Fantasy Football Week 13 Tight End Rankings: Trey McBride's expected to go

Here's how the TE position shakes out for Week 13

By Chris Towers

Dec 3, 2023 at 10:57 am ET • 2 min read

USATSI

Need a tight end to survive the bye weeks in Week 13?

Try Pat Freiermuth.

Need a tight end because you lost Mark Andrews last week?

Try Pat Freiermuth.

Need a tight end because you just haven't had a good one all season?

Yep, try Pat Freiermuth.

Freiermuth is rostered in 53% of CBS Fantasy leagues heading into Week 13, which means there's about a coin-flip's chance he's available in your league. And, unless you have Travis Kelce, Trey McBride, Sam LaPorta, or George Kittle, you should probably make sure he's not available in your league right now. And, with McBride missing the first two days of practice this week with a greoin injury, you probably need to go check to make sure Freiermuth isn't available, too. Just in case.

Is that an overreaction? Perhaps. Freiermuth had a huge game in Week 12, leading all players entering Monday night with 120 receiving yards while catching nine of 11 passes for the revitalized Steelers offense. However, he had just one catch on one target the previous week with pretty similar playing time (54% snaps, 39% route participation; 59% of snaps, 62% of routes in Week 13), so it could have just been a one-week fluke against a Bengals defense that has struggled with tight ends.

But, while we've seen the emergence of a few must-start options at tight end of late, it's still not a position where everyone in the league has one. And, unless you already do, can you really pass on someone who showed the kind of upside Freiermuth did in Week 12? Especially when it came immediately after the Steelers fired their offensive coordinator and showed a new emphasis on targeting the middle of the field in the passing game?

The biggest news at tight end as of Sunday morning is the status of Trey McBride, who is expected to play through a groin injury after getting back to practice late in the week. McBride's emergence as a high-value member of the Cardinals offense was enough for them to grant Zach Ertz his release this week, and that should guarantee McBride remains in the must-start range at TE moving forward. He has at least 13 PPR points in three of his past five games, with at least seven targets in four of five. He's a top-five option at this point.

Dallas Goedert (forearm) is getting close to returning, but he won't be active this week. He got a limited practice in Friday, and I'd guess we'll see him ramp up next week in hopes of playing in Week 14 against the Cowboys. He'll be joined on the sidelines by Dalton Schultz (hamstring), with Brevin Jordan a desperation No. 2 option if you need one to replace Schultz.

Here are my rankings for Week 13 at the tight end position: