How should you approach a position where every team needs to have one starting, but there might only be enough players worth starting for half the league. That's the position we find ourselves in every year with tight end, it seems.

Oh sure, there will come a point in every draft season where someone will write a, "Maybe this is the year tight end won't be terrible!" piece. That might even become the consensus or something close to it, but it's always wishful thinking. Over the last five seasons, only 14 tight ends have reached 700 receiving yards in a season; 48 wide receivers did in 2020 alone.

We've got plenty of time to talk ourselves into this year's tight end class before the season starts, but I make this promise right here: You won't hear it from me in this spot. I've got updated post-NFL draft tight ends rankings from Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard, Heath Cummings and myself, and while we've got 38 tight ends ranked total, I really only have interest in drafting eight of them. If I don't get one of those eight? It's stream city, baby.

You can see our consensus TE rankings along with some of my thoughts below, and if you want to see the rest of our post-draft rankings, I covered quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers last week. But before I get to tight end, I've got some thoughts about the rookie class from this year's draft now that the dust has settled and drafts are starting.

If you have any questions or comments about rookie drafts, tight ends, or anything else, send them to Chris.Towers@CBSInteractive.com and I'll feature them in a future newsletter. And now, here's what the rookie class looks like to me two weeks out from the draft:

I had my first rookie draft start this weekend, so I figured this was a good opportunity to talk a little more about strategies and my general thoughts on this class. Obviously, there isn't just one kind of rookie draft out there. For example, I'm in two leagues that are more traditional keeper leagues that also include a rookie draft, which creates a shorter-term window for shopping, making immediate impact even more important. I'm in a few other leagues that are just rookie-only drafts within a Dynasty league, and another that is also a Dynasty league but features IDP and non-rookie free agents. There will be plenty of similarities between all of those drafts, but certainly some key differences as well.

I'm aiming for just some general strategy for how I'm approaching my rookie drafts and how I think things look now that the dust has settled and drafts are starting. And, while I'll have my rookie rankings down at the bottom for the 2021 season, if you want more of a Dynasty perspective from someone who spends more of their time thinking about this stuff, Heath Cummings' Dynasty Rookie Rankings are right here. Plus, you can find his updated overall Dynasty rankings below:

My first rookie draft was for a SuperFlex league, which adds an additional wrinkle to the proceedings, and though we're not done with all five rounds yet, here's what the first two rounds looked like:

1.1 - Trevor Lawrence, QB, JAC 1.2 - Justin Fields, QB, CHI 1.3 - Trey Lance, QB, SF 1.4 - Ja'Marr Chase, WR, CIN (Me) 1.5 - Zach Wilson, QB, NYJ 1.6 - Najee Harris, RB, PIT 1.7 - Kyle Pitts, TE, ATL 1.8 - Travis Etienne, RB, JAC 1.9 - Javonte Williams, RB, DEN 1.10 - Devonta Smith, WR, PHI 1.11 - Mac Jones, QB, NE 1.12 - Jaylen Waddle, WR, MIA

2.1 - Rashod Bateman, WR, BAL 2.2 - Elijah Moore, WR, NYJ 2.3 - Rondale Moore, WR, ARI 2.4 - Trey Sermon, RB, SF (Me) 2.5 - Michael Carter, RB, NYJ 2.6 - Terrace Marshall, WR, CAR 2.7 - Kadarius Toney, WR, NYG 2.8 - Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, DET 2.9 - Pat Freiermuth, TE, PIT 2.10 - Kenneth Gainwell, RB, PHI 2.11 - D'Wayne Eskridge, WR, SEA 2.12 - Dyami Brown, WR, WAS

One thing stands out to me immediately, and I wonder if you can see it and agree: I'm not sure this rookie class is going to be great for Fantasy in 2021. The first picks of the second round are a wide receiver who will be playing in a low volume Baltimore passing game that hasn't produced much WR value to date and a another who will be playing with an unproven rookie QB and a first-time head coach. Both Bateman and Elijah Moore could end up the No. 1 WR on their team, but neither is guaranteed. And even if they did, I'm not sure they'd be must start options in those situations.

And that's in a SuperFlex league, where five QBs went in the first round. In a standard league, Bateman and Moore might be top-eight picks, ahead of all of the QBs except for Lawrence. That doesn't leave me feeling great about my picks in the second half of the first round -- again, for 2021, at least. Among this rookie class, I think the only players I would draft expecting to be a Fantasy starter early in 2021 are Lawrence, Fields, Chase, Harris, Pitts, Etienne, and maybe Smith.

I'm not saying you should only draft the rookies in that order, and I think Waddle and Williams especially have the potential to emerge as starting Fantasy options before long. But I am saying this could be a pretty quiet rookie class, especially early on -- though, it goes without saying there will be multiple rookies who surprise us and become starters, because it happens every year.

I do love who I ended up with in that second round, because I think he could be that kind of player. Sermon finds himself in a crowded backfield to start the season, behind Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson, and as a late third-round pick, it's not like Sermon has the draft capital to guarantee an early opportunity. However, San Francisco's offense generates a ton of value for running backs and both Wilson and Mostert have had trouble staying healthy. This offense has made less talented backs than Sermon look great, but you'll probably have to be pretty patient for him to get his chance.

Of course, these short-term concerns do matter less in a true Dynasty league, so you don't want to be too short-sighted. Situations tend to change very quickly in the NFL -- just think back to a year ago, when many thought Stefon Diggs' move to Buffalo was a killer for his Fantasy appeal or when we thought Ke'Shawn Vaughn might be in for a significant and valuable role as Tom Brady's pass-catching RB. Drafting for talent and value rather than fit makes more sense there.

But, I think some players may still eschew the short-term view a bit too much in Dynasty leagues. Precisely because so much can change so fast in the NFL, your realistic window when evaluating most players should be around three years -- though longer for a QB. Immediate impact should arguably be your primary goal, and if you could get an established player for the near term for one of those late-firsts this year, I would do it. I'm thinking someone like Deebo Samuel or Curtis Samuel -- young players who have established a high baseline skill level even if they aren't the shiny new thing-- or a sure-fire 2021 starter with a cloudy future like Chris Carson or Julio Jones would be worth pursuing.

Rookie picks can depreciate in value like a new car the second they step on the field and go from hypothetical superstars to actual, concrete players.

Want some proof? Here were the top 12 picks in 2018 rookie drafts, per FantasyData.com: Saquon Barkley, Royce Freeman, Kerryon Johnson, Rashaad Penny, Sony Michel, Ronald Jones, Calvin Ridley, Nick Chubb, Courtland Sutton, Baker Mayfield, Anthony Miller, D.J. Moore. You could argue the success of the second half of that group is an argument for holding on to those late firsts -- and that's a reasonable counter! But I would argue the group on a whole is a good reminder of how quickly value can evaporate.

Of course, you need to do your own research, figure out which players you like, and figure out who in your league might be looking to deal. Heath's Dynasty Central will be a key resource, but you can also email us at FantasyFootball@CBSi.com to get some help -- Heath will be doing regular mailbags with a Dynasty focus all offseason.

Here are my rankings for this rookie class focusing on 2021:

In all honesty, I could probably just break down the top 12 at this position and that would be enough -- and even that might overstate how many viable tight ends there actually are. There's a lot of disagreement among our staff after you get to around No. 9 at tight end, because ... well, there just aren't many tight ends worth agreeing on after that.

Your best bet at this position? Grab one early or wait. Either get the edge here or get the edge everywhere else, because the middle class tends to get pushed up boards and historically end up pretty poor investments.

25. Adam Trautman 26. Anthony Firkser 27. O.J. Howard 28. Dawson Knox 29. Chris Herndon 30. Hayden Hurst 31. Will Dissly 32. Jack Doyle 33. Dan Arnold 34. Josh Oliver 35. C.J. Uzomah 36. Noah Gray 37. Jordan Akins 38. Pat Freiermuth