5 NFL TEs in Best Position for Breakout Season in 2024

5 NFL TEs in Best Position for Breakout Season in 20240 of 5

Bills TE Dalton KincaidRyan Kang/Getty Images

Roughly two decades ago, NFL players like Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates and Rob Gronkowski began a tight end revolution. These superstars paved a path for the position to become integral pass-catchers and touchdown-scorers for offenses around the league.

As a result, every team now covets a playmaking tight end. Unfortunately, demand currently far outpaces supply.

While some of the old guard is thriving—Travis Kelce still might be the most effective weapon on a Kansas City Chiefs squad seeking to pull off a Super Bowl three-peat this season—there are more young tight ends waiting in the wings who look ready to take the league by storm.

Sam LaPorta became the latest to put himself on the map with a statement 2023 rookie campaign. The rising Detroit Lions star led the position with his 10 touchdown receptions, and he scored more fantasy points than any other tight end last year.

It’s rare for rookies to make that type of an impact at tight end. However, the following five up-and-coming tight ends are primed for similar breakouts during the 2024 season.

Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders1 of 5

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The Las Vegas Raiders may have been hoping to land a franchise quarterback on Day 1 of the 2024 NFL draft, but they can’t be disappointed by coming away with Brock Bowers at No. 13 overall. He might eventually be remembered as the draft’s biggest steal, as the Georgia product ranked No. 2 overall on the B/R Scouting Department’s final big board.

In his scouting report on Bowers, B/R NFL scout Derrik Klassen highlighted his rare blend of speed, explosiveness, balance and ball skills. The only weaknesses of note are his size— Bowers measured at 6’3″ and 243 pounds at the combine—and run-blocking ability, the latter of which can be improved.

During his three-year tenure with the Bulldogs, Bowers amassed 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns on 175 receptions while helping guide the program to back-to-back national championships. Those numbers would have been even more impressive if he wasn’t battling through an ankle injury that limited him during his final campaign in Athens.

Bowers showed his resolve and toughness by playing through the pain, which should help him during the grind of a 17-game NFL regular season.

While Bowers’ first-year ceiling may be lowered by a weak quarterback room in Sin City, he’s still in line to make a statement right out of the gate. If Davante Adams eventually gets traded, Bowers may even see enough usage to compete for Pro Bowl honors as a rookie.

Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys2 of 5

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Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson already began his ascendance to stardom last year, but his 71-catch, 761-yard, five-touchdown line could pale in comparison to the stats that he puts up in 2024.

Ferguson enjoyed tremendous success in his first season as the starter following the departure of predecessor Dalton Schultz. In only his second NFL campaign, he earned his first Pro Bowl nod, which Schultz failed to earn in any of the three seasons that he started for the Cowboys.

Dallas seems confident in Ferguson’s ability to play a huge role in the passing game going forward. This offseason, the team parted ways with No. 3 wideout Michael Gallup and top running back Tony Pollard (an excellent pass-catcher) while declining to sign any notable free agents or utilize premium draft picks to bolster the receiving corps.

Ferguson seems up to the challenge of helping make up for the diminished level of talent around him.

“To me, I think I’m not even scratching my surface,” he said in May, per ESPN’s Todd Archer. “There’s so many things that I want to get better at and I know I can get better at. We watch film every day of different games, even the practices we’re doing now and I’m like, ‘OK, I can get a lot better still.'”

If Ferguson makes the same type of leap that he made from his rookie to sophomore seasons, he’ll be a shoo-in for a second consecutive Pro Bowl nod and a realistic All-Pro candidate.

Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills3 of 5

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The Buffalo Bills long coveted a playmaking tight end to pair with superstar quarterback Josh Allen. They seem to have finally found one in Dalton Kincaid.

Kincaid finished the 2023 campaign with 73 receptions for 673 yards and two touchdowns. He did so despite playing only 63 percent of the offensive snaps (699 in total) in an offense that also featured veteran tight end Dawson Knox. The 27-year-old Knox accounted for 60 percent of the offensive snaps (487 in total) during the 12 games he played.

Expect Kincaid to see more work this season while Knox gets further phased out. Knox was largely ineffective as a pass-catcher last year, hauling in just 22 catches for 186 yards and two scores. He recently took a pay cut in a contract restructure, which seems to signal that Kincaid will be the primary tight end in this offense going forward.

Kincaid also has the potential to be Allen’s top target in a Buffalo passing attack set to look much different in 2024 than it has in recent seasons.

Following the departure of target sponge Stefon Diggs, unproven options like second-round pick Keon Coleman and third-year slot receiver Khalil Shakir are set to step into prominent roles. Kincaid will have an opportunity to take advantage of that shakeup and establish himself as Allen’s go-to weapon.

Given the potential he showed as a rookie, his immense upside and an impending increase in playing time, Kincaid is a great bet to make the biggest leap of any tight end in 2024.

Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals4 of 5

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Trey McBride shook off a pedestrian rookie season and slow start to his sophomore campaign to finish 2023 on an extremely high note. The Arizona Cardinals tight end completed the year with 81 catches for 825 yards and three touchdowns, and he could put up even more impressive marks this coming season.

After catching just 15 passes for 170 yards over the first seven games of last season, McBride turned a corner after taking over for injured starter Zach Ertz in Week 8. He had a team-high 14 targets that game, converting those into 10 catches for 95 yards and a score.

Perhaps most impressively, he did that without Kyler Murray in the lineup. The Cardinals’ franchise quarterback didn’t make his return from an ACL tear until Week 10. Murray displayed an instant connection with McBride upon his return, and the tight end went on to amass 53 receptions for 538 yards and two scores from that point on.

The addition of first-round pick Marvin Harrison Jr. should only make things easier for McBride, even if the rookie will be the focal point of Arizona’s passing game. Harrison is a generational wide receiving talent who should command constant attention from opponents’ top defenders, opening things up for McBride to feast against slower linebackers and smaller cornerbacks.

The Murray-McBride connection is only scratching the surface of its potential. The duo is finally had a full offseason to prepare together on the first team, and those practice reps should result in an improvement upon their already strong marks in the back half of 2023.

Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons5 of 5

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Kyle Pitts made history in 2021 when the Atlanta Falcons selected him at No. 4 overall, making him the highest-drafted tight end of all time. He followed that up by challenging Mike Ditka’s longstanding tight end record for receiving yardage in a rookie season.

While Pitts came up just shy of Ditka’s mark, he still made the Pro Bowl after reeling in 68 passes for 1,026 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately, that remains the high-water mark of his NFL career to date.

Injuries limited Pitts to only 10 games as a sophomore, while poor quarterback play and questionable offensive schemes led to him posting only 53 receptions for 667 yards and three touchdowns despite being available for all 17 games last season.

Things are poised to change for Pitts in 2024 thanks to Atlanta’s acquisition of Kirk Cousins. The Falcons have churned through a slew of underwhelming signal-callers in recent years, but the veteran quarterback should provide some much-needed stability under center.

Pitts looked great while catching passes from a fading Matt Ryan as a rookie, so he shouldn’t have trouble dominating with Cousins taking over. Cousins has built a strong rapport with his tight ends over his 12 seasons in the NFL, most recently leaning heavily on T.J. Hockenson during their tenure with the Minnesota Vikings.

Cousins targeted tight ends on 27 percent of his throws in 2023, the fifth-highest percentage in the league. No quarterback has targeted the position more than Cousins since 2015, per Zachary Pereles of CBS Sports. In that same span, he ranked fourth in the league in both passing yards and touchdowns when throwing to his tight ends.

Even with fellow early-first rounders Drake Maye and Bijan Robinson set to account for a large portion of touches in Atlanta’s new-look offense, Pitts should get fed plenty. His versatility and ability to create mismatches, as well as Cousins’ reliance on tight ends, should result in a career-best campaign and another Pro Bowl appearance.