Fantasy Football Week 5 Tight End Preview: Jimmy Graham and Tyler Eifert lead updated streaming options

It isn't a great week for streaming tight ends. No one below 70% ownership ranks in my top 10 at the position. But it is an eventful week, at the very least. It's also not exactly terrible, with my top three streamers all ranking in the top 15

At the beginning of the week I was ready to go all in on Jack Doyle, who once again looks like the most-targeted tight end in Indianapolis. But then T.Y. Hilton came back to practice. You know who hasn't yet? Davanta Adams. And that's why Jimmy Graham now occupies the top spot. 

Tyler Eifert has been under consideration. It's just hard to balance how bad he's been with how bad Arizona has been against the position. I do expect that game to be high scoring, so I'll stand by my take that I'd stream Eifert over O.J. Howard. 

One name we weren't considering at all early in the week was Jeremy Sprinkle. But a huge hole in that passing game has opened up and there's little doubt Washington should be pass-heavy against the Patriots. And is just so happens that Sprinkle's QB this week loves throwing to his tight ends. More on that below. 

So who are we benching for these streamers? Howard and Jared Cook for sure. I also have Eric Ebron below all the streamers with T.Y. Hilton back. 

Week 5 TE Preview

The following players are not being projected to play Week 5 at this time. Here's what it means:

Vance McDonald TE PIT Pittsburgh • #89 Age: 34 • Experience: 8 yrs. Nick Vannett may be the Steelers starting tight end for the near future.

Vernon Davis TE WAS Washington • #85 Age: 40 • Experience: 15 yrs. Both Davis and Jordan Reed will miss Week 5 with concussions. That leaves Jeremy Sprinkle as the team's starting tight end.

• 11.2 - Travis Kelce's yards per target, the best among tight ends. He hasn't reached the end zone as much as we'd like, but he's still the best tight end in Fantasy. 
• 38 - The number of targets for Evan Engram and Zach Ertz, which leads the position. 
• 4.9 - Average targeted air yards for Darren Waller. If that continues he's going to be much more valuable in PPR than non.
• 108 - PPR Fantasy points allowed by the Cardinals this season. No other team has allowed more than 78.
  
• 6 - Plays of more than 20 yards for Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews. Andrews is still playing limited snaps, but he's getting the most valuable snaps for Fantasy. 

Matchups that matter

Tyler Eifert TE JAC Jacksonville • #88 Age: 34 • Experience: 9 yrs. Week 5 Matchup vs. ARI Week 4 was the first time the Cardinals didn't allow the No. 1 tight end in non-PPR. Instead they gave up a top-five performance to Will Dissly. If ever there's a week to use Eifert, this is it.

Week 5 Streamer

Jimmy Graham TE NO New Orleans • #80 Age: 37 • Experience: 12 yrs. Ownership 66% Graham should see an increased target share with Adams out and will be one of the few targets Aaron Rodgers trusts in the red zone.

Tyler Eifert TE JAC Jacksonville • #88 Age: 34 • Experience: 9 yrs. Ownership 25% We haven't actually talked too much about Eifert, and that's because he hasn't done much. He does have a 15% target share, and he saw a pair of red-zone targets in Week 4. If he hadn't dropped one of them, he'd be even more popular this week.

Jack Doyle TE IND Indianapolis • #84 Age: 34 • Experience: 9 yrs. Ownership 42% I liked Doyle a lot more when I didn't expect T.Y. Hilton to play. As it is, I still like him in PPR more than Eric Ebron. This should be a high-scoring game against the Chiefs with the Colts throwing plenty to chase the score.

Jeremy Sprinkle TE DAL Dallas • #87 Age: 30 • Experience: 6 yrs. Ownership 0% Colt McCoy is starting for Washington. He's targeted tight ends at a 28% rate during his time in Washington, and Sprinkle is the last man standing at tight end with Reed and Davis out. This is a desperation play, but it's not an awful one.

Stash

Hunter Henry TE NE New England • #85 Age: 29 • Experience: 9 yrs. Ownership 48% Every week that passes, Henry gets closer to returning and his ownership gets lower. I get it, and now that the byes are starting, it should only go lower. I'm still very interested in stashing him if I'm streaming weekly because if Henry comes back as what we expected, I still expect him to be a top-six option.

Top Plays

Mark Andrews TE BAL Baltimore • #89 Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs. Week 5 Prices FanDuel $6,100 DraftKings $4,800 Andrews has at least seven targets in every game this season and has scored in three of four games. I don't believe Monday night was an indication that this Pittsburgh defense has figured things out, either. Andrews should be a high volume option once again with enormous upside in a game that could be high scoring with the way Baltimore's defense has played.

Contrarian Plays

Evan Engram TE JAC Jacksonville • #17 Age: 30 • Experience: 8 yrs. Week 5 Prices FanDuel $6,300 DraftKings $5,800 I don't care how bad the matchup is. If I can get one of the top tight ends on the slate at below 5% ownership I'm going to do it. There should still be plenty of targets as the Giants chase the score without Saquon Barkley.