearly the end of the draft.
The most common positions that people punt are quarterback and tight-end. Fantasy managers do this because the scoring for positions outside of the elites is generally the same.
For example, QB8 is usually close to QB16 in points every week. This also applies to most tight ends outside the top 8.
Best Ball Football In A Nutshell
Let's talk about the purpose/goal of Best Ball Football. The goal is to have the most points by the end of Week 14. This allows you to progress into fantasy playoffs. This is followed by having the most points weekly in the playoff elimination round. Any deviation from that goal is misplaying the format. It's plain and simple.
Depending on the format you are playing, you will draft 18+ players on all your rosters. Most newer players will dedicate most of their high capital picks to the other three positions (QB/RB/WR), with tight-end being the least amount of capital spent.
Except for specific players, most Tight-Ends will be taken at Round 10+, with many rosters only having two tight ends. Doing this type of strategy is the incorrect way to draft in this format, and here is why.
How To Correctly Punt Tight End
If you have 0 high-end assets at the tight end, you must at least invest three picks into the position. Generally, you want to do this with the team's starters, not the backups. Tight-End is one of the most volatile positions in the league, where players can consistently score as low as zero to five points nearly every week.
I pulled seven random top 20 drafted Tight-Ends stats, and every one of them had at least seven or more games where they had games below six points. Some are as high as 13 games, and the overall average is nine or more. This even included an elite Tight-End, Mark Andrews.
When you draft at least two tight ends, that range goes down from a nine-game average to seven or less. When combined with three tight ends, the average became a 1 - 4 game average of six points or less in Half-PPR formats.
How The TE Points Shape Up
We established that adding a third tight-end significantly lowers your overall dropped games from 7 - 9 games to 1 - 4 games. Also, your overall points increase significantly.
I pulled the stats of some of the more disappointing tight-ends from 2023. Austin Hooper, Mike Gesicki, and Dawson Knox. All three of them scored under 85 points on the season. Some of these players were popular choices in two-TE builds coming into the 2022 season.
| Half-PPR | Austin Hooper | Mike Gesicki | Dawson Knox | Gesicki+Knox | Hooper+Gesicki+Knox |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Week 2 | 2.4 | 12.1 | 0 | 2.4 | 12.1 |
| Week 3 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
| Week 4 | 0.9 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| Week 5 | 1.2 | 3.5 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 |
| Week 6 | 0 | 21.9 | 14.1 | 14.1 | 21.9 |
| Week 7 | 7.1 | 4.2 | 1.7 | 7.2 | 7.1 |
| Week 8 | 1 | 11.3 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 11.3 |
| Week 9 | 4.4 | 0.8 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Week 10 | 6.6 | 4.1 | 0 | 6.6 | 6 |
| Week 11 | 17.6 | 0 | 2.5 | 17.6 | 17.6 |
| Week 12 | 4.5 | 0 | 13.8 | 13.8 | 13.8 |
| Week 13 | 3.7 | 0 | 2.3 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| Week 14 | 9.3 | 0 | 8.5 | 9.3 | 9.3 |
| Week 15 | 4.3 | 1 | 1.9 | 4.3 | 4.3 |
| Week 16 | 3 | 2.9 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Week 17 | 1.1 | 8.8 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 8.8 |
| Week 18 | 5.8 | 6.6 | 7.2 | 7.2 | 7.2 |
| Total Points | 76.9 | 82.2 | 83.4 | 123.2 | 149.7 |
When you combine their spike week points, they go from under 85 points on the season to 150 points. That is a 76.5% increase in contribution points at the position and a 66% drop in the likelihood of scoring under six points.Embed from Getty Images
With the money week being Week 17, you can't afford to have a position score low, let alone under six points.
Check out more Fantasy Football content!
