The past two weeks were rough on our TE rankings. First, we had a four-team bye that took out at least three sure starters; then, we had a two-team bye that knocked out two starters, including Travis Kelce. Now, we have a six-team bye affecting our Week 9 fantasy TE rankings for standard leagues, and we’ll be without one “must-start” and several other potential sleepers.
George Kittle is the biggest name missing from our rankings because of bye weeks, but Pat Freiermuth, Greg Dulcich, and maybe even Dalton Schultz also carry some fantasy cache. That’s not even counting David Njoku, who’s also on bye but missed last week because of an ankle injury.
Fortunately, most of the top TEs are still in action this week. Perhaps even more important, all of the top TE matchups are still in action, as the Giants are the only idle team in the top 15 in terms of fantasy points per game (FPPG) allowed to the position. As you can imagine, there are plenty of intriguing sleepers this week.
Topping that list is Evan Engram (vs. Raiders in Week 9), who sees regular targets and now gets a matchup against a Raiders’ defense allowing the third-most FPPG to TEs. Juwan Johnson (vs. Ravens), Hunter Henry (vs. Colts), Robert Tonyan (@ Lions), and Will Dissly (@ Cardinals) are also in good spots and can be streamed in 10- or 12-team leagues. Unfortunately, most of the other top matchups either go to highly owned studs (Zach Ertz vs. Seahawks, Gerald Everett @ Falcons, Tyler Higbee @ Buccaneers) or someone you might not start in a 14-team league (Austin Hooper/Geoff Swaim @ Chiefs)
Going a bit deeper, Cole Kmet (vs. Dolphins), Logan Thomas (vs. Vikings), and Noah Fant (@ Cardinals) also have top-12 matchups, but they’ve been even more disappointing than the players listed above. Still, in deep leagues, you might have no better options. Thomas is by far the riskiest after his zero-target performance in Week 8, but assuming he has a clean bill of health, he should be decent in Week 9.
On the flip side, we’re a bit leery of Irv Smith Jr. (@ Commanders), T.J. Hockenson (vs. Packers), Dawson Knox (@ Jets), Hayden Hurst (vs. Panthers), and Cade Otton (vs. Rams). All but Knox have matchups against top-10 TE defenses, and Knox simply hasn’t shown a high-enough ceiling this year for us to trust him in even a neutral matchup. Kyle Pitts (vs. Chargers) is in a similar spot, but we can’t help but continue to give him the benefit of the doubt because of his skill set and Atlanta’s lack of other receiving threats.
Ultimately, though, it will come down to whether the players above manage to get into the end zone. Any TE can do that in any given week, but the matchup numbers tell us who’s more likely to pad their stats with some catches and yards in addition to scoring. As long as a TE is getting a decent number of targets, he should be able to take advantage of favorable matchups. However, even with that said, virtually every TE after the top tier is a risk…and in a week like this, you’re gonna have to roll the dice with someone.
We’ll be updating these standard TE rankings as needed throughout the week, so check back for the latest changes and analysis.
Week 9 fantasy TE rankings for standard leagues
Rankings based on standard, non-PPR scoring
Hits: 0
