There have been few players more disappointing in Fantasy Football this season than O.J. Howard. He was drafted as a consensus top-six tight end and has scored zero touchdowns in his first six games of the season. On Friday, we found out he won't play in the Buccaneers' seventh game due to a hamstring injury. Anyone who was still holding out hope for Howard will surely be cutting bait soon. But that doesn't mean you should forget about all Tampa Bay tight ends.

Cameron Brate has actually scored twice in his past three games and will now be in line for an increase in targets without Howard. While neither Brate nor Howard have seen enough volume this season, they have combined for more than five targets per game. If Brate can hit that number, he should be in for a good Fantasy day against a Titans defense that has had some struggles with tight ends. 

Brate has seen five or more targets nine times since the start of 2017 and scored double digit Fantasy points in six of those game. As desperate as well are for any help at all at this position he vaults into the top 12 in PPR rankings with this news and is still widely available to anyone looking for a streamer.  

Week 8 TE Preview

TE Preview
Who's Out

The following players are not being projected to play Week 8 at this time. Here's what it means:

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Delanie Walker TE
TEN Tennessee • #82
Age: 40 • Experience: 15 yrs.
Jonnu Smith has a great matchup if Walker is out.
O.J. Howard TE
LV Las Vegas • #88
Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs.
Fire up Cameron Brate.
TE Preview
Numbers to Know
  • 19.1% - Target share for Gerald Everett the past month. As bad as the position is, Everett looks like a weekly starter. 
  • 12.3 - Average targeted air yards for Hunter Henry. That's tops among tight ends. 
  • 10 - Red-zone targets for Zach Ertz and Evan Engram. Those are going to turn into touchdowns eventually. 
  • 49 - Snaps for Seth DeValve last week with Geoff Swaim out. Josh Oliver only played 25 and didn't see a target.
  • 5 - Targets for Eric Ebron in Week 7, matching his season-high. He was awesome in this game and could start trending back in the right direction. 
TE Preview
Matchups that matter
Josh Hill TE
DET Detroit • #89
Age: 34 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs ARI NO -9.5 O/U 48

OPP VS TE

32nd

PROJ PTS

5.4

TE RNK

23rd

YTD Stats

REC

12

TAR

16

REYDS

121

TD

1

FPTS/G

3.9
Jonnu Smith TE
MIA Miami • #9
Age: 29 • Experience: 8 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs TB TEN -2.5 O/U 46.5

OPP VS TE

31st

PROJ PTS

3

TE RNK

NR

YTD Stats

REC

9

TAR

11

REYDS

161

TD

0

FPTS/G

3.3
TE Preview
Waiver Wire Targets
Week 8 Streamer
Jonnu Smith TE
MIA Miami • #9
Age: 29 • Experience: 8 yrs.

YTD Stats

Ownewrship

13%
Smith has disappointed us in this spot before, but I won't be able to pass him up against Tampa Bay if Walker is out. The Bucs have given up the second most Fantasy points to opposing tight ends, and Smith is coming off a 64-yard performance in Week 7. He scored double-digit Fantasy points in his final five healthy games without Walker in 2018.
Cameron Brate TE
TB Tampa Bay • #84
Age: 33 • Experience: 9 yrs.

YTD Stats

Ownership

12%
Brate has a good matchup and a great opportunity without Howard.
Dallas Goedert TE
PHI Philadelphia • #88
Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Ownership

15%
Goedert has at least nine PPR points in three of his past four games and 12 targets in the past two games combined. He's cutting into the target share of Zach Ertz and has been wildly efficient with the targets he's received. It's a terrible matchup, but he has the talent to overcome it.
Josh Hill TE
DET Detroit • #89
Age: 34 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Ownership

4%
Hill scored in Week 7 and now could be looking at a matchup against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8 if Jared Cook is unable to return. Hill is touchdown-dependent for sure, but the Cardinals have surrendered eight touchdowns in seven games to tight ends.
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DFS Plays
Top Plays
Hunter Henry TE
NE New England • #85
Age: 29 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Week 7 Prices

FanDuel

$6,700

DraftKings

$4,900
Henry has 197 receiving yards and two touchdowns in two games since returning from his knee injury. He's having the breakout we envisioned; it just got delayed by a few weeks. The Chargers cannot run the ball, so short targets to Henry have replaced that aspect, but he's also being targeted down the field.
Contrarian Play
Jonnu Smith TE
MIA Miami • #9
Age: 29 • Experience: 8 yrs.

Week 8 Prices

FanDuel

$4,900

DraftKings

$2,800
None of the good tight ends will likely be low owned, and Smith is my favorite cheap option if Walker is out.
TE Preview
Heath's Projections

Non-PPR Rank 

PPR Rank 

TE 

NON-PPR 

PPR 

Darren Waller 

10.47 

16.45 

Austin Hooper 

10.09 

16.33 

Hunter Henry 

10.67 

16.02 

George Kittle 

9.88 

15.53 

Travis Kelce 

9.29 

14.28 

Zach Ertz 

8.22 

13.19 

Evan Engram 

7.76 

12.32 

Greg Olsen 

6.68 

10.21 

12 

Jonnu Smith 

6.05 

9.35 

10 

Gerald Everett 

6.18 

9.26 

15 

11 

Cameron Brate 

5.34 

9.22 

10 

12 

TJ Hockenson 

6.08 

8.97 

11 

13 

Eric Ebron 

6.07 

8.57 

14 

14 

Dallas Goedert 

5.37 

8.52 

16 

15 

Josh Hill 

5.28 

8.43 

13 

16 

Jimmy Graham 

5.40 

8.18 

17 

17 

Dawson Knox 

4.98 

7.46 

19 

18 

Kyle Rudolph 

4.49 

7.38 

18 

19 

Darren Fells 

4.84 

7.15 

23 

20 

Noah Fant 

4.24 

7.11 

So who should you sit and start in Week 8? And which surprising quarterback could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get rankings for every single position, and see which shocking QB comes out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that out-performed experts big time last season.