Which tight ends have the most favorable fantasy matchups? Who is the best streaming option? And who has a poor matchup?
Here’s a breakdown of five notable tight ends featured in Sean Koerner, Chris Raybon and Matthew Freedman’s Week 16 fantasy football rankings.
The No. 1 TE
Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
Kelce is once again the unanimous No. 1 tight end. His 19.5 fantasy points per game this season leads all tight ends, and his 273.0 total points is 33.8 more than the next closest tight end (Zach Ertz).
Kelce is one of the few tight ends who sees receiver-like volume, garnering 28% of the Chiefs’ market share of targets. He and George Kittle are one of two tight ends in the league seeing over 26% target share for their teams within that time frame.
The Most Favorable Matchup
Jared Cook, Oakland Raiders
The Broncos have been abysmal against tight ends over the past six weeks, allowing a league-high 10.77 yards per attempt and 94.80 receiving yards per game to the position, per Sports Info Solutions.
More importantly, Cook has been the most heavily utilized player through the air for the Raiders, seeing 22% of their target share since Week 10, while everyone else is lower than 17%.
He possesses a solid 6.3 average rank among our rankers.
Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles
Ertz has been effective no matter who is starting for the Eagles. In the eight games that Ertz has played with Nick Foles since 2017, Ertz is averaging 9.12 targets per game.
He draws a Texans defense on Sunday that has allowed the fifth-most receiving per game (75.40) to tight ends over the past six weeks. On Sunday’s main slate, Ertz leads all tight ends in median projections in the FantasyLabs Player Models.
Matchup Downgrade
Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots
Gronk has been hit or miss this season, single-digit fantasy points in six of his 11 games this season. Things may not get easier for him this week taking on a Bills defense that is allowing just 6.15 yards per attempt and 34.29 receiving yards per game to opposing tight ends.
The Best Streamer
Chris Herndon, New York Jets
Herndon could be a viable streamer as he’s third on the Jets in target share over the past six weeks, and he could see more stable target share if Quincy Enunwa (ankle) is ruled out again.
Overall, the Packers have been mediocre against tight ends, ranking 22nd in pass DVOA against them. Herndon carries an average rank of 14.3 for Week 16.
Photo Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Pictured Above: New York Jets tight end Chris Herndon (89)
