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USATSI

Last week was the first week that I ranked Mark Andrews based on where he projected, which was outside the top 20 tight ends. In previous weeks, I had fudged Andrews' ranking based on his reputation and the fact that I wasn't going to sit him anywhere. He responded with his best game of the year, which was just 9.5 PPR Fantasy points, the third-best tight end on his own team. 

This week, the internal debate I am having is over Sam LaPorta. Coming off his bye, the Lions tight end has not scored double-digit Fantasy points in a game yet this year. He also does not have a game with more than five targets. In the projections, he's closer to TE24 than he is to TE12. I'm buying into the narrative that the Lions may have changed some things on their bye week and pushing LaPorta up into my top 12 in the rankings.

One guy you may have added last week to start during LaPorta's bye is Tucker Kraft. If you did, I would start Kraft again. He has 141 receiving yards and three scores in his last two games. I'm not sitting him until he gives me a reason to. 

Here's everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 5:

Week 6 TE Preview
TE Preview
Who's Out

The following players are not being projected to play Week 6 at this time. Here's what it means:

CLE Cleveland • #85
Age: 28 • Experience: 8 yrs.
Njoku returned from his high ankle sprain but suffered a knee injury. I'd prefer to sit all Browns.
TE Preview
Numbers to Know
  • 22.8% -- Dallas Goedert leads all tight ends with a 22.8% target share. Expect that to decrease with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith back.
  • 27% -- Trey McBride's 27% TPRR leads all qualified tight ends. Hopefully, that opportunity turns into Fantasy production soon.
  • 2.27 -- Brock Bowers' 2.27 yards per route run is second only to Goedert. Bowers is the Dynasty TE1 and may compete for the redraft title as well.
  • 15.9 -- Tucker Kraft is averaging 15.9 PPR FPPG in three games with Jordan Love. That would tie George Kittle for TE1.
  • 6 -- Colby Parkinson has six red zone targets. Only George Kittle has more. Parkinson has not scored a touchdown.
  • 19 -- Travis Kelce has 19 targets over the past two weeks. It appears he'll be in contention for TE1 overall this season, thanks to the injuries.
TE Preview
Matchups that matter
ATL Atlanta • #8
Age: 24 • Experience: 4 yrs.
Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP
@ CAR ATL -6 O/U 47.5
OPP VS TE
27th
PROJ PTS
9.1
TE RNK
7th
YTD Stats
REC
15
TAR
23
REYDS
193
TD
1
FPTS/G
8.1
WAS Washington • #86
Age: 33 • Experience: 12 yrs.
Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP
@ BAL BAL -6.5 O/U 52.5
OPP VS TE
29th
PROJ PTS
8.6
TE RNK
18th
YTD Stats
REC
17
TAR
24
REYDS
160
TD
0
FPTS/G
7
BUF Buffalo • #86
Age: 25 • Experience: 2 yrs.
Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP
@ NYJ BUF -2.5 O/U 41
OPP VS TE
32nd
PROJ PTS
7.8
TE RNK
9th
YTD Stats
REC
15
TAR
24
REYDS
166
TD
1
FPTS/G
7.5
NE New England • #85
Age: 29 • Experience: 9 yrs.
Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP
vs HOU HOU -7 O/U 38
OPP VS TE
27th
PROJ PTS
7.5
TE RNK
19th
YTD Stats
REC
16
TAR
25
REYDS
180
TD
0
FPTS/G
6.8
TE Preview
Waiver Wire Targets
Week 6 Streamers (TE Preview)
NYJ N.Y. Jets • #83
Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs.
Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP
vs BUF BUF -2.5 O/U 41
OPP VS TE
17th
TE RNK
13th
ROSTERED
42%
YTD Stats
REC
17
TAR
27
REYDS
181
TD
0
FPTS/G
7
I won't lie to you guys. There's not a good streaming tight end option this week. Go make sure Evan Engram isn't available, he's a free agent in 30% of leagues. Conklin does have 23 targets in his last three games combined, which is awesome. He's averaged double-digit Fantasy points in that stretch, which is good enough to qualify him as the top streamer, even in a bad matchup.
TB Tampa Bay • #88
Age: 25 • Experience: 3 yrs.
Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP
@ NO TB -3.5 O/U 41.5
OPP VS TE
23rd
TE RNK
15th
ROSTERED
37%
YTD Stats
REC
17
TAR
25
REYDS
148
TD
0
FPTS/G
6
Otton was disappointing last week, but he did have 17 targets in his two games prior. The Saints haven't allowed a tight end to score against them this season, but they have seen two different tight ends earn double-digit targets against them.
TE Preview
DFS Plays
Top DFS Play
Projections powered by Sportsline
DAL Dallas • #87
Age: 25 • Experience: 3 yrs.
Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP
vs DET DET -3 O/U 52.5
OPP VS TE
27th
PROJ PTS
12
TE RNK
2nd
YTD Stats
REC
22
TAR
30
REYDS
229
TD
0
FPTS/G
11.2
Ferguson is an excellent cash game option. He has seen at least seven targets in every game but one, and he's playing in what is projected to be one of the highest-scoring games on the slate. He's averaging more than 13 PPR FPPG in his last three games despite the fact that he still hasn't scored a touchdown.
Contrarian DFS Play
Projections powered by Sportsline
GB Green Bay • #85
Age: 24 • Experience: 2 yrs.
Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP
vs ARI GB -5.5 O/U 49.5
OPP VS TE
24th
PROJ PTS
10
TE RNK
5th
YTD Stats
REC
16
TAR
22
REYDS
218
TD
3
FPTS/G
11.2
Kraft's production last week looked a little fluky, and we're expecting the Packers to get Romeo Doubs back. For those reasons, I don't expect him to be highly rostered. But he's been arguably the best tight end in Fantasy with Jordan Love, and this game could easily be a shootout. His price is at least $500, too low.
TE Preview
Heath's Projections

My full set of Week 6 Fantasy football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. You can find them here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 6. Projected stats for all starting tight ends are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.