In case you live under a rock, here is your reminder that the Seattle Seahawks lost Jimmy Graham to a torn patellar tendon this past Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I suppose they'll have to ask Luke Willson to block, now.
Almost as disturbingly, the top dog at the position has a significant sprain of his right knee. So with no Rob Gronkowski this week, Scott Chandler will enter into the conversation. The starting-caliber TE1 conversation, since the position is just plain terrible when it comes to depth and reliability.
If Tyler Eifert plays, I am ranking him as my #2 tight end. Eifert torched the Browns with three touchdowns in Week 8, and even though the Browns are middling (15th) when it comes to allowing fantasy points to opposing tight ends, Eifert is the best one they have faced by far. I'll take the injury smokescreen and the elite talent for my GPPs, thank you very much.
Julius Thomas is a big mover this week. His recent spike in production is a beautiful sight in Jacksonville, especially with breakout wide receiver Allen Hurns working his way through the NFL's concussion protocol. So yes, if Eifert doesn't go, Julius is my #2 option this week.
Cameron Brate is another name to watch. If Austin Seferian-Jenkins is out yet again, Brate is a quality TE1 streaming target. His targets are trending in the right direction (4 two weeks ago, 6 last week) and he has a plus matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. As I am assuming ASJ is out once again, I have Brate as a Top 11 play this week. You could do way worse in your tight end spot if you just lost one of the big guys to injury.
Oh, you wanted to know if you could really trust Scott Chandler as a top five play? Against Philadelphia? With Tom Brady flinging him the rock? Absolutely! The Patriots running game isn't the most viable and the Eagles are a team that are more easily beaten in the air. I'll have some Chandler shares this week, for sure.
Let's get to the Week 13 (standard) tight end rankings:
RANK | NAME | TEAM | OPPONENT |
1 |
Greg Olsen |
CAR |
@ NO |
2 | Tyler Eifert | CIN | @ CLE |
3 | Julius Thomas | JAC | @ TEN |
4 | Delanie Walker | TEN | JAC |
5 | Scott Chandler | NE | PHI |
6 | Travis Kelce | KC | @ OAK |
7 | Gary Barnidge | CLE | CIN |
8 | Kyle Rudolph | MIN | SEA |
9 | Jordan Reed | WAS | DAL |
10 | Antonio Gates | SD | DEN |
11 | Cameron Brate | CLE | ATL |
12 | Ben Watson | NO | CAR |
13 | Richard Rodgers | GB | @ DET |
14 | Jacob Tamme | ATL | @ TB |
15 | Jason Witten | DAL | @ WAS |
16 | Eric Ebron | DET | GB |
17 | Martellus Bennett | CHI | SF |
18 | Vance McDonald | SF | @ CHI |
19 | Crockett Gillmore | BAL | @ MIA |
20 | Coby Fleener | IND | @ PIT |
21 | Heath Miller | PIT | IND |
22 | Charles Clay | BUF | HOU |
23 | Brent Celek | PHI | @ NE |
24 | Zach Miller | CHI | SF |