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The tight end pickings are starting to get slimmer on fantasy football waiver wires. While we are still a week away from being on bye, fantasy general managers are still probably going to be missing some of their tight ends heading into Week 4.
San Francisco’s George Kittle and Jordan Reed and Philadelphia’s Dallas Goedert are banged-up for starters. There are some one-week stopgap options available on fantasy free agent lists, but there are not a lot of tight ends out there that are going to provide fantasy players help over the entire season.
Here are the top tight end candidates to pick up in fantasy football leagues heading into Week 4.
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Top Tight End Waiver Wire Options for Week 4
Jimmy Graham, Chicago Bears
8% rostered
Old man Graham keeps plugging along, even after a decade in the league and numerous injuries to his lower limbs. He must have sipped from a Fountain of Youth before his third game of the season --- or he was just fortunate to be “covered” by a porous Atlanta secondary. Whatever the case, Graham caught sixth passes for 60 yards and two touchdowns during Chicago’s comeback win in Week 3.
Who knows who Chicago’s quarterback will be this week? Has Nick Foles wrested the starting signal caller job away with his amazing second-half comeback? Or will Mitchell Trubisky get a second chance after being unceremoniously pulled? Graham has had success with both quarterbacks so far, so it might not matter. Graham is not someone fantasy players can count on consistently because he is a shell of his former self, but the wily veteran continues to find the end zone enough to make himself a fantasy force when plugged into a lineup at the right time.
Mo Alie-Cox, Indianapolis Colts
9% rostered
Cox can no longer be considered a one-game wonder. Now he has back-to-back great games to his credit. The former basketballer followed up his 111-yard breakout game from Week 2 by catching three passes for 50 yards and a TD in a laugher of a win versus the New York Jets. These are easily the two best games of Cox’s short career, which begs this question. Is Cox a two-week wonder?
Veteran PPR asset Jack Doyle is still going to take some targets and turn them into seven-yard gains. Here are three things going in Cox’s favor, however. He has a quarterback in Philip Rivers with a history of throwing successfully to tight ends, he has plenty of potential and physical ability, and this week he will be up against a Chicago Bears Defense that has allowed two tight ends to find the end zone in their first three games. Take a flyer and hope Cox’s fantasy value goes higher!
Other Tight End Options to Consider
Dalton Schultz, Dallas Cowboys
31% rostered
13 receptions, 16 targets, 136 receiving yards and a touchdown in two weeks is nothing to ignore. I know Schultz should take a back seat in Dallas’ passing game behind the Cowboys’ talented trio of wideouts, but he is providing Dak Prescott the perfect safety valve and big-bodied target over the middle. Schultz is not going to rack up many 100-yard games over the course of the season, but he could supply fantasy managers with several games of 40-plus yards and sprinkle in some scores.
Chris Herndon, New York Jets
32% rostered
The Jets are hapless and hopeless, especially on offense. They are at the point where they are going to have to raid CFL rosters for receivers. With Jamison Crowder, Breshad Perriman and Le’Veon Bell all dealing with injuries, Herndon is the de facto top pass catcher on the roster. That can only mean good things for a player’s fantasy value, even if he is in a funk George Clinton could be proud of. While Herndon has done no fantasy favors for anybody this year (10-63-0), he might have no choice but to stumble into receptions and yards simply because Sam Darnold will have no one else to throw to.
Robert Tonyan, Green Bay Packers
0% rostered
Tonyan will be rostered in at least one percent of leagues after hauling in five Aaron Rodgers missiles for 50 yards and a TD this past Sunday evening. Those fantasy pundits who believed Jace Sternberger was going to be Green Bay’s top tight end might have to rethink their position. Tonyan could continue to be a red zone force next Monday night against an Atlanta defense that has made most pass catchers look like Jerry Rice this year.
Tyler Kroft, Buffalo Bills
0% rostered
Buffalo signed Kroft for multimillions to be its pass-catching tight end a couple years ago, but injuries and inconsistent play have been the norm for him since donning a Bills jersey. Kroft surprisingly snagged two Josh Allen touchdown tosses this past Sunday, though. Is this a sign of things to come or an aberration? Dawson Knox remains the tight end of the future, but Kroft might suddenly have become the tight end of the present in Buffalo, especially now that Knox has a concussion.
Logan Thomas, Washington Football Team
33% rostered
Thomas is averaging eight targets per game, which is better than Los Angeles’ Tyler Higbee, New York’s Evan Engram and Cleveland’s Austin Hooper. The problem is he not doing much with them. His weekly average of four catches and 30 yards per contest is not going to win fantasy players any leagues or DFS contests. Keep Thomas in mind since his target rate is so high, but do not expect him to become the next Shannon Sharpe anytime soon.
Greg Olsen, Seattle Seahawks
22% rostered
There is no quarterback throwing the ball better right now than Russell Wilson, so to be the top tight end in a Wilson-led offense makes Olsen an attractive get. Olsen is not the same player he was during his glory years with the Carolina Panthers and has not been aimed at much (11 times in three games), but playing a part in such a high-powered passing attack will pay off dividends for Olsen at certain points of the season.
Don’t Forget About…
Drew Sample, Cincinnati Bengals
9% rostered
While the sample size on Sample is small, the potential for great things is large for this young upstart. It would have been nice for Sample to see more than one target this past week when Joe Burrow put the ball in the air 44 times, though. Cincinnati’s second-round pick from 2019 will develop eventually and probably become a solid fantasy fixture, but he is more of a find in a dynasty league than a standard league.
Jordan Akins, Houston Texans
6% rostered
Akins is outplaying and outperforming Houston’s better fantasy tight end from 2019, Darren Fells. The big fellow with the above-average speed now has 11 receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown, which puts him on pace to obliterate his previous personal bests. Akins has upside and is playing in a passing attack that is still trying to find a top target to replace DeAndre Hopkins. Stay tuned to see if Akins is the man to step up in the coming weeks.
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