NFL Player News

Thomas caught his only target for 17 yards during Sunday's 31-26 victory over the Giants.

Logging just seven snaps on offense, Thomas's playing time again paled in comparison to that of T.J. Hockenson (42) and Jesse James (22). This time he at least made a dent in the stat sheet after failing to do so the past two games, but Thomas probably is at least a Hockenson injury away from fantasy relevance.

Hockenson caught his only target for 21 yards during Sunday's 31-26 victory over the Giants.

Despite a soft matchup, Hockenson didn't see many passes come his way. Instead, he watched Danny Amendola serve as Matthew Stafford's favorite short-range weapon. Playing time isn't the issue with Hockenson -- he saw almost double the offensive snaps of the next-busiest tight end in Jesse James -- but rather it's Stafford's propensity to spread the ball around. As long as Amendola, Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones stay healthy, it will continue to be difficult to trust Hockenson as anything more than a low-floor, somewhat-high-upside fantasy play.

Knox was targeted just once with no catches during Sunday's loss to the Eagles.

It was the rookie's first career game where he did not have at least one reception, though the end result is perhaps not as surprising as the first glance at the empty line, given that starter Tyler Kroft is back in action and both teams were forced to throw in gusty winds. Knox was a trendy pickup a few weeks ago following a couple of decent games, but sharing time with Kroft is going to make consistent production for either player a tough task, especially when you consider the Bills offer an unpolished passing attack.

Tomlinson was on the field for 31 of a possible 69 snaps on offense in Sunday's 27-13 win over the Browns.

Tomlinson was not targeted in the game and currently is off the fantasy radar in his role behind Ben Watson. Additionally, his workload figures to take a hit once Ryan Izzo (concussion) and/or Matt LaCosse (knee) are able to return to action.

Graham caught three of five targets for 20 yards during Sunday's 31-24 victory over Kansas City.

Green Bay leaned on production from the running back position during Sunday's win, as Aaron Jones stole the show with 67 rushing yards and 159 receiving yards. Jones and fellow tailback Jamaal Williams also each accounted for two scores. The backfield duo's stellar performance didn't leave much in the way of red-zone or aerial opportunity for Graham, who has now failed to score or surpass 50 receiving yards in five of eight games. The veteran tight end is a purely touchdown-dependent fantasy option.

Firkser recorded three receptions on five targets for 43 yards in Week 8 against Tampa Bay.

After drawing no more than one target in any of his seven games this season, Firkser became a key piece of the Titans' passing attack in Week 8. His big play came early in the third quarter when he turned a short pass into a 23-yard gain. While it was a nice performance, the third-year tight end isn't likely to make a huge impact going forward based on the Titans' low passing volume.

Kroft caught two balls on four targets for 32 yards during Sunday's loss to the Eagles.

Both of Kroft's catches went for first downs on a nasty, windy day that made it tough for even the strong-armed Josh Allen and Carson Wentz to throw the ball. Kroft was on the field for 58 percent of the offensive plays, while rookie Dawson Knox saw 45 percent, blocker Lee Smith 32 percent, and Tommy Sweeney was inactive. Kroft didn't get a single target in his first game of the season last week, so the modest Week 8 production represents improved involvement in the offense. Still, this isn't an effective passing team and Kroft has to share looks with too many others to offer consistent value.

Akins caught two of five targets for 11 yards in Sunday's 27-24 win over the Raiders in Week 8.

It was another game where Houston's tight ends were integral to the passing offense. Akins and Darren Fells combined for 11 targets, tying the position's season high, but it was Fells that made the most impact by catching two red-zone touchdowns. For this one game, the Texans partially made up for the absence of Will Fuller (hamstring) by allocating more opportunities to their tight ends, while Keke Coutee did not even get off the sideline. Halfway through the season, Akins has already matched his catch and target totals from all of 2018. Unfortunately, he evenly shares the position with Fells, and fantasy owners are rolling the dice any given week when selecting either one.

Kelce caught four passes (on eight targets) for 63 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 31-24 loss to Green Bay.

Kelce was able to post his second-best fantasy line of the season despite having backup quarterback Matt Moore under center. It was just the 30-year-old's second touchdown through eight games, and the lack of scores is really the only criticism that can be made of the star tight end through the first half of the season, in which he's logged 42 receptions for 604 yards to go along with the two TDs. There's a chance that Patrick Mahomes (knee) could return for Week 9's matchup with the Vikings, a team that has been average against tight ends this year, ranking 14th for fantasy points allowed to opponents at the position.

Waller caught two of eight targets for 11 yards and a touchdown during Sunday's 31-26 win over the Raiders.

Waller received lots of attention from the Houston defense on the day, as he hauled in just a quarter of the passes sent his way. Luckily, one of his two grabs produced an eight-yard touchdown, which salvaged his day from a fantasy perspective. Although Waller hadn't reached the end zone prior to last week, he's scored three times in his last two games to add another dimension to his fantasy utility. He'll look to continue his breakout campaign next Sunday at home against the Lions.