Fantasy Football Week 8 Tight End Preview: Streaming options, numbers to know, and more

If you showed patience with Mark Andrews, you're being rewarded. Over the past two weeks, Andrews is the number two tight end in Fantasy, and in Week 7, we saw him share the team lead in targets for the first time all season. If you're a Fantasy manager with Sam LaPorta on your roster, you should take note.

In the first run of projections this week, LaPorta did not project as a top-20 tight end in any format. And you know what? Of course, he didn't. He has three targets in his last two games combined. He has not topped four catches or 53 yards in a game all season. Still, I would be patient. It may not be much longer.

That's at least partially because Jameson Williams has been suspended for two games. Williams is second on the team with a 17.2% target share, while LaPorta lags well behind at 9.8%. For at least the next two weeks, there will be more opportunities. Hopefully, LaPorta will take advantage. 

Speaking of opportunities, another part of the problem is that there haven't been many in Detroit this year. Jared Goff is averaging just 29 pass attempts per game. That's partially because the Lions have gone more run-heavy but also because he has a higher sack rate, and he's averaging 9.3 yards per attempt, both of which lower play volume. I would expect some evenings in that regard as well, which lead to more opportunities. 

I'm faking LaPorta's ranking for at least one more week and encouraging those who drafted him to remain patient.

Here's everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 8:

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Week 8 TE Preview

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

Harrison Bryant TE LV Las Vegas • #84 Age: 26 • Experience: 5 yrs. Brock Bowers is dominating tight end targets and targets overall for the Raiders. That should continue.

• 25.1% -- Brock Bowers leads all tight ends with a 25.1% target share this season. He's the TE1 in both redraft and Dynasty.
• 2.29 -- Will Dissly is averaging 2.29 yards per route run, second only to Dallas Goedert at the position.
• 19.5% -- Hunter Henry leads the Patriots with a 19.5% target share. The whole pie got bigger when Drake Maye took over, and Henry looks like a top-10 tight end.
• 7 -- Isaiah Likely leads all tight ends with seven end zone targets.
• 14 -- David Njoku saw 14 targets in his first game without Amari Cooper. He looks like a top-five tight end.

Travis Kelce TE KC Kansas City • #87 Age: 35 • Experience: 12 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ LV KC -9.5 O/U 41.5 OPP VS TE 8th PROJ PTS 16.5 TE RNK 6th YTD Stats REC 28 TAR 36 REYDS 245 TD 0 FPTS/G 8.8

Kyle Pitts TE ATL Atlanta • #8 Age: 24 • Experience: 4 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ TB ATL -2.5 O/U 46 OPP VS TE 23rd PROJ PTS 9.4 TE RNK 9th YTD Stats REC 25 TAR 37 REYDS 328 TD 1 FPTS/G 9.1

Jake Ferguson TE DAL Dallas • #87 Age: 25 • Experience: 3 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ SF SF -4.5 O/U 46.5 OPP VS TE 14th PROJ PTS 9.3 TE RNK 4th YTD Stats REC 25 TAR 34 REYDS 240 TD 0 FPTS/G 9.8

Week 7 Streamers (TE Preview)

Hunter Henry TE NE New England • #85 Age: 29 • Experience: 9 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs NYJ NYJ -7 O/U 41.5 OPP VS TE 9th TE RNK 10th ROSTERED 57% YTD Stats REC 27 TAR 39 REYDS 313 TD 1 FPTS/G 9.2 It doesn't take a math degree to see what has happened for Henry. He's led the team with about a 20% target share with both Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye. But 20% of Maye's 259.5 yards per game is a lot more enticing than 20% of Brissett's 139.2.

Cade Otton TE TB Tampa Bay • #88 Age: 25 • Experience: 3 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs ATL ATL -2.5 O/U 46 OPP VS TE 15th TE RNK 8th ROSTERED 41% YTD Stats REC 27 TAR 41 REYDS 263 TD 1 FPTS/G 8.2 Otton has a legitimate chance to be a top-10 tight end for the next three weeks while the team is without Chris Godwin and Mike Evans. Otton saw 10 targets and scored 18 Fantasy points on Monday night when the duo was injured.

Top DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

David Njoku TE CLE Cleveland • #85 Age: 28 • Experience: 8 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs BAL BAL -9.5 O/U 44.5 OPP VS TE 27th PROJ PTS 10.3 TE RNK 3rd YTD Stats REC 20 TAR 29 REYDS 165 TD 1 FPTS/G 10.6 Njoku's price hasn't adjusted to his new reality. We expect Jameis Winston to start, and we expect Winston to be better than Watson has been this season. Winston has also traditionally been more likely to target tight ends than Watson. Without Cooper and against a pass-funnel defense that just allowed Cade Otton to score 18 Fantasy points, expect Njoku to be the best cash game option in DFS. I'll play him in some tournaments as well, even with his projected high roster rate.

Contrarian DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

Jonnu Smith TE MIA Miami • #9 Age: 29 • Experience: 8 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs ARI MIA -3 O/U 46.5 OPP VS TE 19th PROJ PTS 8.2 TE RNK 19th YTD Stats REC 21 TAR 28 REYDS 236 TD 1 FPTS/G 8.4 The projections love Jonnu this week, largely because he's seen 15 targets in the past two weeks. We think with Tua Tagovailoa back that, the targets will go back to Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and De'Von Achane. But at his very low price and very low projected roster rate, I want at least a little bit of Smith in DFS tournaments. The Dolphins may have found something they don't want to put back in the bag.

My full set of Week 8 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 8. Projected stats for all starting tight ends are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.