Steaming Pile of Streaming Tight Ends
With no NFL teams enjoying a bye this week, it will be a bit easier than usual to find a fill-in at the tight-end position this week. Everything seemed to fall into place in Week 7 when we saw the big names like Travis Kelce, Darren Waller, Mark Andrews, T. J. Hockenson, and Dallas Goedert end up with high-end finishes. One surprise came in the form of Taysom Hill, who has once again made himself a force in the passing game over the last two weeks.
Meanwhile, Dalton Kincaid, selected by the Buffalo Bills in Round 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft, seems to be finding his way in Buffalo. Kincaid is clearly taking advantage of the absence of Dawson Knox, who’ll be out indefinitely following wrist surgery. The Los Angeles Chargers have been searching for the large presence left open by the Mike Williams injury, and Gerald Everett is ready to pick up the slack. He is coming off back-to-back games with a touchdown, and with a matchup against the Chicago Bears, he stands a good chance of finding paydirt again in Week 8.
Sam LaPorta has been a good option for fantasy players this year and gets a matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders, so he should continue his dominance. Kyle Pitts and the Atlanta Falcons have a meeting with the Tennessee Titans this week. Though they have a low team-implied total, the Titans’ secondary has been horrible and just lost one of their best defenders, Kevin Byard, to the Philadelphia Eagles via trade. Pitts should do fine, especially with Falcons tight ends seeing 34% of the target share.
Trey McBride of the Arizona Cardinals doesn’t have the best matchup against the Baltimore Ravens this week, but after Zach Ertz has hit the IR, McBride will finally have a shot to take the reins and soar. The Cardinals consistently target the tight end position at one of the highest rates. Oh, and Kyler Murray has been at practice and should be playing in the coming weeks. Without further ado, here are three solid tight end streaming options for Week 8.
Jake Ferguson
The Dallas Cowboys are coming off their bye week, and Jake Ferguson is ready to put his one-catch performance from Week 6 behind him. The Cowboys take on the Los Angeles Rams this week, which should lead to a great performance from the tight end. Through the first seven weeks of this season, the Rams rank in the top five in points allowed to the position. In the three games before last week’s matchup, one in which the Steelers were without Pat Freiermuth, the Rams allowed 11.4, 22.6, and 25.7 points to the tight end position. The Cowboys have an implied team total of over 25 points, leaving ample opportunity for Ferguson to haul in a touchdown. He should see plenty of targets as one of Dak Prescott‘s favorite targets.
Dalton Schultz
Coming out of the offseason, there was little-to-no hype surrounding the Houston Texans offense and very little surrounding the tight end who came down from Dallas. The Texans are another team coming off of a bye week, but in the three games prior, we saw Dalton Schultz with two TE6 finishes as well as one as the TE2. Rookie quarterback C. J. Stroud has finished with fewer than 241 yards only once this season and has kept them functioning in their matchups. Stroud has favored the tight end position, as the Texans are third in the league at targeting tight ends since Week 2; a whopping 32 percent of targets are going his way. Schultz is also leading the league in end zone targets, so he has a good chance of coming away with a touchdown, especially given an implied team total of 23.5 points in this game against the Carolina Panthers.
Taysom Hill
With so much inconsistency at the position, it’s hard to not take a shot on a player as versatile as Taysom Hill. Understand before plugging Hill in your lineup that he has zero floor and could post a goose egg in any given week. However, he also arguably offers as much ceiling as any tight end not named Travis Kelce. Taysom has the potential to drop back and pass on any play he’s out there, and he has also averaged 4.3 rushing attempts per game through seven weeks so far this year. That said, his recent increase in targets is what pushes him into Top 6 territory; he has finished the last two weeks with four and seven receptions. A matchup against the Indianapolis Colts should offer plenty of scoring opportunities and Taysom has the chance to rack up plenty of points in three different ways.
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)