Last week was the first week that I ranked Mark Andrews based on where he projected, which was outside the top 20 tight ends. In previous weeks, I had fudged Andrews' ranking based on his reputation and the fact that I wasn't going to sit him anywhere. He responded with his best game of the year, which was just 9.5 PPR Fantasy points, the third-best tight end on his own team. 

This week, the internal debate I am having is over Sam LaPorta. Coming off his bye, the Lions tight end has not scored double-digit Fantasy points in a game yet this year. He also does not have a game with more than five targets. In the projections, he's closer to TE24 than he is to TE12. I'm buying into the narrative that the Lions may have changed some things on their bye week and pushing LaPorta up into my top 12 in the rankings.

One guy you may have added last week to start during LaPorta's bye is Tucker Kraft. If you did, I would start Kraft again. He has 141 receiving yards and three scores in his last two games. I'm not sitting him until he gives me a reason to. 

Here's everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 5:

Week 6 TE Preview

TE Preview
Who's Out

The following players are not being projected to play Week 6 at this time. Here's what it means:

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David Njoku TE
CLE Cleveland • #85
Age: 28 • Experience: 8 yrs.
Njoku returned from his high ankle sprain but suffered a knee injury. I'd prefer to sit all Browns.
TE Preview
Numbers to Know
  • 22.8% -- Dallas Goedert leads all tight ends with a 22.8% target share. Expect that to decrease with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith back.
  • 27% -- Trey McBride's 27% TPRR leads all qualified tight ends. Hopefully, that opportunity turns into Fantasy production soon.
  • 2.27 -- Brock Bowers' 2.27 yards per route run is second only to Goedert. Bowers is the Dynasty TE1 and may compete for the redraft title as well.
  • 15.9 -- Tucker Kraft is averaging 15.9 PPR FPPG in three games with Jordan Love. That would tie George Kittle for TE1.
  • 6 -- Colby Parkinson has six red zone targets. Only George Kittle has more. Parkinson has not scored a touchdown.
  • 19 -- Travis Kelce has 19 targets over the past two weeks. It appears he'll be in contention for TE1 overall this season, thanks to the injuries.
TE Preview
Matchups that matter
Kyle Pitts TE
ATL Atlanta • #8
Age: 24 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ CAR ATL -6 O/U 47.5

OPP VS TE

27th

PROJ PTS

9.1

TE RNK

7th

YTD Stats

REC

15

TAR

23

REYDS

193

TD

1

FPTS/G

8.1
Zach Ertz TE
WAS Washington • #86
Age: 33 • Experience: 12 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ BAL BAL -6.5 O/U 52.5

OPP VS TE

29th

PROJ PTS

8.6

TE RNK

18th

YTD Stats

REC

17

TAR

24

REYDS

160

TD

0

FPTS/G

7
Dalton Kincaid TE
BUF Buffalo • #86
Age: 24 • Experience: 2 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ NYJ BUF -2.5 O/U 41

OPP VS TE

32nd

PROJ PTS

7.8

TE RNK

9th

YTD Stats

REC

15

TAR

24

REYDS

166

TD

1

FPTS/G

7.5
Hunter Henry TE
NE New England • #85
Age: 29 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs HOU HOU -7 O/U 38

OPP VS TE

27th

PROJ PTS

7.5

TE RNK

19th

YTD Stats

REC

16

TAR

25

REYDS

180

TD

0

FPTS/G

6.8
TE Preview
Waiver Wire Targets
Week 6 Streamers (TE Preview)
Tyler Conklin TE
NYJ N.Y. Jets • #83
Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs BUF BUF -2.5 O/U 41

OPP VS TE

17th

TE RNK

13th

ROSTERED

42%

YTD Stats

REC

17

TAR

27

REYDS

181

TD

0

FPTS/G

7
I won't lie to you guys. There's not a good streaming tight end option this week. Go make sure Evan Engram isn't available, he's a free agent in 30% of leagues. Conklin does have 23 targets in his last three games combined, which is awesome. He's averaged double-digit Fantasy points in that stretch, which is good enough to qualify him as the top streamer, even in a bad matchup.
Cade Otton TE
TB Tampa Bay • #88
Age: 25 • Experience: 3 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ NO TB -3.5 O/U 41.5

OPP VS TE

23rd

TE RNK

15th

ROSTERED

37%

YTD Stats

REC

17

TAR

25

REYDS

148

TD

0

FPTS/G

6
Otton was disappointing last week, but he did have 17 targets in his two games prior. The Saints haven't allowed a tight end to score against them this season, but they have seen two different tight ends earn double-digit targets against them.
TE Preview
DFS Plays
Top DFS Play
Projections powered by Sportsline
Jake Ferguson TE
DAL Dallas • #87
Age: 25 • Experience: 3 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs DET DET -3 O/U 52.5

OPP VS TE

27th

PROJ PTS

12

TE RNK

2nd

YTD Stats

REC

22

TAR

30

REYDS

229

TD

0

FPTS/G

11.2
Ferguson is an excellent cash game option. He has seen at least seven targets in every game but one, and he's playing in what is projected to be one of the highest-scoring games on the slate. He's averaging more than 13 PPR FPPG in his last three games despite the fact that he still hasn't scored a touchdown.
Contrarian DFS Play
Projections powered by Sportsline
Tucker Kraft TE
GB Green Bay • #85
Age: 23 • Experience: 2 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs ARI GB -5.5 O/U 49.5

OPP VS TE

24th

PROJ PTS

10

TE RNK

5th

YTD Stats

REC

16

TAR

22

REYDS

218

TD

3

FPTS/G

11.2
Kraft's production last week looked a little fluky, and we're expecting the Packers to get Romeo Doubs back. For those reasons, I don't expect him to be highly rostered. But he's been arguably the best tight end in Fantasy with Jordan Love, and this game could easily be a shootout. His price is at least $500, too low.
TE Preview
Heath's Projections

My full set of Week 6 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 6. Projected stats for all starting tight ends are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.