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If you made it to your fantasy football league’s title game/Super Bowl, my helmets off to you!
It all comes down to this for the lucky and smart fantasy general managers who guided their teams through injuries, suspensions, and COVID-related roster problems to the championship game in their leagues. You probably have a decent tight end if you have made it this far, but just in case you are think you need a one-week upgrade and your league is kind enough to allow you to still pick up players during the playoffs, feel free to read on.
Here are the top tight end candidates to pick up in fantasy football leagues heading into Week 16!
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Top Tight End Waiver Wire Options
Dan Arnold, Arizona Cardinals
2% rostered
Arnold has made the top two in my tight end column for the third week in a row! The guy deserves a medal, especially since he was not drafted in 99.99999999 percent of fantasy leagues entering the season. But even though I have been banging the drum for him like I was Dave Grohl, Arnold’s still available in 98 percent of leagues at this late date.
Arnold’s recent résumé cannot be discounted. He has scored in four of his last five games, has 17 targets during that span, and has received a more prominent role inside the red zone and on long pass plays down the middle as well. Arnold has a difficult game against the reeling San Fran 49ers next on his docket, but his recent uptick in fantasy value and production should not be ignored. He has a better shot of giving fantasy managers 50 yards and a score than he does of being shut out with the way things have been going.
Dawson Knox, Buffalo Bills
2% rostered
It is always fun to watch a young player realize his potential. That is what is happening to Knox. He has been a totally different player after being activated from the COVID list in late November. The second-year man has reached the end zone in three of his past four games after not scoring a touchdown in his previous 10 regular-season contests.
Knox is finally getting in sync with franchise quarterback Josh Allen, which makes him attractive in dynasty formats as well as redraft leagues where managers may just need him this week and then must wave bye-bye to him. Knox’s target share has gone up with No. 2 WR John Brown on the shelf with another injury. He is a touchdown-dependent player, but his odds of finding paydirt next Monday night against New England are pretty good.
Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams
50% rostered
Higbee was ranked as a top-10 tight end heading into the fantasy season by mostly everybody, and in many circles was considered a top-5 TE thanks to the scintillating five-game stretch at the tail end of the 2019 season that helped win many fantasy titles for the GMs who scooped him off the waiver wire. This year has been one of disappointment and inconsistency, however, and not all because of Higbee. Head coach Sean McVay’s run-first game plans coupled with the emergence of fellow tight end Gerald Everett have limited Higbee’s fantasy ceiling.
For those of you in the half of fantasy leagues where Higbee is a free agent, he could very well be better than the tight end you use on a regular basis, especially now that he is 100 percent healthy and seeing more targets again than Everett is. Higbee has 125 yards and two touchdowns in his past three games and is set to run crossing routes against Seattle’s 32nd-ranked pass defense. The Seahawks have been better in recent weeks, but the offenses they have faced (both New York teams and Washington) are not exactly loaded with weapons at the skilled positions.
Other Tight End Options to Consider
Irv Smith Jr., Minnesota Vikings
6% rostered
Smith has a short turnaround as Minnesota plays on Christmas afternoon, and he has to find openings against a stiff New Orleans defense that has been ranked inside or just outside the top five in pass defense all year long. If tight end teammate Kyle Rudolph misses another week due to his foot injury, however, Smith Jr. is a TE2 play this week. He has 133 yards and three touchdowns over his last four outings.
Jimmy Graham, Chicago Bears
27% rostered
Everything is lining up for Graham at the perfect time. Chicago’s offense is clicking on all cylinders thanks to Mitchell Trubisky, Allen Robinson and David Montgomery playing their best ball of the season, and the Bears host a 1-13 Jacksonville squad that has allowed touchdowns to tight ends in four of its past five games. Graham can certainly produce a score and/or a 50-yard game under these circumstances.
Austin Hooper, Cleveland Browns
48% rostered
Hooper should give a million dollars back to the Browns as he has been more of a bust than a boon this year. Three touchdowns and two games of 50-plus yards are not what the Browns and fantasy managers were expecting from him in 2020. Hooper is healthy again, however, and looked in Pro Bowl form against the New York Giants this past Sunday night, so if you think you can trust him and want him for your title tilt, take a chance.
Dalton Schultz, Dallas Cowboys
19% rostered
Schultz has not had 50 yards in a game in almost two months, but he is averaging five targets per game over the past seven weeks and has a date with a Philadelphia defense that might be missing three starters in the secondary. In fact his last 50-yard game came against Philly during the middle of the season.
Jordan Akins, Houston Texans
4% rostered
Akins is coming off his third-best game of the season (5-50-0) and has a salivating matchup against a Cincinnati secondary that has been near the bottom of the pass-defense rankings throughout the campaign. He is no guarantee to score a TD, but he could give fantasy managers a tidy 4-5 catches for 40-60 yards since Houston’s receiving group is so depleted at this juncture.
Don’t Forget About…
Tyler Eifert, Jacksonville Jaguars
6% rostered
Eifert has a couple things going for him. Jacksonville is always trailing in its games, so the Jaguars are passing on most downs in the second half. The Jags receiving corps is also not good enough where past-their-prime tight ends can be ignored by their quarterbacks. Eifert has 14 receptions for 134 yards and a TD over his last four contests. You could do worse.
Cameron Brate, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1% rostered
Brate is arguably Tampa Bay’s sixth or seventh-best option in its passing attack, so it is amazing that he can even find his way into this column. That said, he just had a season-best 54 yards against Atlanta and faces Detroit and its 27th-ranked pass defense this upcoming weekend. If Brate is targeted by Tom Brady four times he will catch a couple and give fantasy managers more than if they just played the invisible man at TE this week.
Chris Herndon, New York Jets
5% rostered
Herndon was second among rookie tight ends in receiving yards in 2018. He followed that up with a sophomore season ruined by injuries and a suspension. This year he has been such a non-factor most fantasy managers probably thought he was in the CFL. Herndon’s season-high 48 yards in Week 16 and nice matchup against Cleveland’s below-average pass defense in Week 17 should only intrigue those in deep, DEEP leagues.
Durham Smythe, Miami Dolphins
0% rostered
Smythe definitely sounds like a private eye in a crime thriller than he does a football player. Mike Gesicki’s backup posted a career-high five catches for 40 yards this past Sunday while Gesicki was sidelined with a shoulder injury, though. If Gesicki misses another game, Smythe might have another 40-yard game against a Las Vegas team that made L.A.’s Hunter Henry look like Travis Kelce last Thursday night.
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