Week 3 Tight Ends: Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds

September 16, 2014

Matt Hartman analyzes Week 3 fantasy football tight ends (TE) - waiver wire pickups, adds and sleepers for both PPR and non-PPR leagues. NFL tight ends are a key component.

What's up RotoBallers?  Welcome to my Week 3 tight end waiver wire pickup recommendations piece. In this article you may find a few repeat recommendations from last week (since you missed my last article?), plus a few new additions. Going forward I will also include a recap of the previous week's recommended tight ends, so that you can see if the recommendations are legit and to keep me honest.

Like most years, this NFL season is sure to be filled with surprises at the tight end position, so make sure you check back to my weekly tight ends article. To help accommodate your needs in various leagues and formats, I’ll also be looking at deeper sleepers (way off the radar) to make this article a little more unique compared to others. All of my waiver wire recommendations will be organized by priority, so those players closer to the top of the article are more valuable to target. This also applies to the other options mentioned below the highlighted players. The first mentioned player has a higher recommendation than the preceding TEs (i.e. Jordan Reed > Charles Clay).

If anyone has any specific questions or is looking for any assistance, please feel free to comment on the article directly or send me a message to my twitter account at @businesssoxroto.  My goal within this article is to recommend both short term tight end options (i.e. matchup plays, injury fill-ins), and also longer term tight end considerations (i.e. emerging rookies). With that said lets get to it!

Editor’s Note: RotoBaller's fantasy football waiver wire pickups list is updated constantly, and is a running list of waiver wire pickups for all positions. You can also read more in-depth waiver wire analysis at each position, as we dig deeper and identify even more waiver wire options weekly. Here are some of the other Week 3 waiver wire articles:

• Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups Overview for Fantasy Football
• Week 3 Running Backs: Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds
• Week 3 Wide Receivers: Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds
• Week 3 Dynasty Leagues: Waiver Wire Pickups & Trade Targets
• Defenses (DEF) to Start in Week 3: Fantasy Tiers & Rankings

Fantasy Football Tight Ends (TE) - Week 3

Antonio Gates (TE, SD)

83% owned in Fleaflicker, 73% owned in Yahoo, 43.5% owned in ESPN 

This offseason in fantasy football circles, many experts stated that Antonio Gates is getting old and that Ladarius Green will take over TE for the Chargers this year. Well so far Gates has shown he doesn't want to give his starting position away anytime soon. On the year Gates has 13 catches, 177 yards and 3 TDs. These numbers alone make him one of the top tight ends on the season. I know this is a bit of a stretch, as Gates is already widely owned, but he should not be available in any leagues anywhere. If you are in need of a TE and play on ESPN leagues (or any other league where Gates is somehow still available), pick him up off the waiver wire immediately!

Recommendation: waiver wire pickup in 10+ team leagues (standard, PPR)

Delanie Walker (TE, TEN)

46% owned in Fleaflicker, 63% owned in Yahoo, 69.7% owned in ESPN      

Last week I mentioned how the chemistry with Jake Locker and Walker was developing, both this and year and also last year before Locker's injuries, and this week they showed what kind of upside they have together. In Week 2 Delanie Walker lead all tight ends, including Jimmy Graham, in targets (14), and tied for the most catches (10). While this is obviously a career best weekend for Walker, I expect that he will be a top 10 TE this season if Locker can stay healthy. If you are hurting at the tight end position, lost Vernon Davis to injury this past week, or are looking to add more depth to your fantasy football team - grab Walker off the Week 3 waiver wire, especially in PPR leagues.

Recommendation: waiver wire pickup in 10+ team leagues (standard, PPR)

Travis Kelce (TE, KC)

29% owned in Fleaflicker, 37% owned in Yahoo, 2.1% owned in ESPN

Coming out of a disappointing first week of the season with limited play (18 plays), Kelce, was given more playing time and showed signs of life with 4 catches and 81 yards.  Currently Kelce is the backup to Anthony Fasano and is hurting his value but I anticipate that Kelce will take the starting TE position sooner rather than later.  This week is just a taste of Kelce's potential, scoop him up before someone else does.

Recommendation: waiver wire pickup in 12+ team leagues (standard, PPR), continue monitoring in 10 teamers

Larry Donnell (TE, NYG)

22% owned in Fleaflicker, 21% owned in Yahoo, 1.4% owned in ESPN  

It's clear that Eli Manning needs a security blanket with his offensive line woes, and it seems he's found that with his new tight end Larry Donnell. Over the past two weeks, Donnell has racked up 17 targets and 12 catches, which is a good amount of volume. Donnell is not a shifty or speedy guy, but he will be reliable for Manning and fantasy football owners too. But for some reason, not enough people are noticing that he has been the top receiver for the Giants in Week 1 and also in Week 2. I don't expect this trend to continue every week, but I do believe that he'll be a consistent TE who will average around 5-6 catches a game with 50-70 yards. That's solid production for fantasy owners, especially in PPR leagues, so go ahead and grab him off the Week 3 waiver wire.

Recommendation: waiver wire pickup in 12+ team leagues (standard, PPR)

Niles Paul (TE, WAS)

10% owned in Fleaflicker, 3% owned in Yahoo, 0.4% owned in ESPN

This past weekend, Washington continued expanding its injury bug to the team losing both Robert Griffin & DeSean Jackson. Last week, Washington lost Jordan Reed at tight end which opened the door for Niles Paul to make the start in Week 2 - and he did fantastic job filling in. When RG3 went down with his ankle injury, Cousins showed instant chemistry with Paul and targeted him frequently (11 times). Clearly Paul has the talent to succeed in this offense, and on the NFL level. The concern with this recommendation is Reed's health - if and when Reed is healthy, he's the TE to own in Washington, and Paul will lose most of his playing time. If Reed is not healthy and misses more time, Paul will continue to be a nice tight end streamer play, especially in PPR leagues, and can be grabbed off the Week 3 waiver wire depending on this week's injury report.

Recommendation: waiver wire stash for deeper 14+ leagues (standard, PPR), possible Week 3 stream play (monitor Reed’s health)

More Higher Owned Tight End Waiver Options

50% owned or more in Yahoo, ESPN or Fleaflicker

Jordan Reed (WAS), Charles Clay (MIA)

More Deeper League Tight End Waiver Options

Owen Daniels (BAL), Jermaine Gresham (CIN), Garrett Graham(HOU), Eric Ebron (DET), Vance McDonald (SF)

Recap of Last Week's Recommendations

• Delanie Walker: 14 targets, 10 catches, 142 yards, TD (29.2 PPR points)
• Travis Kelce: 6 targets, 4 catches, 81 yards (12.1 PPR points)
• Larry Donnell: 9 targets, 7 catches, 81 yards (15.1 PPR points)
• Levine Toilolo: 3 targets, 2 catches, 13 yards (3.3 PPR points)
• Niles Paul: 11 targets, 8 catches, 99 yards, TD (23.9 PPR points)

I hope these guys help you in your matchup next week and going forward for the season. As always, I’d love to hear from you on twitter @businessoxroto. See you all next week RotoBallers!