It was a long, cold September, but in October the tight end position showed signs of life. We had 13 tight ends score double-digit Fantasy points in Week 6, a week after 16 accomplished the feat. Over the two weeks there are now 14 tight ends with a per-game average of at least 10 PPR Fantasy points. Yes, it’s a small position but as bad as it’s been we’ll take whatever we can get.
In analyzing those 14 it’s easy to view George Kittle, Brock Bowers, Evan Engram, Travis Kelce, Trey McBride, Kyle Pitts, Mark Andrews, and Sam LaPorta as legitimate. I’m not sure that’s entirely correct considering LaPorta had just one catch in his lone October game, but it’s easy. That’s because those are the tight ends we had expectations for. What about the rest?
Cole Kmet and Tucker Kraft are the most believable of the rest. We’ve seen Kmet be a top-12 tight end before and he had one great game in September also. I’m not dropping Kmet on his bye week and if someone else does I’m considering adding him. Kraft is in one of the best pass offenses in football right now and the Packers just lost Dontayvion Wicks. I’m mostly buying him too.
That leaves us with Colby Parkinson (I’m in if Cooper Kupp is out), Grant Calcaterra (maybe if Dallas Goedert is out), Jonnu Smith (nope), and Isaiah Likely. Likely was a bust in Week 6 but he had two more end zone targets, so I’m okay starting him if you simply can’t find a better option. The jury is still out on whether Mark Andrews counts as a better option.
Regardless of how you feel about all these names, it’s nice to have that many to talk about. I didn’t even mention Jake Ferguson, who I’m holding through his bye, or Dalton Kincaid, who may be droppable with the addition of Amari Cooper.
As always, you can check out the full set of projections at SportsLine for every position.
Here’s everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 7:
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Week 7 TE Preview
Who’s Out
Numbers to Know
Matchups That Matter
Waiver Wire Targets
DFS Plays
Projections
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Who’s Out
The following players are not being projected to play Week 7 at this time. Here’s what it means:
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Dallas Goedert
TE PHI Philadelphia • #88 Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs.
Grant Calcaterra is a fine stream after a big Week 6.
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Numbers to Know
- 1 — LaPorta’s one catch in Week 6 came on his only target, which isn’t exactly encouraging even if it was a 52-yard touchdown.
- 7 — Cole Kmet and Dallas Goedert lead all tight ends with seven explosive plays (16 yards or more).
- 6 — Colby Parkinson has six red zone targets. George Kittle is the only tight end with more.
- 2.23 — Brock Bowers’ 2.23 yards per route run ranks second amongst tight ends with at least 20 routes this season.
- 27.4% — Evan Engram’s 27.4% target per route run rate ranks second amongst tight ends with at least 20 routes run this season.
Matchups that matter
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Hunter Henry
TE NE New England • #85 Age: 29 • Experience: 9 yrs.
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Dalton Kincaid
TE BUF Buffalo • #86 Age: 24 • Experience: 2 yrs.
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David Njoku
TE CLE Cleveland • #85 Age: 28 • Experience: 8 yrs.
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Sam LaPorta
TE DET Detroit • #87 Age: 23 • Experience: 2 yrs.
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Colby Parkinson
TE LAR L.A. Rams • #86 Age: 25 • Experience: 5 yrs.
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Waiver Wire Targets
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Colby Parkinson
TE LAR L.A. Rams • #86 Age: 25 • Experience: 5 yrs.
Parkinson projects as a top-eight tight end this week if Cooper Kupp and we’ll likely still be in the top 12 if Kupp plays. That’s because the projections value volume and Parkinson has seen 20 targets in his last two games and actually leads the Rams with an 18.6% target share for the season. His lack of touchdowns has been bad luck as he’s had a feature role in the red zone as well.
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Dalton Schultz
TE HOU Houston • #86 Age: 28 • Experience: 7 yrs.
It didn’t translate to Fantasy points but Schultz saw eight targets in his first game without Nico Collins. Last year he was much more reliable when one of the Texans wide receivers were missing. As with Parkinson, I’m banking on the target volume and ignoring the awful efficiency.
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DFS Plays
Sportsline
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Brock Bowers
TE LV Las Vegas • #89 Age: 21 • Experience: Rookie
I’m fine with any of George Kittle, Travis Kelce, or Brock Bowers in cash game lineups this week, but if Jakobi Meyers remains out I lean towards Bowers who is the cheapest of the three. He has 17 catches on 22 targets for 168 yards in his last two games and has become the clear focal part of the passing game regardless of who is playing quarterback.
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Sportsline
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Sam LaPorta
TE DET Detroit • #87 Age: 23 • Experience: 2 yrs.
While I am very nervous about LaPorta’s target volume and wouldn’t consider him in cash games, the Vikings have seen the second-most targets to tight ends and this game could absolutely turn into a shootout. There’s no reason to believe LaPorta has lost anything from last year and there’s every reason to believe that there could be a big LaPorta week coming any week now.
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Heath’s Projections
My full set of Week 7 Fantasy football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. You can find them here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don’t live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 6. Projected stats for all starting tight ends are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.
