Remember after your draft when you thought you aced the tight end position? Whether you got one of the top-tier studs or drafted two potential sleepers, there was little doubt in your mind you’d be getting TE production all season long. Fast forward a few weeks. If you’re like most fantasy football owners, you might be wondering if you should hit the waiver wire in search of a streamer. Regardless of your situation, our Week 3 fantasy TE PPR rankings can help.
Very few tight ends have been produced at a high level in both of the season’s first two weeks. Pat Freiermuth (@ Browns in Week 3) and Darren Waller (@ Titans) are probably the best examples. Obviously, fantasy owners aren’t worried about Travis Kelce (@ Colts), Mark Andrews (@ Patriots), or even Kyle Pitts (@ Seahawks), but a lot of the fringe guys, like Hunter Henry (vs. Ravens) and T.J. Hockenson (@ Vikings), have been big disappointments. Of course, the biggest bust so far has been George Kittle (@ Broncos), who’s yet to see the field because of a groin injury.
Kittle should be fine once he’s active, but the rest are bigger question marks. We still generally like Hockenson over most mid-tier guys, but we’re getting closer to a point where you can debate their merits. We’re still early enough in the year to stick with most of the drafted top-10 guys, but that might not be the case for long.
That’s especially true in PPR leagues, where guys who get more consistent targets, such as Gerald Everett (vs. Jaguars), Logan Thomas (vs. Eagles), Evan Engram (@ Chargers), Hayden Hurst (@ Jets), and Tyler Conklin (vs. Bengals), have higher floors. That’s what’s saving Dalton Schultz (@ Giants) while Dak Prescott (thumb) is out, though he’s now dealing with his own knee issue. Similarly, Freiermuth (@ Browns) should also always have PPR value despite a rocky QB situation.
The biggest issue at TE right now is that we still can’t say for sure which matchups are favorable and which are unfavorable. A few teams have struggled against tight ends in each of the first two weeks (Cardinals, Lions, Ravens) while a few have excelled (Bears, Rams, 49ers), but it’s always difficult to know how much of that is simply based on who they played. Arizona’s numbers will be inflated for a while after getting roasted by Kelce and Waller in Weeks 1 and 2, and Indy and Denver will look bad simply based on giving up two TE TDs apiece in Week 1. They both looked better in Week 2, so who’s to say what’s real and what isn’t?
Similarly, are we supposed to believe Cole Kmet (vs. Texans), Noah Fant (vs. Falcons), Robert Tonyan (@ Buccaneers), and Albert Okwuegbunam (vs. 49ers) are just useless? Of the four, Kmet has the highest snap share and is the most likely to get going soon, but the rest haven’t even always looked like the best TEs on their own teams. They’re running the most routes, but it’s tough to justify owning any of the three, never mind starting them.
There’s still a lot to learn about tight end, and heading into Week 3, start ’em, sit ’em decisions for roughly a quarter of your league won’t be easy. Playing a more proven producer is always a decent fallback option, but we’ll need to start adapting soon based on the data. Snaps, targets, red-zone targets, and opponents’ TE stats will become crucial, and we’ll be here to help you sort through it all.
We’ll be updating these standard TE PPR rankings as needed throughout the week, so check back for the latest changes and analysis.
Week 3 fantasy TE PPR rankings for standard leagues
Rankings based on full-point PPR scoring
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