After a couple big-yardage performances to begin the season, Eagles tight end Zach Ertz caught only two passes for 14 yards against Washington last week, giving reason to wonder if he's really the breakthrough star so many of us perceived him to be.
Jamey Eisenberg and Dave Richard seem undeterred, ranking him among their top six tight ends for this week, but I have my doubts. For starters, their Week 4 opponent, San Francisco, has done a good job of limiting tight ends this week. The 49ers did allow seven catches and a touchdown to the Bears' Martellus Bennett in Week 2, but for a pathetic 5.3 yards per catch. Over their three games, the 49ers have allowed the sixth-fewest Fantasy points per game to tight ends.
But even more than that, rookie wide receiver Jordan Matthews' emergence last week gives quarterback Nick Foles somewhere else to look when Ertz is on the field -- which, by the way, isn't all that much. He played only 52 percent of the Eagles' snaps in Week 3, according to FootballOutsiders.com, 40th-most among tight ends. He's played 62.3 percent of their snaps this season.
Maybe that's not so surprising given the design of the Eagles offense, but looking back at Ertz's first two games, he didn't have all that many targets. His production depended on him averaging more than 20 yards per catch, which is unrealistic for a tight end. It doesn't mean you can't start him in Fantasy -- only so many options at the position, after all -- but it does make him less than automatic for me.