Week 5 Tight Ends
Moving on to the present, and we have one fade and three plays. We’re off Dalton Kincaid in Week 5. He put up a stinker last week, catching one of only two targets for seven yards. We’re not hopeful for a rebound against a Los Angeles Rams defense that ranks in the bottom three in fantasy points allowed to the TE position. If you have a better option, we’d recommend going that route.
Meanwhile, we’re bullish on three streaming options: T.J. Hockenson, Mike Gesicki, and Michael Mayer. Hockenson has been an increasingly reliable option at the position in recent weeks and is certainly establishing a nice rapport with QB Kyler Murray.
Gesicki should benefit from a banged-up Cincinnati Bengals wide receiving corps with the status of Ja’Marr Chase (concussion) and Tee Higgins (adductor) very much in doubt. Even if both play, we can see Joe Burrow looking Gesicki’s way more often than usual as these Bengals are eased back into action.
Last but not least, we are high on Michael Mayer despite a tough matchup on paper. The New England Patriots have allowed the fewest points per game to opposing tight ends of any team in the NFL. However, few teams employ the TE position as rampantly as the Las Vegas Raiders, as 12 personnel has emerged as their base offense.
Mayer in particular boasts a steady snap share of 81 percent or higher in each of his four games this season, with or without Brock Bowers in the lineup. He has seen seven or more targets in two of them and scored in another. Included in this resume: last week’s performance against the Kansas City Chiefs as the TE7: 8 catches on 10 targets for 82 yards. Meanwhile, a perfectly healthy Bowers also did his thing as the TE3 on the week.
The Patriots faced a gauntlet of A.J. Barner, Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, and Brenton Strange before clamping Kincaid last week. However, that impressive shutdown performance was also due in part to Buffalo’s offensive personnel packages, which were lighter on tight ends than usual. Expect the Raiders to keep living and dying by the tight end, meaning the kind of work for both Bowers and Mayer that Kincaid managers were hoping for last week. –Drew DeLuca