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Craig Rondinone's fantasy football TE waiver wire pickups for Week 12 of the 2023 NFL season. His free agent tight ends to add, stream, and stash off waivers.
This week is all about thanks and giving. Fantasy football managers will certainly be thankful if their league’s waiver wire can give them a tight end to replace Mark Andrews.
Week 11 was a tragic week for fantasy managers who rostered Andrews, the second-best tight end in fantasy football behind Kansas City’s Travis Kelce. Baltimore’s Pro Bowl pass catcher suffered season-ending leg and ankle injuries last Thursday night. Now, millions of fantasy squads have a gaping hole at the tight end position, and for many of them, it might be too late to make a blockbuster trade to replace Andrews because their league’s trade deadline has passed.
The good news is there are no teams on bye this week, so there are a full amount of options on the waiver wire. Without further ado, here are the best tight end waiver wire pickups for Week 12, beginning with the man in Baltimore who will have the task of replacing Andrews.
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Top Tight Ends to Pickup - Week 12 Waiver Wire
Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens
Sometimes the best way to replace an injured superstar on your fantasy team is to pick up the guy who is replacing him on his NFL team. In Andrews’ case, his understudy is Likely, who will now become Lamar Jackson’s top tight end. What fantasy managers have to like is that Jackson has always favored throwing to his tight ends, so Likely will not be ignored in the passing attack. There are plenty of arrows pointing in Likely’s favor. His first game as the starting tight end is against the disastrous Los Angeles Chargers, who have the worst pass defense in the NFL.
Another is Likely’s penchant for playing great when Andrews has been out. In Week 18 last season when Andrews was rested for the playoffs, Likely racked up eight receptions for 103 yards. He also scored touchdowns in back-to-back games earlier in 2022 when Andrews was banged up as well. There is no reason to think Likely will not become Andrews-like again this go-round. Pick him up quicker than a Baltimore resident picks up a crab cake.
Other Tight Ends to Consider Adding
Luke Musgrave, Green Bay Packers
Fantasy managers would have preferred to see more than four catches for 28 yards out of Musgrave on Sunday when he had a cupcake matchup against the aforementioned Chargers. He was wide open for what would have been a big gainer but had Jordan Love’s inaccurate throw bounced off his hands. The rookie has been consistently targeted throughout his first campaign, though, and had a bright future ahead of him. Musgrave’s next matchup against Detroit is on Thanksgiving, and the Lions' defense is showing signs of wear and tear. Scoop up Musgrave and he should be able to gift you five catches and a possible touchdown trip.
Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers
Freiermuth finally returned from his hamstring injury, but he only mustered up one catch for seven yards against Cleveland’s brick wall of a defense. If Freiermuth had Ben Roethlisberger at QB, he would be the top tight end listed in this column. I just cannot trust Kenny Pickett and this awful offense to do right by Freiermuth, though, so I have to knock him down a couple of pegs. Going in Freirmuth’s favor, however, is that he has always done well against Cincinnati, the defense he is facing this week. In four games against them, he has compiled 216 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Logan Thomas, Washington Commanders
I love a good game script as much as Adam Sandler loves a funny comedy script. Thomas should be thrown at early and often on Turkey Day because his Washington Commanders should be trailing the Dallas Cowboys faster than you can ask your uncle to pass the potatoes. Thomas has been targeted 32 times over his past five outings and should be in line for another six to nine targets in a game where Washington will be forced to do a lot of passing.
Michael Mayer, Las Vegas Raiders
Las Vegas’ burly, athletic tight end is not letting erratic quarterback play bring down him or his fantasy value. Mayer scored his first NFL touchdown in Week 10 and followed that up with four catches for 46 yards in Week 11. I will be fully sold on the rook if he does well this week against the Super Bowl champ Kansas City Chiefs considering he will be facing a top-five pass defense.
Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield wants to throw to Mike Evans 99 percent of the time if there is a pass play called inside the red zone. If you pick up Otton, you have to live with that. The hope is that he keeps improving fantasy-wise in the coming weeks. Otton has averaged 43 yards per game over his last trio of contests.
Do Not Forget About…
Tanner Hudson, Cincinnati Bengals
Wow, where did this guy come from? Hudson has leapfrogged Irv Smith Jr. and Drew Sample to become Cincinnati’s top tight end. He has 14 receptions for 127 yards over his past three games. The jury is out on whether Hudson will keep getting targeted as much once WR Tee Higgins returns to the lineup, and if his numbers will decline when Jake Browning is his QB instead of Joe Burrow.
Donald Parham Jr., Los Angeles Chargers
Stone Smartt might have been the Chargers tight end who caught a long TD toss on Sunday, but Parham Jr. was the tight end who was featured more often in the offense with Gerald Everett sidelined. Parham Jr. caught four Justin Herbert passes for 57 yards and proved he can be more than a touchdown-dependent fantasy player if given opportunities between the 20s. If Everett is going to miss another game this week, Parham Jr.’s worth inches up and makes him someone to watch on waivers.
Tommy Tremble, Carolina Panthers
The kid does not catch many passes in Carolina’s boring, far-from-explosive offense, but when he does, they usually end up as touchdowns. Tremble has three touchdowns on a dozen receptions this year, which is not much different than in 2022 when he had three TDs on 19 receptions. If Carolina could throw at him more often, who knows what this former top prospect could do?
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