Working on the tight end positional story for the magazine, I've identified what seems to be the least valuable of the 32 NFL starters. Here's a hint, he'll be wearing a Panthers uniform.
It's not that they've totally ignored the position. In fact, they've drafted players in the middle rounds (3, 4 and 5) in three of the past five NFL drafts. But they don't feature one guy, and just don't do much with the position at all.
Here's a factoid for you: Carolina's last tight end with 35 receptions or 4 touchdowns in a season was Greg Olsen. Olsen retired six years ago; there's probably a decent number of people watching the NFL these days completely unaware that he was a player before his current announcing gig. But what he did for the Panthers back in 2019, when he ranked 13th in PPR leagues, hasn't even been approached by one of their tight ends in the last six years.
I play in some TE-premium leagues, and ones with flex spots (so you can start multiple players at the position), so I'm loathe to say any starting tight end has no value. In such leagues, there might be 25 usable players at the position. But when you get a team that's spent the last six seasons without having a player finish in the top 35 at a position, it's fair to say that team's starter can be ignored in fantasy.
Table shows the numbers for Carolina's top 2 tight ends since 2019, with ranking (PPR) in the final column.
| CAROLINA TIGHT ENDS, 2020-2025 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Tgt | No | Rec | TD | Rk |
| 2020 | Ian Thomas | 31 | 20 | 145 | 1 | 54 |
| 2020 | Chris Manhertz | 8 | 6 | 52 | 0 | 83 |
| 2020 | Colin Thompson | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 90 |
| 2021 | Tommy Tremble | 35 | 20 | 180 | 2 | 45 |
| 2021 | Ian Thomas | 30 | 18 | 188 | 0 | 59 |
| 2022 | Tommy Tremble | 32 | 19 | 174 | 3 | 46 |
| 2022 | Ian Thomas | 30 | 21 | 197 | 0 | 52 |
| 2023 | Tommy Tremble | 32 | 23 | 194 | 3 | 40 |
| 2023 | Hayden Hurst | 32 | 18 | 184 | 1 | 50 |
| 2024 | Ja'Tavion Sanders | 43 | 33 | 342 | 1 | 36 |
| 2024 | Tommy Tremble | 32 | 23 | 234 | 2 | 43 |
| 2025 | Tommy Tremble | 37 | 27 | 249 | 2 | 43 |
| 2025 | Ja'Tavion Sanders | 34 | 29 | 190 | 1 | 50 |
Tremble (pictured), Sanders and last year's fifth-rounder Mitchell Evans are all back to not catch passes for the offense next year. Maybe they'll draft someone in an early round this year; there are some intriguing prospects. But if not (and maybe even if so), these players can safely be avoided in fantasy leagues.
--Andy Richardson
