2021 Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends for Week 15

One thing is certain...if you secured a first-round bye in your fantasy football league for this week, you are in the driver’s seat for a playoff run. Covid-19 protocols have decimated the player pool, so it’s important to get the most up to date news as possible.

What follows are the remaining tight ends for Week 15. We’ll be without Travis Kelce (who went HAM on Thursday night) and both Chargers tight ends (but hopefully you weren’t desperate enough to roll out Jared Cook or Donald Parham Jr.). There’s also no Hunter Henry or any remaining New England or Indianapolis tight ends. Wow at Henry’s Week 15 performance. Hopefully you survived his recent dip and could enjoy that performance. Anyway, moving on...

1 George Kittle vs Atlanta Falcons

He’s this week’s version of Dottie Hinson—he’s in a league of his own. I think the absence of running back Eli Mitchell is probably a boon, too. That’s less targets and more runs for Deebo Samuel—and more of the Kittle show for Jimmy Garoppolo.

2 Rob Gronkowski vs New Orleans Saints

3 Mark Andrews vs Green Bay Packers

Given the uncertainty at quarterback for Mark Andrews, I think Gronk gets the nod here. It looks like Tyler Huntley is slated to start in the place of Lamar Jackson.

4 Dawson Knox vs CAR

5 Dallas Goedert vs WAS

Another mini-tier. I think Goedert has the slightly better matchup...but he also has more uncertainty at quarterback (Hurts’ ankle injury) and a much lesser implied team total. Besides all that, Knox has been more dependable when healthy, anyway.

6 Mike Gesicki vs. New York Jets

7 Zach Ertz @ Detroit Lions

Ertz is nursing a hamstring injury, but is expected to play. Gesicki could see a larger role than normal given the expected absence of Jaylen Waddle (Covid-19 list). Someone on that Miami team will pop...the only question is who it will be.

8 Dalton Schultz @ New York Giants

His production has taken a hit with Cowboys finally getting healthy on offense (read: Amari Cooper), but we’ve officially reached the level of uncertainty at tight end and the Cowboys could be the highest-scoring offense of the day.

9 Kyle Pitts @ San Francisco 49ers

10 Pat Freiermuth vs. Tennessee Titans

I’ll take Pitts in an PPR format, but Freiermuth would get the nod in standard tilts. As this is a half-PPR set of rankings, Pitts gets the edge. But both of these matchups are brutal, gamers. Don’t expect any ceiling games, unless either of them falls into a couple of scores.

11 Noah Fant vs. Cincinnati Bengals

12 Gerald Everett @ Los Angeles Rams

I like Everett anyway, plus it sounds like Tyler Lockett (Covid-19 list) was ill on Thursday and had not produced the first of three mandatory negative tests as of Friday. Everett was solid against Washington three weeks ago (5-37-1), stymied by a stout San Fran defense last week (4-7-0), and managed a score last week against the Texans (2-15-1). You could do way worse for a streamer this week.

13 Tyler Conklin @ Chicago Bears

It sounds like Adam Thielen is legitimately questionable for this one, meaning you don’t need to expect Conklin to suddenly pick up a slew of additional targets. Odds are he’ll just give you a PPR floor.

14 David Njoku vs. Las Vegas Raiders

He was activated from the Covid-19 list on Thursday, while fellow tight end Austin Hooper and wideout Jarvis Landry are now on the list. He could best his season-high of seven targets...the only question is who will be slinging him the rock. Sounds like it’s Nick Mullens...

14 Ricky Seals-Jones @ Philadelphia Eagles

It’s a great matchup for tight ends. The only issues here are who his quarterback might be. Backup Kyle Allen or the newly signed Garrett Gilbert?

15 Foster Moreau @ Cleveland Browns

Love or hate him for last week’s flop, Moreau has a plus matchup against Cleveland—much better than the next two guys. And he’s still got an actual NFL QB slinging him the rock.

16 Cole Kmet vs. Minnesota Vikings

17 C.J. Uzomah @ Denver Broncos

18 Evan Engram vs. Dallas Cowboys

I actually like Engram’s matchup here, and it’s anecdotal but he’s done damage against Dallas in the past. But I can’t move him up given his quarterback situation and his production thus far in 2021.

19 Brevin Jordan @ Jacksonville Jaguars

20 James O’Shaughnessy vs. Houston Texans

Ah, digging deep in the same game. Jordan had seven targets last week and has a touchdown in two of his last three games. He’s really coming on here at season’s end. O’Shaughnessy could potentially give you a safer floor...potentially. But I don’t really see that much and Jordan has the higher upside.

Lastly, I’m into a dart throw with Josiah Deguara (at the Baltimore Ravens) if you’re desperate. It’s a prime matchup for tight ends and Deguara could be pulling a Brevin Jordan—he siphoned away plenty of snaps from vanilla veteran Marcedes Lewis last week (managing 3-44 on four targets). Go crazy!