Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends in Week 15

If you are still reading, you must find yourself in a semifinal matchup this week. Cheers to you and to your fantasy football skills.

You are in luck if you are a Rob Gronkowski owner, as the big guy returns this week. My spidey senses tell me that Tom Brady will look much better after a dud last week, and the presence of Gronk (and the absence of Shazier) will both be beneficial.

Zach Ertz also returns, but I can’t quite nudge him into the circle of trust just yet, especially not with the solid play of his teammate Trey Burton. For that reason, only Travis Kelce is a threat to Gronk’s #1 status—he is the only guy with the mix of volume and upside to rival the big guy. I’ve said this before, but hopefully if you drafted Gronk and Kelce you get to play both...otherwise, you failed in trading away an epic backup to shore up another position of need.

A few guys get bumps in the rankings this week due to prime matchups. Charles Clay, Jason Witten, Ricky Seals-Jones, and Ben Watson are all intriguing due to what they are up against.

Jordan Reed is officially on injured reserve, and I would never exult over such but it does mean that everyone with a Vernon Davis share can cease worrying about a Reed return to muddy the waters. Davis had a bit of a resurgence last week after a quiet spell, and the Cardinals can be attacked with tight ends. He is a TE1 streamer this week.

Hopefully you don’t own O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate. If so, good luck deciphering that seesaw battle for dominance. Just when we think we have a bead on it, the other guy surprises us! At this point in the year I give the younger guy a slight edge.

Jesse James exploded last week, which means he is at least a TE2 option this week. He is due for a score, too, so I’d give him an edge over some other low-floor options like Julius Thomas or Ben Watson. When you are digging that deep, the hope is really that your guy finds the end zone...

Stephen Anderson has been very inefficient with his targets in each of the last two weeks, but he is still seeing enough volume (6 targets last week) to warrant TE2 consideration. Many might be debating he and Ricky Seals-Jones, but I give a large edge to “RSJ” in a much better matchup.

That’s about all for me this week. If there are major changes to the ranks, I will post them on Saturday. Don’t forget, the Dolphins and Jets kickoff on Saturday, so get Kenyan Drake locked into those lineups!