Last week, the "always start your studs" camp made out like a bunch of bandits, as Rob Gronkowski magically returned to the field and finished as the #2 tight end overall. I played Ben Watson over Gronkowski in one of my matchups, because I am generally more skeptical when it comes to injuries. I was wrong. Welcome back to the top of the mountain, Rob.
Greg Olsen owners, you may now breathe a sigh of relief. If you find yourself still alive in your league's playoffs, you should continue to have the services of Olsen against the New York Giants this weekend. This Giants unit has allowed the 3rd most fantasy points to tight ends this season, and Olsen is Cam Newton's top target. The only worry here is that this game gets out of hand and the Panthers are content to hand the ball off to...Fozzy? No Jonathan Stewart this week, by the way. Olsen still deserves to be treated as a top option, regardless.
Gary Barnidge is back in the circle of trust, Johnny or no Johnny. The Seahawks have allowed the 9th most fantasy points to tight ends in 2015, and Barnidge is better than almost every tight end Seattle has faced, with the possible exceptions of Greg Olsen and Tyler Eifert. Eifert scored 21.00 fantasy points against Seatlle in Week 5 and Olsen scored 19.10 fantasy points against them in Week 6. Other than those two, Seattle hasn't faced a tight end that consistently ranks as a starting tight end option every week, unless you count Jason Witten. I stopped counting Witten in with the position's elite when Tony Romo went down. If you have Barnidge I think you have to find a way to play him this week.
Now for the sad news: Tyler Eifert missed Wednesday's practice due to being in the NFL's concussion protocol. The other bad news is that even if he plays this weekend he will do so without the services of Andy Dalton. No offense, AJ McCarron. I would not play Eifert this weekend unless I was forced to do so (if he even goes). Stay tuned on that one.
Finally, it is veteran's week in Week 15, as Ben Watson and Heath Miller are both Top 10 plays in my book. Watson has a good matchup and lots of targets from his QB, while Miller should be one of the best ways for the Steelers to pick apart that epic Denver secondary. On opportunity alone he should be a starting-caliber performer. We shall see.
Let's get to it with the Week 15 (standard) TE rankings:
RANK | NAME | TEAM | OPPONENT |
1 | Rob Gronkowski | NE | TEN |
2 | Gary Barnidge | CLE | @ SEA |
3 | Greg Olsen | CAR | NYG |
4 | Delanie Walker | TEN | @ NE |
5 | Antonio Gates | SD | MIA |
6 | Julius Thomas | JAC | ATL |
7 | Ben Watson | NO | DET |
8 | Jordan Reed | WAS | BUF |
9 | Heath Miller | PIT | DEN |
10 | Richard Rodgers | GB | @ OAK |
11 | Travis Kelce | KC | @ BAL |
12 | Zach Miller | CHI | @ MIN |
13 | Austin Seferian-Jenkins | TB | @ STL |
14 | Tyler Eifert | CIN | @ SF |
15 | Zach Ertz | PHI | ARI |
16 | Will Tye | NYG | CAR |
17 | Jacob Tamme | ATL | @ JAC |
18 | Charles Clay | BUF | @ WAS |
19 | Eric Ebron | DET | @ NO |
20 | Vernon Davis | DEN | @ PIT |
21 | Kyle Rudolph | MIN | CHI |
22 | Jason Witten | DAL | NYJ |
23 | Clive Walford | OAK | GB |
24 | Ryan Griffin | HOU | @ IND |