Steaming Pile of Streaming Tight Ends
Finding a fill-in at the tight-end position is never fun, but here in this article, we’ll dive into a few options if you still need to snag one of the more reliable players at the position that has popped up recently.
Trey McBride, Jake Ferguson, and Dalton Kincaid have been some of the best plays over the last month. The wild part is the age of the players, Kincaid being a rookie and the other two being only in their second year. TJ Hockenson has continued to lead the charge and is crushing the separation between him and Travis Kelce, who is the second-highest scorer on the season. Mark Andrews fell outside the top 16 in Week 10 and is now likely out for the season.
Luke Musgrave
Now the hardest part of grasping this place is because of who he plays for. The Green Bay Packers haven’t inspired anything positive on offense over the last month. The matchup between the Packers and Chargers should open up opportunities for Luke Musgrave. The Chargers are in the bottom four against all positions on defense which should give even Jordan Love plenty of chances to get the ball down the field to Musgrave. Musgrave is one of only five tight ends to have 115 or more yards and at least one touchdown. His lack of underneath work keeps him from being regularly started but in this positive matchup, he has a great chance of catching another deep pass.
Cole Kmet
Cole Kmet doesn’t quite hit that streamable status where he can be picked up but he needs the confidence nod to be started. The battle between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears is one of the highest point totals going into the week at 48 points. This will be Justin Fields’ first game back from the thumb injury but this shouldn’t change the target share despite how much backup Bagent targeted him. The Lions have one of the toughest defenses against the run which should leave Fields to air it out to his pass catchers. The Lions also allow the fourth-highest points to the tight end position and are in the bottom eight against the quarterback position.
Michael Mayer
It’s hard not to feel like we are chasing touchdowns but this rookie Michael Mayer is playing the snaps needed to produce in the fantasy lineups. Over the last five weeks, he ranks fifth in offensive snaps out of all tight ends. The Raiders should be in a negative game script for most of the game with a 30-point team implied total to the Miami Dolphins. Mayer will be going against a Dolphins linebacker group ranked 71st of 80 total players graded by PFF. In a game that doesn’t present many points for the Raiders, Jakobi Meyers and Davante Adams should be swarmed all day by Xavien Howard and Jalen Ramsey, leaving Mayer to come up with a touchdown.
Let me know what you think about these players! Any questions? Please find me on Twitter/X @TooMuch_Brian.
Photos by Rene Böhmer/Unsplash and Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire | Featured Image by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter and @EthanMKaplanImages on Instagram)
Given the recent challenges at the tight end position, how do the matchups for players like Luke Musgrave, Cole Kmet, and Michael Mayer in Week 11 influence their streaming viability? Tel U
Sorry I’m just seeing this! We just published our Week 12 Streaming TE article, which should help provide some fresh guidance on this front. Musgrave, as you’ve likely seen, was placed on IR after suffering a lacerated kidney in Week 11. Going forward, Kmet and Mayer are both high-upside options to stash and watch if benches allow; I feel a bit better about Kmet’s quarterback situation, although that’s far from a ringing endorsement of that situation. Thanks for reading!