RADIO
Tight end waiver wire pickups and streamers for Week 14 of the fantasy football season. Craig Rondinone recommends TE free agents to consider adding off waivers.
It is either the last week of the regular season or the first week of the playoffs in your fantasy football league. Either way, this is the most crucial week of your fantasy season --- unless your team is the Cincinnati Bengals of your league.
You probably did not get your squad into the playoffs or playoff contention without a decent tight end, but if you need a TE this week for your fantasy team or DFS lineup, you are shopping at the right store this Cyber Monday! Owners of Carolina’s Greg Olsen, Atlanta’s Austin Hooper and Los Angeles’ Gerald Everett might need emergency help due their guys’ recent injuries. The good news is that there is a plethora of waiver wire choices at the tight end position in many leagues, which is not the norm this late in the season.
Without further ado, here are my tight end waiver wire picks for Week 14!
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TE Waiver Wire Options for Week 14
Mike Gesicki, Miami Dolphins – 30% owned
After not scoring a touchdown in his first 25 games in the NFL, Gesicki has now reached the end zone in back-to-back games. Plus, the guy has looked like Mark Bavaro while doing it! Did you see him give a Philadelphia Eagles defensive back a flying knee to the chest that Brutus Beefcake would have been proud of? Gesicki is a special specimen whose football intelligence has finally caught up his physical skills.
Gesicki has power, size, decent speed and impressive hands, making him the total package as a pass-catching tight end. He now has a quarterback who can get him the ball in Ryan Fitzpatrick, and he has more chances to make plays because Miami has lost a couple wide receivers to season-ending injuries. Gesicki should be the top tight end pick on waiver wires this week heading into a divisional game against a New York Jets Defense who plays the run one million times better than it plays the pass.
Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles – 52% owned
It no longer matters that perennial Pro Bowl player Zach Ertz is the No. 1 TE in Philadelphia and Goedert is No. 1-A. Goedert is still getting more than enough targets and opportunities to be a starting fantasy tight end in most formats. Over his past seven games he has been good for 32 receptions for 312 yards and three touchdowns. There are not many tight ends on fantasy free-agent lists who have accounted for that kind of production over that span of time, yet Goedert is available in almost half of the leagues out there.
Goedert is tasked with finding soft spaces inside the New York Giants secondary, which should be about as difficult as picking an even number between one and three. The Giants have been near the bottom all season long in pass defense and are relying on rookies to hold down the fort, which is why Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers picked them apart for four touchdowns this past Sunday. If Goedert is unclaimed in your league, by all means bring him aboard for your playoff run.
Other Options to Consider
Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts – 55% owned
Eric Ebron’s season-ending injuries to both of his ankles (ouch!) have opened the door to extra fantasy value for Mr. Doyle. Fantasy players know how valuable he can be in PPR leagues when given the chance, and Doyle has a dream matchup this Sunday against Tampa Bay’s putrid pass defense. The Buccaneers defensive backers have had more problems covering people than a bankrupt insurance agency in 2019. Doyle should have a field day and is still available in 45 percent of leagues somehow.
Jacob Hollister, Seattle Seahawks – 39% owned
Hollister can give you 40 yards and a touchdown in a week, and that is more than most tight ends on this list can say. With how hot Russell Wilson has been throwing the football, Hollister can continue to be a fantasy threat for the remainder of the season. He has gone from fourth on Seattle’s depth chart straight into the hearts of many fantasy owners who were starved for tight end help this year.
Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams – 13% owned
While Higbee was the one who signed a multimillion-dollar contract extension during the season, Gerald Everett has been the tight end seeing all the passes and making all the plays for the Rams in recent weeks --- until Weeks 12 and 13. Higbee ran roughshod (7-107-1) in Week 13 over an Arizona defense that will likely end up as the worst team in the history of the NFL at covering tight ends. Because Higbee had his great game against Arizona and because Everett might return this week, temper your expectations on how much you can milk out of him.
Ian Thomas, Carolina Panthers – 11% owned
Thomas has done reasonably well when stepping in for Greg Olsen when the veteran tight end has been injured the past two seasons, so if Thomas is called upon again now that Olsen is concussed, do not be shocked if he responds with 40-60 yards and a TD against Atlanta.
Jaeden Graham, Atlanta Falcons – 2% owned
Graham has been a solid plug-and-play replacement for the injured Austin Hooper with 94 yards and a touchdown in his two starts the past two weeks. If Hooper stays sidelined an additional week due to his sprained knee and your league’s waiver wire is short on options and long on longshots, taking a gamble on Graham is not the worst idea.
Kaden Smith, New York Giants – 3% owned
All New York’s No. 3 tight end has done the past two weeks is catch 11 passes on 14 targets, including one for a touchdown. He is worthless if Evan Engram and/or Rhett Ellison return from their injuries this week, but he could be worth a flyer if they do not.
Jonnu Smith, Tennessee Titans – 20% owned
Now that Delanie Walker has been placed on injured reserve, the path is clear for Smith to be Tennessee’s top tight end for the remainder of the 2019 campaign. But while a matchup against Oakland sounds inviting on paper, the fact that Smith was outplayed and out-targeted by third-stringer Anthony Firkser this past weekend casts a cloud of doubt over how well Smith will do.
Don’t Forget About…
Dawson Knox, Buffalo Bills – 20% owned
Buffalo’s future starting tight end has already become its present starting tight end, but he is not winning any fantasy players a title or a million dollars this season. The 2019 third-round draft choice has more value in dynasty leagues because Josh Allen is shaping up to be the franchise quarterback Buffalo thought he would be, and that only means good things for Knox’s fantasy worth as time goes on.
Irv Smith Jr., Minnesota Vikings – 21% owned
You never know what the future holds for a franchise. While Smith is buried behind veteran Kyle Rudolph on the tight end depth chart, and wonderful wideouts Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen take all the targets when they are both healthy, Smith has been left the scraps in his rookie campaign. That will not always be the case for the talented tight end, though, so if you can pick him up in dynasty league and stash him for 2020, he might double the numbers next year he has put up this year.
C.J. Uzomah, Cincinnati Bengals – 7% owned
Uzomah is not the pass catcher Tyler Eifert is, but his blocking keeps him on the field and in eyesight of Andy Dalton. With Dalton back under center, Uzomah had his best performance of the season (5-51) since Week 1, so Uzomah could be in line for more targets from here on out.
