It was a much simpler time at the beginning of the week. Greg Olsen was only rostered in half of leagues and he was a top-10 option. There was no challenge in finding the top streamer for Week 3.
It's not so simple if you waited until the last minute or Olsen wasn't available in your league. Once you get past my top 12 there are 10 tight ends projected to score between 6.5 and 8.5 PPR points. A few of those guys are going to score touchdowns and be excellent streamers while a few of them may not even break five points.
One name that was a late addition to the list was Gerald Everett. Tyler Higbee has been ruled out, which should leave Everett with the lion's share of the tight end targets. So far this season, 21% of Jared Goff's attempts have gone to a tight end. The Rams' implied total of 25.25 isn't too shabby either.
But as you'll see below it's easy to lose Everett in the mix with Jason Witten playing the Dolphins, Will Dissly's absurd pace, and Tyler Eifert's target opportunity. All those names and I still haven't mentioned my favorite streamer. Don't worry, he's listed below.
Week 3 TE Preview
Who's Out
The following players are not being projected to play Week 3 at this time. Here's what it means:
Njoku broke his wrist and will miss a month. He was replaced by Demetrius Harris in Week 3, but Harris is nothing more than a touchdown-or-bust streamer.
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Higbee has been ruled out for Week 3, opening the door for Gerald Everett to have a bigger role.
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Numbers to Know
- 9.8 -- Yards per reception for George Kittle. We expected him to regress from 2018, but this is (hopefully) an over-correction.
- 6 -- Plays of more than 20 yards for Mark Andrews. No other tight end has more than four.
- 29.88% -- Share of Titans' air yards for Delanie Walker. That's higher than even Andrews.
- 9 -- Targets for Greg Olsen in each of his first two games. He may not be the player he once was, but he's being targeted like he is.
- 61 -- Fantasy points allowed to tight ends by the Cardinals this season. That's almost 50% more than the Dolphins.
Matchups that matter
Worried about Cam Newton? I'm not sure you should be. Ian Thomas caught five passes for 61 yards and a touchdown when Kyle Allen started Week 17. The No. 1 tight end in non-PPR each of the first two weeks has been the tight end facing the Cardinals.
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At some point I may just assume you all recognize that the Dolphins are the free space. But it's still early in the season. So yes, if you're desperate you can stream Witten who has scored in each of his first two games.
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Waiver Wire Targets
I'll trust Davis' history with four-plus targets over Witten's hope of scoring a touchdown, though the matchups do make it very close.
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While I don't really trust Witten's low target totals this is a fantastic matchup and Dak Prescott is certainly looking Witten's direction in the red zone. It helps that Michael Gallup is out, which should free up more targets.
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Delanie Walker had a field day against this Browns defense and Everett has the job to himself with Higbee out.
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Eifert has 10 targets in the first two games of the season for Cincinnati and hasn't gotten hurt yet. The Bills corners are a very touch matchup outside so I wouldn't be surprised if Andy Dalton leans on his tight ends more often. This has turned into one of the more pass-happy offenses in the league and Eifert is benefitting.
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Dissly scored a pair of touchdowns last week and is just about as boom or bust as you can get. But he now has 218 receiving yards and four touchdowns in six career games, so it's hard to ignore him.
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If you missed out on all of the good tight ends last week and you can't get Olsen this week, I'd be trying hard to hold on to Henry. He could be back in a month and will be a huge upgrade over anyone you're going to stream when he returns. Obviously bench depth matters a lot in this context, but Henry is the top tight end stash, and I'd guess his ownership goes down this week. Chris Herndon could also be considered, but I don't really want to use him until Sam Darnold returns.
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DFS Plays
Ertz saw 16(!) targets in Week 2 with Alshon Jeffery DeSean Jackson out. I wouldn't project that kind of volume again, but I would expect him to be in double digits if those receivers are out in Week 3. The difference between his price and Travis Kelce's makes Ertz my top option at tight end this week.
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That was not a good performance from Engram in Week 2 and now he's dealing with a rookie quarterback making his first start on the road. Hopefully that's enough for people to stay away from him. This Tampa defense has been better than I expected but Greg Olsen had a huge game against them and George Kittle had two touchdowns called back. Engram should be awesome.
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Heath's Projections
Non-PPR Rank | PPR Rank | TE | NON-PPR | PPR |
1 | 1 | 11.79 | 18.93 | |
2 | 2 | George Kittle | 11.78 | 17.56 |
3 | 3 | 11.01 | 16.47 | |
5 | 4 | 9.65 | 15.37 | |
4 | 5 | Mark Andrews | 9.67 | 14.23 |
7 | 6 | 7.67 | 12.88 | |
6 | 7 | Delanie Walker | 7.93 | 12.39 |
9 | 8 | 7.18 | 12.12 | |
8 | 9 | Greg Olsen | 7.34 | 11.53 |
10 | 10 | TJ Hockenson | 6.13 | 9.55 |
11 | 11 | 5.81 | 8.72 | |
14 | 12 | 5.24 | 8.63 | |
12 | 13 | O.J. Howard | 5.76 | 8.38 |
15 | 14 | Gerald Everett | 4.97 | 8.21 |
13 | 15 | 5.30 | 8.21 | |
19 | 16 | Tyler Eifert | 4.55 | 7.74 |
17 | 17 | 4.78 | 7.58 | |
18 | 18 | 4.68 | 7.29 | |
21 | 19 | Jason Witten | 4.31 | 7.20 |
16 | 20 | Will Dissly | 4.81 | 7.12 |
