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Welcome to “byepocalypse,” where even tight ends who caught zero balls a week ago are bona fide TE1 options for Week 9. That’s right, give me all your Njoku and Watson shares. If not, can I interest you in some Austin Hooper on the road? No? Well, that scenario beats out plenty of others this week!
Get ready for some disgusting names, ladies and gents. Shout-out to these teams on byes for making this all happen: Bengals, Colts, Giants, Eagles, Cardinals, and Jaguars. Special shout-out to the Colts, who are robbing us of TWO viable tight end options this week. Anyway, let’s hop to it. Haggle away with me in the comments!
Week 9 Tight End Rankings
| RANK | PLAYER | OPPONENT | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| RANK | PLAYER | OPPONENT | NOTES |
| 1 | Travis Kelce | @ CLE | Ertz is on a bye, Gronk is banged up...Kelce is the #1 undisputed option at tight end. |
| 2 | Jared Cook | @ SF | I'd like him more if Beathard plays (and OAK is trailing). As is, he's still an elite option at an ugly position. |
| 3 | David Njoku | vs. KC | A guy who saw zero targets last week is a top three option? Yep, it's that bad around the TE spot... |
| 4 | O.J. Howard | @ CAR | Despite the low volume (4 targets last week) he always produces. That's solid gold at the TE spot. |
| 5 | George Kittle | vs. OAK | If Beathard plays I'll bump him up to the No. 2 spot, but the unknown of Mullens drives this ranking down. |
| 6 | Trey Burton | @ BUF | Too much scoring upside to get moved farther down this list. |
| 7 | Rob Gronkowski | vs. GB | I don't know how you bench him if you own him--unless you added Cook early this season. |
| 8 | Greg Olsen | vs. TB | This is a great matchup. Most weeks Olsen is a low-end TE1, but on "byepocalypse" is he a bona fide TE1. |
| 9 | Jordan Reed | vs. ATL | He had the volume last week (caught seven balls) but did little with his chances. |
| 10 | Kyle Rudolph | vs. DET | You better hope he scores a touchdown. |
| 11 | Jimmy Graham | @ NE | You better hope he scores a touchdown. |
| 12 | Benjamin Watson | vs. LAR | At home in what could be a high-flying game? You can do MUCH WORSE at tight end this week. |
| 13 | Vance McDonald | @ BAL | If the Ravens can stifle the Steelers run game, that's good news for the pass-catchers. |
| 14 | Austin Hooper | @ WAS | He isn't a great option on the road, but there simply aren't many great options this week. |
| 15 | Hayden Hurst | vs. PIT | Let's just say I think there's a chance that Hurst starts overtaking that grouping of tight ends in Baltimore. |
| 16 | Chris Herndon IV | @ MIA | He's on a scoring streak (three games in a row) but he's a candidate for poor volume. |
| 17 | Ed Dickson | vs. LAC | He caught a pair of balls and a score last week...yikes at this TE position in Week 9. Yikes. |
| 18 | Mike Gesicki | vs. NYJ | I'm simply trusting the athleticism and last week's slight uptick in volume (5 targets). |
| 19 | Cameron Brate | @ CAR | Always a chance he scores? Better chance than the next guy has of cresting 60 yards receiving... |
| 20 | Charles Clay | vs. CHI | I feel dirty recommending him, even as a low-end TE2 option. I'm sorry. Ugh. |