Fantasy Football Week 3 Tight End Preview: Streaming options, numbers to know, and more

I went into last week keeping a positive outlook about all of the top eight tight ends who struggled, but keeping a closer eye on Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, and Dalton Kincaid. There was very little between the three of them that made me feel better. Through two weeks, the trio has combined for 15 catches for 148 yards and zero touchdowns. I'd be pretty disgusted if they combined for those numbers in one week. Brock Bowers himself has 15 catches for 156 yards this season. 

But what are you going to do about it?

The likely answer is nothing. Yes, you saw what I did there. Even Isaiah Likely fell back to earth in Week 2. So, while I'm going to list streamers for you below, like always, I'm not actually starting any of them over any of these tight ends. And I'm a long way from making that decision with Kelce and Andrews. I'm much closer with Kincaid.

Through two weeks, the Bills have only thrown 42 passes. They've scored 65 points in those two games and won both. While they won't stay this run-heavy, the feedback they're getting from this approach is positive, so I don't see a big change. In a low-volume attack, Kincaid is going to need a big target share. Through two weeks, he's been targeted on 14.6% of the Bills passes. That's tied for second on the team. with Keon Coleman. If you're going to be a low-volume tight end, you're going to need touchdowns or downfield targets. Kincaid currently has zero end zone targets and negative air yards on the season. 

Now, I want to be careful here. That last paragraph sounds like a compelling case for dropping Kincaid and streaming. I am not there yet. He is still a high-end prospect attached to Josh Allen. The Bills have only thrown three passes into the end zone, so his lack of a target there is not alarming yet. I'm just saying there is nothing in the profile to feel good about. At all. If that doesn't change soon, Kincaid managers may want to make a change. If T.J. Hockenson is available in your league, it wouldn't be a bad idea at all.

As always, you can find my full projections for every position and every player over at Sportsline.

Here's everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 3:

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Week 3 TE Preview

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The following players are not being projected to play Week 3 at this time. Here's what it means:

Taysom Hill QB NO New Orleans • #7 Age: 34 • Experience: 8 yrs. Both Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau are streamable.

• 50 -- Travis Kelce has not topped 50 yards in a regular season game since Week 14 of last year. It's the first time in his career he's gone five regular season games in a row without hitting that mark.
• 19.6 -- George Kittle has averaged nearly 20 FPPG when Deebo Samuel has missed time over the past two years. He may be TE1.
• 31.9% -- Hunter Henry leads all tight ends with a 31.9% target share.
• 2.95 -- Mike Gesicki is averaging an elite 2.95 yards per route run.
• 3 -- Isaiah Likely leads all tight ends with three red zone targets.
• 11.1% -- Sam LaPorta's target share is down to 11.1%, tied with Josh Oliver for 47th at the position.

Kyle Pitts TE ATL Atlanta • #8 Age: 23 • Experience: 4 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs KC KC -3.5 O/U 46.5 OPP VS TE 4th PROJ PTS 8.3 TE RNK 10th YTD Stats REC 6 TAR 7 REYDS 46 TD 1 FPTS/G 8.3

David Njoku TE CLE Cleveland • #85 Age: 28 • Experience: 8 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs NYG CLE -6.5 O/U 38.5 OPP VS TE 6th PROJ PTS 9.5 TE RNK 9th YTD Stats REC 4 TAR 5 REYDS 44 TD 0 FPTS/G 8.4

Brock Bowers TE LV Las Vegas • #89 Age: 21 • Experience: Rookie Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs CAR LV -5.5 O/U 40.5 OPP VS TE 29th PROJ PTS 11.4 TE RNK 3rd YTD Stats REC 15 TAR 17 REYDS 156 TD 0 FPTS/G 15.3

Week 3 Streamers (TE Preview)

Hunter Henry TE NE New England • #85 Age: 29 • Experience: 9 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ NYJ NYJ -6.5 O/U 38.5 OPP VS TE 26th TE RNK 13th ROSTERED 26% YTD Stats REC 10 TAR 15 REYDS 127 TD 0 FPTS/G 11.4 Both Jacoby Brissett and Alex Van Pelt have an extended history of featuring the tight end in the passing game, so the fact that Henry leads the Patriots in target share shouldn't be that surprising, especially when you look at their wide receivers. But it is also worth remembering that Henry only had two catches on three targets in Week 1. I'm not starting him over any of the top nine tight ends, but he is the top streamer.

Mike Gesicki TE CIN Cincinnati • #88 Age: 28 • Experience: 7 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs WAS CIN -7.5 O/U 48.5 OPP VS TE 32nd TE RNK 11th ROSTERED 24% YTD Stats REC 10 TAR 13 REYDS 109 TD 0 FPTS/G 10.5 The Chiefs linebackers are still trying to chase Gesicki down. He had seven catches for 91 yards in Week 2, and now he gets to face arguably the worst pass defense in the NFL on Monday Night Football. I will be less enthused about starting Gesicki if Tee Higgins is able to return, but I still wouldn't rule it out.

Top DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

Trey McBride TE ARI Arizona • #85 Age: 24 • Experience: 3 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs DET DET -3 O/U 52.5 OPP VS TE 30th PROJ PTS 15.3 TE RNK 2nd YTD Stats REC 11 TAR 15 REYDS 97 TD 0 FPTS/G 10.4 McBride has a 28.8% target share through two weeks. Marvin Harrison doesn't appear to be harming his volume, though he hasn't helped his efficiency as much as I had hoped yet either. Still, he's the clear top play on this slate in a shootout against the Detroit Lions.

Contrarian DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

Jake Ferguson TE DAL Dallas • #87 Age: 25 • Experience: 3 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs BAL BAL -1 O/U 49 OPP VS TE 19th PROJ PTS 9.2 TE RNK 6th YTD Stats REC 3 TAR 5 REYDS 15 TD 0 FPTS/G 4.5 We're expecting Ferguson to return in Week 3, and his price is about $1,000 too low. Luke Schoonmaker saw six targets in Ferguson's absence last week because the position is just etched into Dak Prescott's target tree. Hopefully, the injury designation holds down Ferguson's roster rate. It's rare we get a high-target, low-rostered tight end who is also underpriced and playing in the game with the biggest total on the slate.

My full set of Week 3 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 3. Projected stats for all starting tight ends are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.

Who should you start and sit this week? And which surprising running back could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Week 2 Fantasy rankings for every position, plus see which RB comes out of nowhere to crack the top five, all from the model that has outperformed experts big-time.