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The bad news is the Chiefs and Rams are off this week. The good news is this is the last of the NFL bye weeks. Come Week 13, your rosters should be fully available—sans injuries, of course. As for tight ends, we’ll have to do without Travis Kelce and Gerald Everett this week. You may scoff at the mention of Everett, but he cracked the Top 20 in this space last week and delivered a pair of scores in an epic Monday night game. He’ll be back on the radar in Week 13.
For now, let’s see what’s happening in Week 12, eh?
Tight Ends in Week 12
| RANK | PLAYER | OPPONENT | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| RANK | PLAYER | OPPONENT | NOTES |
| 1 | Zach Ertz | vs. NYG | Kelce (107) and Ertz (105) lead all TEs in targets by a mile--Kittle (76) is third. Kelce is on bye. |
| 2 | George Kittle | @ TB | The Bucs allow the 2nd most points to tight ends. Of available TEs, Kittle ranks 2nd in targets and 3rd in RZ targets. |
| 3 | Greg Olsen | vs. SEA | He has a touchdown in four of his last five games. We call that a massive floor at the TE position. |
| 4 | David Njoku | @ CIN | Officially in "WTH" territory. Njoku had one target last week, but CIN allows the 3rd most points to tight ends. |
| 5 | Cameron Brate | vs. SF | O.J. Howard is shelved for the season, making Brate an ELITE threat to score (elite for a TE, at least). |
| 6 | Jack Doyle | vs. MIA | Only saw four targets last week, but TEN is brutal for TEs and he managed 4-43. Ebron had zero targets. |
| 7 | Rob Gronkowski | @ NYJ | Hooper has a tough matchup, and do you really want to stream Vance over Gronk? I might, but I don't love it. |
| 8 | Vance McDonald | @ DEN | DEN vs. TEs over the last four weeks: Kelce (6-79-1), Jordan Thomas (1-7-1), BYE, and Antonio Gates (5-80-1). |
| 9 | Austin Hooper | @ NO | The Saints allow the 2nd fewest points to TEs and limited Ertz to a 2-15 line last week. |
| 10 | Jared Cook | @ BAL | He's all the Raiders have and should produce something, even if it's not pretty. |
| 11 | Jordan Reed | @ DAL | He shredded the Texans last week (7-71-1) and the Cowboys are middling (16th fewest points) against TEs. |
| 12 | Trey Burton | @ DET | You have to ding him given the presence of Chase Daniel at QB...but it's hard to go lower. |
| 13 | Evan Engram | @ PHI | Philly allows the 3rd fewest points to TEs, but they haven't faced many good and/or healthy ones, either. |
| 14 | Eric Ebron | vs. MIA | You can't fade his red zone prowess too much. His 17 RZ looks leads all Colts players (TY is next with 13, Doyle has 5). |
| 15 | C.J. Uzomah | vs. CLE | Five targets last week (3-41) and CLE has been shredded of late by Kelce (7-99-2) and Hooper (10-56-1). |
| 16 | Jeff Heuerman | vs. PIT | Quietly ranks 4th among all tight ends in RZ looks (13) and has 21 targets and two scores over his last three games. |
| 17 | Nick Vannett | @ CAR | Quietly the third option in this offense behind Lockett and Baldwin, and CAR is the literal worst against TEs. |
| 18 | Jonnu Smith | @ HOU | HOU was shredded by the spectre of Jordan Reed last week. Delanie Walker's clone should find a way to produce. |
| 19 | Kyle Rudolph | vs. GB | Any TE in a good matchup with a competent QB gets the nod over Rudolph, which is why I am low on him. |
| 20 | Chris Herndon IV | vs. NE | I'd like the Jets' leading receiver more if his QB play were more reliable. Great matchup against the Patriots, though. |