Fantasy Football: Kyle Pitts, Pat Freiermuth among breakout tight ends for 2022

Our 2022 Fantasy Football season coverage is gearing up and we’re moving over to the breakout players at the tight end position, which is set to be one of the richest of the decade with young players improving alongside proven veterans retaining their superstar potential.

A breakout year can happen for a number of reasons – and it’s not restricted to young players only. A player can become a star after moving teams, a change in the coaching staff or simply a healthy offseason. There are a number of possibilities that can lead to a surprise tight end dominating Fantasy Football in 2022.

It’s always important to remind you that this tight end article relates to Standard and PPR Fantasy Methods. If you’re a DFS Fantasy Player, then check out our DFS Fantasy Optimizer for both DraftKings and FanDuel in order to get some extra cash during the NFL season!

Let’s analyze which tight ends have a good chance of a breakout year during the 2022 season.

Fantasy Football: Who are the top tight end candidates for a breakout season in 2022?

Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons

You might wonder why Pitts is listed as a breakout candidate here since he surpassed the 1.000-yard mark in his first season already. The thing is that, even though Pitts was important to Atlanta’s offense in the previous season, he still has a lot of work to do in order to become a superstar, especially in the red zone, where he struggled last season, finishing with just one touchdown.

The total receiving yards from Pitts should grow even higher in 2022 as he’s now settled in the league and will not lose any time learning new things and adapting to the pros. Working with Marcus Mariota, who’s one of the best red zone quarterbacks in the NFL, should also help his case. He’s a top 5 tight end for the upcoming season and you can’t miss the chance to grab him, especially with the Falcons’ offense not having enough weapons.

Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers

Freiermuth should take a bigger role on the Steelers’ offense with Mitchell Trubisky under center, especially after he had a good rookie season with 497 yards and 7 touchdowns. His receiving numbers will become higher in 2022 as he features even more in the passing game and also improves his yards-after-catch ability, which should be an easy task considering his athletic ability.

Freiermuth is a well-rounded player who ranks as a top 9 tight end for the season, as there’s no other player on the roster that can challenge him for the TE1 job or take away some of his targets – he had 20 in the red zone last season, by the way, which is a pretty high number. If you miss the top 3, you can happily settle for Freiermuth and rest assured you won’t be disappointed.

Cameron Brate, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Unlike the previous two players, Brate has been around for a while – he’s going to be 31 when the season starts. What qualifies him as a breakout player is that the Buccaneers have him as a clear TE1 right now, unlike the past two years when he had Rob Gronkowski and O.J. Howard on the roster with him, taking away a lot of his chances.

Brate is a well-rounded tight end with good blocking ability and a low percentage of drops. He has 33 touchdowns during his NFL career and this number can easily grow to 40 as the chances for him in the red zone will be really high. That’s all you want for your tight end to do.

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