As of Tuesday evening, it looks as if the Saints are going to go marching in to the Superdome next Sunday without at least two of their top three wide receivers. Michael Thomas is already on injured reserve and Rashid Shaheed is looking doubtful with a quad injury. Chris Olave is still in the concussion protocol, but looks to be moving the right direction. If the names A.T. Perry and Keith Kirkwood don't get you excited, then you should expect a large role for the tight ends.
All of those injuries are enough for me to project Juwan Johnson and Taysom Hill both as top-12 tight ends. Hill has been there many times this season, but I expect the increased targets to mean a higher floor than he's typically had. Johnson was a breakout tight end candidate coming into the year before injuries derailed that hype train.
I have Johnson projected for seven targets in Week 13 and that's been more than enough. In the six career games he's seen at least six targets he's averaged 12.3 PPR FPPG and he's never scored fewer than eight Fantasy points. He's a superb bye week replacement as long as the injury picture doesn't change by Sunday.
If you miss the Muth, Johnson is the clear top stream this week. In fact, I may like Johnson more than Freiermuth for Week 13 only. As long as Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed are out, Johnson has top-five upside.
Njoku dominates targets from every quarterback in Cleveland not names Deshaun Watson. If Joe Flacco takes over I expect that to remain the same with higher quality targets. The fact that Amari Cooper is banged up only helps Njoku's appeal.
McBride has a terrible matchup against the Steelers and Kyler Murray hasn't looked great as a passer. I could not care less. McBride and Travis Kelce are the only tight ends who rank top three in both yards per route run and targets per route run. He's an elite tight end talent in an elite role and he's in play every week regardless of the matchup.
