We've seen dark days before at the tight end position. I'm not sure they've ever been this dark. For the 2024 NFL season 10 tight ends are averaging at least 10 PPR Fantasy points per game. It's so much worse than it sounds.
Two of the top 10, Taysom Hill and Dallas Goedert, are out for the regular season. Another, David Njoku may be out this week but has Dorian Thompson-Robinson starting even if he plays. Speaking of backup quarterbacks, Travis Kelce may be without Patrick Mahomes. Kelce also hasn't score double-digit Fantasy points in December yet and hasn't scored a touchdown in his last five games. Oh yeah, and that top 10 includes Cade Otton, who is only on the list because he got to play a few games without both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
All of that is to say that I only have seven tight ends projected to score double-digit PPR Fantasy points in Week 16. One of them is Hunter Henry, who hasn't scored a touchdown since October 13th. Outside of that, you're probably best off hoping from a touchdown, which is why Pat Freiermuth, Sam LaPorta, and Tucker Kraft all project as top 10 options.
Here's everything else you need to know about tight end in the Fantasy playoffs:
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Playoff TE Preview
Who's Out
The following players are not being projected to play in Week 15 at this time. Here's what it means:
You can't trust a backup tight end against the Eagles.
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Numbers to Know
- 0 -- Trey McBride still has zero receiving touchdowns on the season. He's also just 1.2 FPPG away from being TE1 per game.
- 27.9% -- Brenton Strange saw a 27.9% target share in Week 15.
- 7 -- Sam LaPorta has at least seven targets in back-to-back games. He didn't have more than six targets in any game in the first 13 weeks of the season.
- 67.4 -- Noah Gray has scored 67.4 PPR Fantasy points since Week 11. Travis Kelce has scored 45 points in that stretch.
- 433 -- Hunter Henry has run 433 routes this season. Travis Kelce, Brock Bowers, and Cade Otton are the only tight ends who have run more routes.
Matchups that matter
Waiver Wire Targets
The Doug Pederson offense has long featured the tight end and that continued in Week 15 with Brenton Strange seeing 12 targets in relief of Evan Engram. While I do value Strange as a top-12 tight end and a great streamer against a good matchup, it's worth mentioning that Engram missed four games earlier this season only saw 18 targets in the four games combined.
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Unlike Strange, I don't view Smartt as a top-12 option. I don't like the matchup as much against Denver and Smartt only saw six targets last week. Still, I would start him over Kyle Pitts or Cole Kmet and he's my second-favorite streaming option.
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DFS Plays
The fact that McBride is TE3 per game with no receiving TDs is pretty ridiculous. This week he faces a Panthers defense that has given up the most touchdowns to opposing tight ends. This has to be the week the streak ends, right? McBride has scored at least 14 PPR Fantasy points four straight weeks without a score, so the floor is very solid even if the streak continues.
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Henry's price continues to fall after another disappointing week. He somehow has fewer touchdowns on the season than Trey McBride, who still hasn't caught a touchdown. Still, he has eight or more targets in three of his last four games and this should be a high volume pass game for Drake Maye.
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Heath's Projections
My full set of Week 16 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 16. Projected stats for all starting tight ends are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.
