No Tyler Eifert, no Martellus Bennett, no Richard Rodgers…no problem?

Four more teams are on bye this week, so fantasy owners are scrambling like Russell Wilson to fill in their blanks at the tight end position.  And with Eifert (342 yards, six TD), Bennett (292 yards, two TD) and Rodgers (189, two TD) having the week off, this will be one of the more important weeks of the season for fantasy owners to find one-week replacements for their tight end vacancies.

Here is a look at three possible tight end candidates to pick up on the waiver wire for Week 7:

 

Week 7 Waiver Wire -- Tight Ends (TE)

Benjamin Watson (TE, NO) -- 10% OWNED

Fantasy owners knew at the start of the season that someone would step up on the Saints to fill the humongous void at tight end left behind by fantasy demigod Jimmy Graham.  But most assumed it would be third-year whipper-snapper Josh Hill becoming Drew Brees’s top tight end.  Instead, Hill has seven catches for 61 yards on the season, while Watson had 10 catches for 127 yards and one touchdown just last Thursday.

Watson has seemingly been around since the invention of the stat service.  Father Time has not slowed the 34-yeard-old Watson down this year, however.  Watson’s 25 receptions for 266 yards and two touchdowns put him right there with the best at the position.  He currently ranks eighth in receptions and 11^th in receiving yards among tight ends.

Brees is throwing like his right shoulder is close to 100 percent, and as he has gotten healthier, his relationship with Watson has gotten stronger on the field.  Watson has been targeted 17 times over his last two games after being targeted just 16 times over his first four.

Watson is not going to catch 10 passes again this week, but he is primed to do very well against an Indianapolis Colts defense that ranks 28^th against the pass and is allowing 289 passing yards per game.  Pick up Watson and you can reasonably expect five receptions for 56 yards, with the possibility of a TD, too.

 

Crockett Gillmore (TE, BAL) -- 19% OWNED

Joe Flacco’s tight end returned after a two-week absence to snag three passes for 30 yards against San Francisco on Sunday.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is Crockett was only targeted six times out of Flacco’s 53 pass attempts during the contest.

Flacco has always loved throwing to his tight ends, though.  Whether it was Todd Heap, Dennis Pitta, or even Owen Daniels, Flacco has found his tight end on a consistent basis.  So there is no reason to think Flacco will ignore Crockett, especially since the tight end is hard to miss when he is 6’6” and 270 pounds.

Gillmore was probably picked up in many leagues after his six-catch, 88-yard, two-TD breakout effort against the Oakland Raiders the second game of the season.  He was also probably dropped in many leagues after he suffered his calf injury, so he appears to be available on most leagues’ waiver wires.

Gillmore will be covered this week by a stingy Arizona Cardinals secondary that has bottled up tight ends (no TD tosses allowed to tight ends in 2015) but also just made Pittsburgh’s third-string quarterback Landry Jones look like Terry Bradshaw this past Sunday.  And the Cards have only gone up against one premier tight end so far, the aforementioned Bennett, so their sample size is suspect.

Baltimore will likely be throwing a lot again against Arizona, so if Flacco fires up 40-50 passes once again, look for Gillmore to be targeted 7-9 times and put up some fantasy points.

 

Ladarius Green (TE, SD) -- 39% OWNED

I have not been surprised at how quickly future Hall of Famer Antonio Gates has re-established himself as a top-five tight end after missing the first four games of the campaign due to his suspension, but I have been downright shocked at how well Green has done since Gates has come back.

Green has still found his fair share of targets and catches while Gates has been on the field with him.  Green had five catches for 50 yards in Gates’ first game back, then had 35 yards and a touchdown this past weekend, even though Gates had nine receptions of his own.  So if you thought Green would vanish once Gates returned, you were more wrong than the experts who predicted Denver’s C.J. Anderson would rush for 1,200 yards this season.

Quarterback Philip Rivers has had no problem spreading the ball to both of his tight ends while still throwing to top target Keenan Allen 700 times per game as well.  No QB has more pass attempts than Rivers, so if rookie runner Melvin Gordon gets himself straightened out and San Diego balances its offense a bit, Green’s targets should go down, but that does not look like it will be happening within the next two weeks.

Green’s Chargers have a home date with the Oakland Raiders this weekend.  The Raiders defensive backs have been very welcoming to pass catchers this year, ranking 30^th in pass defense and giving up almost 300 yards through the air on average.  If you think Green’s targets and catches are about to come down due to Gates, it shouldn’t be this Sunday.

Green is not a long-term fantasy prospect this season with Gates gobbling up some of his targets and with Green being one concussion away from missing significant time since he has already suffered two this year.  But if you need a tight end this week he is one of the best guys out there to sign up for your fantasy squad.