FANTASY

Fantasy Player Projections

Tight Ends

Rank	Team	Player	Projection	Opponent
1			Jason Witten 7 rec, 79 yards, rec TD Witten was a non-factor in the first meeting but will play an integral role if Dallas is competitive in this contest. He has been targeted 47 times in the five games since that Week 1 matchup.	vs
2			Antonio Gates 6 rec, 65 yards, rec TD Gates had his best game of the season just before the bye, and now he comes back to face the Browns in Week 8. You drafted him as a TE1, and unless you also drafted Tony Gonzalez, you should start Gates every week.	at
3			Rob Gronkowski 7 rec, 65 yards, rec TD Gronk led the Patriots with six catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns against the Jets in Week 7. That moved Gronk back among the scoring leaders at tight end. Only a couple tight ends are outdoing him on a per-game basis.	at
4			Marcedes Lewis 5 rec, 62 yards, rec TD The Packers have surrendered touchdown passes to three tight ends this year, two of whom (Dwayne Allen and Kellen Davis) aren't as talented as Lewis. He is the Jaguars' best pass catcher, by default.	at
5			Tony Gonzalez 6 rec, 57 yards, rec TD Roddy White is the NFL's reigning king of targets, and 2012 was supposed to be Julio Jones' year to shine. Yet through six games Gonzalez has been thrown to just as many times (54) as Jones, and one more time than White.	at
6			Martellus Bennett 5 rec, 56 yards, rec TD Bennett's return to Big D will be filled with boos from the Dallas faithful. But Bennett will get a laugh in, too. He found open space in the first meeting with the Cowboys and could be an Eli Manning favorite in a game in which the short passing game will be critical.	at
7			Kyle Rudolph 5 rec, 55 yards, rec TD Don't be too alarmed by Rudolph's goose egg against the Cardinals. The Vikings leaned heavily on the running game, and Rudolph only got four targets -- his lowest amount of the season. He'll do much better against a weak Bucs secondary in Week 8.	vs
8			Coby Fleener 3 rec, 48 yards, rec TD The Titans are terrible at keeping opposing tight ends out of the end zone. Fleener has yet to find the end zone. Something has to give. We think it'll be the Titans' defense.	at
9			Jared Cook 4 rec, 46 yards, rec TD Cook isn't the most exciting option, but in his last game against Indianapolis he recorded a career-best nine catches for 103 yards. He could prove to be Matt Hasselbeck's favorite target again this week.	vs
10			Heath Miller 5 rec, 43 yards, rec TD Miller has scored five times in six games this season. His career high for touchdown catches is seven in 2007, so this is somewhat unchartered territory for the veteran tight end, who turned 30 this week. Miller is on pace to catch 83 passes, which would also be a career best.	vs
11			Joel Dreessen 4 rec, 40 yards, rec TD Dreessen has 14 catches for 131 yards and three touchdowns in his past four games. That makes him an intriguing start in Week 8 against the porous Saints.	vs
12			Jimmy Graham 5 rec, 60 yards Graham was unable to play in Week 7 because of a sore ankle, but the team is expecting him to suit up against Denver in Week 8. When he's active, he's a must-start tight end.	at
13			Dustin Keller 5 rec, 55 yards Keller caught seven passes for 93 yards and a touchdown at the Patriots in Week 7. Fantasy owners likely had him on their bench, but it's great to see him finally show some fantasy life again. The Dolphins give up a lot of passing yards, so Keller could be in for a big Week 8.	vs
14			Vernon Davis 5 rec, 50 yards The Seahawks clamped down on Davis, keeping him from making a catch for just the fourth time in his career. While Davis hasn't caught a touchdown pass since Week 3, he remains a top-notch fantasy option.	at
15			Jermichael Finley 3 rec, 41 yards O' where art thou, Jermichael Finley? The tight end was thrown to just twice in Week 7, and his rift with Aaron Rodgers appears to be taking a toll on his fantasy production. Finley began the year as an every-week starter, but he's not anymore.	vs
16			Brandon Pettigrew 3 rec, 40 yards Pettigrew's first career touchdown came against Seattle in 2009, but that was a much different defense. Last week the Seahawks didn’t allow Vernon Davis to catch a single pass.	vs
17			Rob Housler 4 rec, 38 yards Housler caught five passes for 54 yards at Minnesota in Week 7 in one of his biggest games of the season. But with six teams coming off byes, fantasy owners should find better options elsewhere in Week 8.	vs
18			Logan Paulsen 3 rec, 37 yards Forget the talk about Chris Cooley's return; Paulsen will be the top tight end for Washington going forward. That was apparent in last week's loss to New York, in which Paulsen led the Redskins in receiving. He is no Fred Davis, but he could see a lot of balls as Robert Griffin III's new security blanket.	at
19			Brent Celek 3 rec, 36 yards Celek has not reached 50 yards receiving in any of his four career games against Atlanta, and over his last four games of 2012 he has averaged just 33.7 yards with one touchdown catch. Celek has fallen back to mediocrity after jumping out to a fast start.	vs
20			Lance Kendricks 3 rec, 35 yards Kendricks checked in with just two catches for five yards in Week 7 against the Packers. Look elsewhere for fantasy help at the tight end position.	vs
21			Anthony Fasano 3 rec, 35 yards Fasano has 22 catches for 176 yards through six games for Miami, and he's third on the team in catches and yards despite leading the team in touchdown receptions (two). Even so, he's more of a bye-week replacement option in Week 8 at the Jets.	at
22			Brandon Myers 4 rec, 35 yards Myers caught seven passes for 44 yards against Jacksonville in Week 7. He doesn't log a lot of yardage, and he still doesn't have a touchdown, but he's not a bad bye-week replacement in PPR leagues against Kansas City.	at
23			Jacob Tamme 4 rec, 35 yards Tamme has 23 catches for 202 yards in six games this season. Unfortunately, he has just one touchdown catch, and fantasy owners need more production from their tight ends. Consider him a bye-week replacement in Week 8 against a bad Saints defense.	vs
24			Greg Olsen 3 rec, 29 yards Opposing tight ends have struggled against Chicago. Only Jason Witten registered more than 40 yards receiving, and only Witten found the end zone (we're excluding Tom Crabtree's touchdown on a fake field goal). Olsen's homecoming could be a bitter pill to swallow.	at
25			Benjamin Watson 3 rec, 25 yards Watson caught three passes for 36 yards against the Colts, which is about what fantasy owners should expect from him each week.	vs
26			Tony Moeaki 3 rec, 25 yards Moeaki has just 10 catches this season for 94 yards in six games, and he hasn't scored a touchdown yet. There are plenty of other options at the tight end position. Moeaki hasn't recaptured his abilities from his rookie season.	vs
27			Zach Miller 2 rec, 24 yards The Seahawks make little use of the tight end position, as evidenced by Miller's 18 targets this season and no touchdowns. The Lions' defense is one we'd generally recommend starting a tight end against, but not Miller.	at
28			Kellen Davis 2 rec, 22 yards A week ago, Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice hinted Davis' role in the offense would grow, but in the Monday night win over Detroit Davis was thrown to just twice, catching one ball for three yards. Even if Tice is sincere, Davis may not have it in him.	vs
29			Dallas Clark 2 rec, 20 yards The Bucs went to Clark a lot in Week 7 as the second option through the air against New Orleans. He caught five passes for 51 yards and a touchdown, but he's still a risky start in fantasy play because the Bucs don't use tight ends in the passing game regularly.	at
30			Aaron Hernandez 0 rec, 0 yards Hernandez did not make the trip to London with the team and is likely to miss the game with an ankle injury that has hampered him most of the season. Expect, Welker and Gronkowski to pick-up the slack	at

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