RADIO
Week 10 is going to leave fantasy footballers without the best tight end in fantasy football. Thankfully, there are a potpourri of long-term and short-term options at the position on the fantasy waiver wire.
Kansas City’s Travis Kelce will have a week to jet set with girlfriend Taylor Swift. Maybe he can take her to a local KC barbecue joint. Maybe she can fly him to her studio and they can record an album of Milli Vanilli covers. Whatever the lovebirds do, it will not help fantasy football managers who have him on their rosters, so they will have to go shopping on their league’s free-agent list.
Philadelphia’s Dallas Goedert is also on bye, so there are tight end holes to fill on millions of rosters. Without further ado, here are the best tight end waiver wire pickups for Week 10, starting with a TE-QB-RB triple threat who is making me sound like a broken record.
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Top Tight Ends to Pickup - Week 10 Waiver Wire
Taysom Hill, New Orleans Saints
What else am I supposed to say about Hill? I thought I would be done singing his praises, but he is still available in many leagues because fantasy GMs opted to pick up Dallas’ Jake Ferguson last week instead (which worked out well for them). Hill’s latest feat was throwing a touchdown pass, catching a touchdown pass, and running 11 times for 52 yards against the hopeless Chicago Bears. He can rack up fantasy points in more ways than anyone else in the NFL.
Hill’s upcoming schedule makes me salivate as much as a medium-rare porterhouse does. His next five opponents are Minnesota, Atlanta, Detroit, Carolina, and the New York Giants. None of the five are in the top 10 in scoring defense. The Saints offense is beginning to roll as Derek Carr can now hit the broad side of a barnyard goat with his passes, which is opening up more opportunities for Hill inside the red zone. If you passed over Hill on the waiver wire before, right the wrong this week.
Other Tight Ends to Consider Adding
Jonnu Smith, Atlanta Falcons
Do not worry about Kyle Pitts anymore. Smith is the real deal, and it does not matter if he is Atlanta’s No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3 TE. You do not see tight ends get thrown screen passes, and you certainly do not see those tight ends turn them into 60-yard touchdowns. But that’s what Smith did Sunday against Minnesota. He has now racked up 338 receiving yards over his last six games. Pick him up this week because he should rack up a lot more against the lowly Arizona Cardinals.
Hunter Henry, New England Patriots
Like I predicted last column (insert pat on the back here), Henry became Mac Jones’ go-to guy thanks to the injuries to starting wideouts Kendrick Bourne and DeVante Parker. He scored his first touchdown since Week 2 and tied for the team lead in targets on Sunday versus Washington. Take a flyer on this touchdown-loving veteran and you should be rewarded, at least this week when he takes on an Indianapolis defense that has allowed 37 points or more in three of its last four games.
Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals
McBride did the best he could with the erratic Clayton Tune at QB on Sunday (three catches for 22 yards). Throw the game out the window. Think about how well he can perform if Kyler Murray triumphantly returns from his torn ACL in the next week or two. McBride should be picked up in dynasty formats anyway because of his fantasy value’s upward mobility, but he should also be scooped up in standard leagues because of the Murray factor. He just had a 10-95-1 line in Week 8.
Luke Musgrave, Green Bay Packers
Jordan Love is having trouble throwing the long ball, but he can reach Musgrave over the middle on the 10-yard routes. The rookie tight end had his best game of the year this past Sunday with three catches for 51 yards and the first TD of his NFL career. Now, Musgrave is slated to face the Los Angeles Chargers’ 32nd-ranked pass defense this weekend. Have fun, Luke!
Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Were you expecting a high-scoring shootout between Tampa Bay and Houston on Sunday? Me neither. Were you expecting Otton to catch two touchdown passes and Mike Evans and Chris Godwin not to catch any? Me neither. I do not know if this was a one-week fluke or the precursor to Otton becoming a full-fledged fantasy force. That is why he is not ranked higher in this column. Let's see him do it again, but this TD grab late in the game was spectacular.
Do Not Forget About…
Chigoziem Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans
Okonkwo has yet to score a touchdown or catch a pass over 20 yards even though we are halfway through the campaign. The second-year man should not be given up on yet, though, because rookie quarterback Will Levis is showing signs that he can right the passing attack and help boost Okonkwo’s faulty fantasy value. I would think about using him in a DFS contest this week since he will be running routes against a Tampa Bay defense that made C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans look like Warren Moon and his CFL champion Edmonton Eskimos teams.
Gerald Everett, Los Angeles Chargers
Everett has not been around the past couple of weeks due to injury, but he should be 100 percent for his Monday night tilt against the New York Jets. Keep an eye on how he does and push him towards the top of your tight end list if he has a good game against that staunch defense. Everett did score touchdowns in back-to-back games before he missed his last contest.
Irv Smith Jr., Cincinnati Bengals
Smith is not even averaging seven yards per catch on the season, yet he is slowly becoming more of a factor in Cincinnati’s offense and now has a healthy Joe Burrow throwing to him. He caught a touchdown toss Sunday against Buffalo and might begin seeing more red zone throws from Burrow in the coming weeks.
Michael Mayer, Las Vegas Raiders
The jury is out on whether or not the promotion of youngster Aidan O’Connell to starting signal-caller in Vegas will help or hurt Mayer’s fantasy value from here on out. We know it was not being helped by Jimmy Garoppolo. Mayer is not burning up the fantasy charts with his numbers, but his worth could take an upturn now that O’Connell is at the helm.
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