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Heading into Week 10, yours truly was ranked 11th of 130+ experts over at FantasyPros in tight end rankings accuracy. After last week’s debacle, I plummeted all the way to 34th. Yikes.
I wasn’t high on Eric Ebron, who finished second behind Zach Ertz. Many of the big names underwhelmed, as guys like Jonnu Smith, Jaylen Samuels, Mo Alie-Cox, and Tyler Higbee all finished as TE1s. Two Colts guys were TE1s (but not Jack Doyle) and two Steelers guys were TE1s (hello Jaylen!). The Rams nearly had two, as Gerald Everett was the TE13. In short, there were a ton of surprises at the position last week.
This week there are a couple of newcomers to the Top 20. Jeff Heuerman has gotten a bump in opportunity for Denver after the Demaryius Thomas trade, and the Titans have been phasing Jonnu Smith into their offense a little more over the last couple of weeks. We’ll also have to decide if we like either Rams tight end in the wake of Cooper Kupp’s season-ending injury, but I think Josh Reynolds is the clear winner there.
As always, hit me up in the Twitterverse @HeathCapps or send me an email at heathcapps19 at gmail dot com. Or comment away. Let’s do this!
Week 11 TE Rankings
| RANK | PLAYER | OPPONENT | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| RANK | PLAYER | OPPONENT | NOTES |
| 1 | Travis Kelce | @ LAR | He and Ertz are the two undisputed top options, but Kelce has the better matchup. |
| 2 | Zach Ertz | @ NO | He had 16 targets last week (14-145-2) so you can stop worrying about Golden Tate eating into his production. |
| 3 | O.J. Howard | @ NYG | I'm still buying him after last week's dud. He has been one of the few dependable big guys all season. |
| 4 | Greg Olsen | @ DET | With Darius Slay back at practice (and likely to cover Funchess) the outlook for Olsen is very good this week. |
| 5 | Trey Burton | vs. MIN | With Xavier Rhodes on Allen Robinson, the Bears should look Burton's way more this week. |
| 6 | Austin Hooper | vs. DAL | Classic case of jamming in what worked last week. In Week 10, Ertz destroyed Dallas and Hooper saw 11 targets (10-56-2). |
| 7 | Vance McDonald | @ JAX | With the strong boundary CBs in JAX, it makes sense for PIT to feed Vance this week. |
| 8 | Evan Engram | vs. TB | The Bucs allow the 2nd most points to enemy tight ends. Engram's upside is matched with some floor, for once. |
| 9 | Eric Ebron | vs. TEN | Strength on strength in this one, as Ebron continues to crush the red area and the Titans are stout against tight ends. |
| 10 | Jimmy Graham | @ SEA | Finally off the injury report and is a prime candidate for red area dominance against the Seahawks in a "revenge game." |
| 11 | Jack Doyle | vs. TEN | You could hope for a score from Graham or for Doyle to pay off with decent volume. I give Graham the edge. |
| 12 | Jared Cook | @ ARI | Ari has allowed average games to Kittle and Kelce in b2b weeks. Cook had 9 targets last week and Jordy is out? |
| 13 | Ricky Seals-Jones | vs. OAK | "RSJ" had 9 targets last week and this is a cushy matchup (OAK allows the 4th most points to tight ends). |
| 14 | Jeff Heuerman | @ LAC | The Chargers are middling against TEs but Heuerman can lean on volume now that Demaryius Thomas is a Texan. |
| 15 | Kyle Rudolph | @ CHI | The Bears don't allow a ton of yards to TEs, but they do allow scores. Sound like anyone you know? |
| 16 | Jordan Reed | vs. HOU | He has settled in as an unexciting floor option, even against the shoddy Bucs last week. Meh. |
| 17 | Jonnu Smith | @ IND | I actually think he offers some decent scoring upside, even if his floor is really low. |
| 18 | Benjamin Watson | vs. PHI | The definition of TD-dependent given Philly's ability to limit yardage to opposing tight ends. |
| 19 | C.J. Uzomah | @ BAL | Same story as Watson, except we trust Drew Brees more than we trust Andy Dalton. |
| 20 | Gerald Everett | vs. KC | He sneaks into the Top 20 given increased usage and the loss of Cooper Kupp. And the matchup is prime, too. |