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Matt's tight end (TE) fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 7 of 2024. His TE lineups advice for Week 7 fantasy football start/sit decisions.
Has there been a more disappointing position in fantasy football than we have witnessed from the tight-end position in 2024? Only five tight ends thus far are averaging 10 or more fantasy points per game heading into Week 7.
It seems like every year, the tight-end position is a fantasy wasteland. This season, it seems more pronounced. Sam LaPorta, TE15, averages 7.8 fantasy points per contest. Travis Kelce is at TE10 (9.4). Mark Andrews is at TE23 (6.3). All three were selected in the first four rounds of fantasy drafts in August.
If you are looking for a bit of light at the end of that dark fantasy tunnel, you have come to the right place. Here are the RotoBaller Week 7 starts and sits at the tight-end position.
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Week 7 Starts - Fantasy Football Booms
Brock Bowers - TE, Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Rams
With Davante Adams' departure, Brock Bowers is the de facto top receiving option for this Las Vegas Raiders team. Without Adams on the field, Bowers has been targeted on 34% of his routes this season, including 22 targets in his last two games.
Even before the Adams trade, Bowers was on a historical pace. If you project his current numbers throughout the season, he would be looking at 105 receptions for 1,088 yards. The record for receptions for a tight end in a single season is 116, courtesy of Zach Ertz back in 2018.
This season, the Rams allow 14.9 fantasy points per game to the tight-end position, the second most. Tight ends have produced 295 yards and three touchdowns thus far this season against the Rams defense.
Called back for a hold but this is a sick catch from Brock Bowers. The Raiders rookie is already one of the best tight ends in the NFL pic.twitter.com/rB7nkWasns
— Bobby Football (@Rob__Paul) October 13, 2024
It's just a tiny sample, but Aidan O'Connell loves targeting his tight end more than most. O'Connell led the league in tight-end target share in Week 6 at 30.6%. Expect that trend to continue this week and beyond.
Kyle Pitts - TE, Atlanta Falcons vs. Seattle Seahawks
Regarding small sample sizes, Kyle Pitts has produced back-to-back weeks of double-digit fantasy production. Best of all, he may not be done yet. Seattle has allowed the sixth-most fantasy points (13.23) to tight ends after allowing 344 yards and two scores to the position.
Both George Kittle and Hunter Henry were able to torch the Seahawks for more than 18 fantasy points each in previous weeks, so for a tight end that now sits inside the top five among the position in receiving yards, fantasy managers must be getting excited about a fantasy three-peat. It's only three weeks, but we will take what we can get.
Once again, the bar is set pretty low at the tight-end position this season. Pitts averages 8.4 fantasy points per game, the 12th most among the position for fantasy. Anytime you get a good matchup that projects double digits, that is a smash start.
The only TE in the league with two receptions of 50+ yards this season
Kyle Pitts 👀 pic.twitter.com/kwuAR1R3j3
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) October 14, 2024
Cade Otton - TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Baltimore Ravens
I just mentioned that you take it when you get a favorable tight-end matchup this season. This is another one of those favorable matchups, as the Ravens allow the fifth-most fantasy points (13.43) to the position. While the Ravens have yet to allow a touchdown to a tight end, they have allowed 436 receiving yards on 37 receptions.
Otton has produced nine fantasy points or more in three of the last four weeks, including 9.5 last week after he scored his first touchdown of the season against the Saints in New Orleans. Tampa Bay sits second in the NFL in points scored (29.7) and 11th in passing yards per game (230.3), so grabbing a piece of one of the most explosive offenses may serve fantasy managers well.
Otton can pop off any given week. I'm old enough to remember the playoffs last season. In that playoff run, Otton had 11 targets in a game against the Eagles and eight more in that contest against the Lions.
Week 7 Sits - Fantasy Football Busts
Dalton Kincaid - TE, Buffalo Bills vs. Tennessee Titans
This is a difficult matchup on paper, and other factors will also be in play this week. First, let's talk about the matchup. Tennessee allows a league-low 5.20 fantasy points per game to the position and has allowed just 120 receiving yards to opposing tight ends so far. To make matters worse, it has yet to surrender a touchdown this season to a tight end.
After last week, Kincaid now has two fantasy finishes in which he would produce 10 or more fantasy points. Here's the thing: Buffalo executed a trade earlier in the week that brought an alpha receiver to the Bills Mafia in the form of Amari Cooper. Cooper went from one of the least accurate passers to the best on passes beyond the line of scrimmage.
The Titans have allowed just one tight end to produce 10.5 fantasy points this season and held Tucker Kraft and Cole Kmet to fewer than five fantasy points. Adding a true No. 1 receiver will take targets and opportunities away from Kincaid this week and for the rest of the season.
Tucker Kraft - TE, Green Bay Packers vs. Houston Texans
Speaking of Tucker Kraft, sit him this week. In this tight-end economy, it's all about the matchups, and the Houston Texans are a less-than-desirable matchup for fantasy managers. Houston has allowed the third-fewest fantasy points to the position (6.48), and while it has allowed two touchdowns, it has allowed just 129 yards to date, which is an average of 21.5 per game.
Houston faced Kincaid and Kmet earlier in the season, both of whom are considered top-12 options, and held both in check. Only one tight end has finished with more than seven fantasy points against the Texans defense, so if I can fade Kraft this week, I will.
Pat Freiermuth - TE, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New York Jets
Like every other tight end on this list, Pat Freiermuth has a matchup this week that I am looking to avoid. The New York Jets this season have allowed just 191 receiving yards and a touchdown, which came on Monday, to the position, which adds up to 7.85 fantasy points and 31.8 receiving yards per game.
Playing the law of averages, a tough matchup coupled with poor production last week is not what fantasy managers want to see. Last week, the Steelers tight end caught two of his three targets for just 16 yards and has failed to hit double digits in fantasy points in every contest but one this season, including back-to-back games with 25 or fewer receiving yards.
In today's fantasy landscape, you simply cannot risk changing on a tight end with a difficult matchup, especially when three or four tight ends in that same tier have better matchups.
7 teams are allowing less than 8 fantasy points per game to the tight end position. In today's fantasy landscape of mediocrity among tight ends, it's wise to avoid these seven matchups.#Titans 5.20#Eagles 6.24#Texans 6.48#Lions 7.32#Dolphins 7.42#Browns 7.53#Jets 7.85
— Matt Donnelly (@MattDonnellyFF) October 16, 2024
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