RADIO
The tight end herd on fantasy football waiver wires is thinning out as the season wears on. Millions of fantasy football managers have gaping holes they need plugged at the tight end position this week.
Green Bay’s Robert Tonyan tore his ACL and is out for the season, which is terrible timing for those who just picked him up as he was turning his season around. Then there are four teams on bye which make stalwarts such as Detroit’s T.J. Hockenson and Tampa Bay’s Rob Gronkowski unavailable.
While the waiver wire has been depleted in recent weeks of tight end talent, there are still some healthy bodies out there that could fantasy managers frantically looking for help. Here are the best available tight end options on fantasy waiver wires heading into Week 9!
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Top Tight Ends to Pickup - Week 9 Waiver Wire
Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers — 10% rostered
A new era has begun at tight end in Pittsburgh. Eric Ebron had a good run in 2020 and brought some stability back to the position, but he was never the long-term answer for the Steelers. The team needed a dependable tight end with all-around skills, Northeastern toughness and a nose for the end zone like Heath Miller used to have back in the old days. The Steelers have finally found that man.
Penn State product Freiermuth made a statement this past Sunday with four receptions for 44 yards and a TD against division rival Cleveland. He has now been targeted seven times in back-to-back games and is an integral part of Pittsburgh’s short-pass offense. The TE job is all his as Ebron is hurt and past his prime when fully healthy anyway.
Freiermuth next has a bruised Chicago defense whose pass defense is not the same when Khalil Mack is not pressuring the opposing passer. San Francisco’s Deebo Samuel sliced up the Bears secondary for 171 yards in Week 8. Freiermuth can be picked up and slotted in as an above-average No. 2 TE on your fantasy squad or a low-end No. 1 who has the skills to transform into a cornerstone of your fantasy franchise in the coming weeks and years.
Others Tight Ends to Consider Adding
C.J. Uzomah, Cincinnati Bengals — 48% rostered
Uzomah was probably the most popular tight end on waiver wires last week as he was scooped up in 30 percent of leagues. His inconsistency is maddening, but he has five touchdowns and two 90-yard efforts over his last five games, so he has to be considered a top-12 fantasy tight end at the moment. His only drawback is that his target total has a low ceiling since Cincinnati has three above-average wide receivers who all deserve their target share, as does running back Joe Mixon.
Jared Cook, Los Angeles Chargers —59% rostered
Cook remains available in over 40 percent of fantasy leagues and still has his streak going of getting at least 25 receiving yards in all seven of his games this season. His next game is versus a Philadelphia Eagles defense that allowed tight ends T.J. Hockenson, Foster Moreau and O.J. Howard to rack up 22 receptions for 198 yards and two touchdowns over the last three games against them.
Tyler Conklin, Minnesota Vikings – 25% rostered
Conklin was added in 16 percent of leagues during his bye week, which is either a testament to what fantasy managers think of him or an indictment of the tight end crop out there on fantasy free agent lists. Minnesota’s top tight end has 128 receiving yards over his last pair of contests and faces Baltimore’s last-ranked pass defense this upcoming week.
Evan Engram, New York Giants – 32% rostered
Engram has 21 receptions in his last five contests and scored his first touchdown of the season in Monday’s night game against Kansas City. He was not traded to the Green Bay Packers at the deadline like was rumored, which is a disappointment fantasy-wise, but he should still be a featured target in Daniel Jones' passing attack.
Josiah Deguara, Green Bay Packers — 0% rostered
Not even a small fraction of fantasy managers drafted Deguara as an insurance policy in case of a Robert Tonyan injury, especially since veteran Marcedes Lewis is technically Green Bay’s No. 2 tight end. While Lewis will be the primary blocker and tight end target inside the red zone, Deguara will be the primary pass catcher at the position. Deguara caught two passes for 20 yards last Thursday night and should see a few targets per game the rest of the way.
Mo Alie-Cox, Indianapolis Colts – 16% rostered
I touted Alie-Cox in both of my RotoBaller columns last week and he repaid me by posting a goose egg against Tennessee that was fatter than Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movies. He was targeted four times (two more than Jack Doyle), so it was not like Carson Wentz totally ignored him. Do not delete Alie-Cox from your fantasy radar, especially when he has a mouthwatering matchup against the New York Jets this Thursday night.
Dan Arnold, Jacksonville Jaguars — 4% rostered
It has gotten to the point where Jacksonville’s most valuable fantasy player might be a veteran tight end who has about as much chance of breaking a 25-yard play as Urban Meyer does. Due to injuries and underwhelming receivers, the Jaguars passing plan now revolves around seven-yard dump-offs to Arnold. He has 18 catches for 188 yards in his four games since joining the Jags and can be valuable in PPR leagues due to his target volume.
Do Not Forget About…
Hayden Hurst, Atlanta Falcons — 2% rostered
With top target Calvin Ridley taking an indefinite break from football to address his mental health, look for the Falcons to run more two-tight-end sets than usual and for Hurst to garner a chunk of the passes that would have normally headed Ridley’s direction.
Tommy Sweeney, Buffalo Bills — 0% rostered
Sweeney is filling in for the aforementioned Knox while Buffalo’s best tight end rests his broken hand. He had three catches for 30 yards in his first start of the season and should catch Josh Allen’s attention a handful of times per game. What we do not know is if he will be targeted in the end zone as often as Knox had been.
O.J. Howard, Tampa Bay Buccaneers — 4% rostered
If you picked up Howard after Rob Gronkowski’s first injury of the season, hopefully you held onto him for Gronk’s second injury of the season. Tampa Bay is off this week, so maybe Gronkowski’s back spasms will not cost him a game, but having Howard as the backup plan is always a good idea if you are relying on the most injury-prone tight end in the NFL to be your starting fantasy TE.
Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears — 26% rostered
The good news is that Kmet’s fantasy value and stats have been about the same as Allen Robinson’s over the past month. The bad news is that means his value has been equal to the average fullback. Kmet has a bright future, so if you have patience, roster room, and play in a dynasty league feel free to stash him until Chicago’s passing offense improves.
Brevin Jordan, Houston Texans – 0% rostered
Take what Jordan did against the Rams this past Sunday with 10 grains of salt. Houston’s rookie posted a 3-41-1 line in garbage time in a blowout and had not seen a pass thrown his way this season until Week 8. If you take a flyer on him you are either in the deepest of deep leagues or Adam Schefter gave you some inside information about Jordan that nobody else knows.
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