Week 8 Recap
Tight end streamers, rejoice: only two teams have a Week 9 bye! Wait, it gets better: those two teams are the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans. Fair enough: Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, and Gunnar Helm all finished as top-10 tight ends in Week 8. If you predicted that, please DM me your Powerball numbers! Before we get too carried away, let’s see how we fared last week.
We endorsed T.J. Hockenson, and he made us look smart with a TE7 finish. We then predicted Sam LaPorta would fall short of his FantasyPros Expert Consensus Ranking of TE6. We feared a strong Vikings defense that had allowed fewer points to opposing tight ends than any other team in the NFL, and we were right: LaPorta ended the week as TE26.
We loved Hunter Henry, who was on track for a productive day before leaving in the first half with an injury. He did not return. We also gave the nod to Kyle Pitts, Brenton Strange, and Chig Okonkwo. Pitts was unable to keep his recent momentum going; his TE43 result was a massive disappointment. Neither Strange (TE20) nor Okonkwo (TE38) fared significantly better. Onward to Week 9!
Week 9 Tight Ends
We believe that consensus is far too low on Travis Kelce this week. Kelce is a consistent, trusted target of Patrick Mahomes and should enjoy an attractive matchup against the New York Jets. We see a Top 5 TE result as more likely than a finish outside of the Top 10.
As far as streaming options go, consider Tyler Higbee against the Washington Commanders. Given Sean McVay’s heavy utilization of 13 personnel, it’s hard to predict which Los Angeles Rams tight end will be on the receiving end of a Matthew Stafford touchdown in a given week. However, ever since Terrance Ferguson was shelved on IR, Higbee has been the most consistent Rams tight end in terms of snap count and target share.
If there was ever a week to start Greg Dulcich, this might be it. Dulcich has four or more catches in three straight games and draws a Detroit Lions defense that has been more generous to opposing fantasy tight ends than any other. Another name to watch: Eli Raridon, who stepped right in for the injured Hunter Henry last week and enjoyed a 92% offensive snap share. It marked the fifth game in a row in which Raridon played over 50 percent of snaps. Raridon has averaged four targets per game over the last four weeks and has already surpassed 50 yards twice, so he gets the green light as a streaming option in larger leagues. –Drew DeLuca