Fantasy Football Week 9 Tight End Rankings: Can Trey McBride help replace Darren Waller?

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The tight end position doesn't look particularly deep in Week 9 of the Fantasy Football season, but there's a simple explanation for it: Four guys who would typically rank in the top 12 are either on bye or dealing with injuries that are expected to keep them out.

Once you account for that, that position actually looks pretty good for Week 9. Sure, not so much if you've been relying on Sam LaPorta, Darren Waller, Evan Engram, or George Kittle. But even with those four out of the picture, I'd say there are probably close to 12 tight ends I feel pretty good about starting this week. Before we get to the full ranking, let's talk about one new name in that group, and one name I'm not counting among those right now, despite being on a very good run.

Is Trey McBride for real?

I think so. The 23-year-old put together a huge performance in Week 8, catching 10 of 14 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown, in the first game after Zach Ertz was placed on IR. McBride's been a very good receiver when given the opportunity this season, and we're talking about a second-round pick in 2022 who posted very good college production (over 1,100 yards in his final season) and tested well at the Combine. And he's likely getting a QB upgrade in the next few weeks.

Which is all to say: Yeah, I'm buying in! Will McBride repeat his Week 8 production every week? Certainly not! But the Cardinals have few real target earners outside of Marquise Brown, so McBride might legitimately be the No. 2 option in the passing game here moving forward, on a team that figures to be playing from behind a lot. He probably won't be in the top tier at tight end, but I could absolutely see him surpassing the David Njoku/Kyle Pitts types who typically populate the bottom half of the top 12 at the position.

I'm viewing McBride as a top-12 option for Week 9, and likely the rest of the way. Obviously, if Ertz comes back, that could hurt him, but with McBride looking much more likely to be a key piece for 2024 and beyond, that may not even be much of a risk. McBride should be the top target on waivers in Week 9 if you need tight end help.

Can you still trust Taysom Hill?

Hill has been terrific of late, with three straight games of at least 12 PPR points, culminating in a massive 20.7 PPR points in Week 8. And yet, coming off that game, I've got him ranked lower than I have in the past couple of weeks. What's up with that?

Well, the problem is, his usage changed considerably in Week 8. With Juwan Johnson back from his calf injury, Hill ran routes on just 12 of 31 dropbacks and had just one catch as a result. That left Hill to depend on his usage as a short-yardage QB to put up points, and he did very well in that regard, scoring two touchdowns and rushing for 63 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It was an impressive performance, but it probably wasn't sustainable.

Last season, Hill had a similar breakout in Week 5, rushing for 112 yards and three touchdowns, while adding a passing touchdown. It was a massive performance, but it proved difficult to follow up – he followed that up with 4.5, 10.1, 8.3, 1.1, and 0.1 PPR points in his next six games. That's not to say Hill can't be useful in that role – he did have a four-game stretch of double-digit Fantasy points in December – but it makes him extremely touchdown dependent, and without any kind of receptions floor to help make up for those times when he doesn't score.

Unless Hill's role changes in Week 9 to one more like a traditional tight end, I'm going to rank him as a TE2. If he scores a touchdown, he'll probably be pretty useful, but good luck ever predicting when that's going to happen.

Here are my rankings for Week 9 at the tight end position: