When Rob Gronkowski takes a week off, you realize how weak the top tier of tight ends is. There were not many tight ends who stamped themselves as fantasy stalwarts during the opening week of the NFL season. No tight end accounted for 75 receiving yards, and only nine touchdowns tosses went to the position.

Due to the disappointing performance at the position, there might be many fantasy football owners looking for tight ends this week on their league’s free agent list. Here are three tight ends to consider this week on the waiver wire.

Editor's Note: Purchase a full season NFL Premium Pass (including DFS Premium), and also get MLB Premium + DFS for free through the playoffs. Premium DFS research, lineup picks, expert lineups, tools and more. You can see screenshots of our NFL Premium and MLB Premium and DFS tools. What are you waiting for?

 

Week 2 Waiver Wire - Tight Ends (TE)

Eric Ebron, Detroit Lions

Fantasy pundits have sounded like broken records talking about Ebron being on the verge of breaking out and becoming a fantasy force. But with Calvin “Megatron” Johnson retired and dancing with the stars, Ebron finally has the opportunity to become Matthew Stafford’s top target.

Ebron caught all five passes thrown to him by Stafford, going for 46 yards and a touchdown in Detroit’s opening contest. While wideouts Marvin Jones and Golden Tate were targeted more and running backs Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick were targeted just as much and also scored, Ebron’s efforts stand out since he is Detroit’s wild card in its passing attack. Granted, Ebron was running routes against a Colts secondary that was missing more players than Charleston Southern was missing against Florida State last Saturday, but his performance was impressive nevertheless.

Ebron has the makings of a top-five fantasy tight end. Could he be the Jordan Reed of 2016 and finally put everything together? He has the ability to become the centerpiece of the offense if he stays healthy and consistent. Pick him up and keep your fingers crossed that he is about to live up to his lofty potential.

 

Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts

Doyle was the tight end that surprised fantasy owners the most during the opening week with his two touchdown receptions against Detroit. He was the third-string tight end in 2015 and only had 35 catches to his credit coming into the season, but now he has stepped in for the departed Coby Fleener and has quickly made his presence known.

Doyle did not have a catch during the preseason, went undrafted after his college career ended and sounds more like the Irish detective of a prime-time drama than an NFL tight end.  He has been used as a run blocker more than a pass catcher, but it looks like Andrew Luck might add “favorite red-zone target” to Doyle’s workload this year.

Incumbent Dwayne Allen is still Indy’s top tight end and was able to be a fantasy find himself last week (53 yards and a TD), but Allen has a storied history as an injury waiting to happen. While the Colts seem to be employing more three-WR sets, they still have two-TE packages where Doyle and Allen will both be on the field at the same time. Doyle could be a nice pickup, especially in touchdown-only leagues.

 

Dennis Pitta, Baltimore Ravens

Pitta for Comeback Player of the year? It’s a little too soon to hand him the award, but he caught three passes for 39 yards against the Buffalo Bills and emerged as Baltimore’s best tight end after seemingly being as low as fourth on the depth chart at times during the preseason.

Baltimore’s receiving corps is built around age. Steve Smith, Mike Wallace and Pitta are all in their 30s, yet they could be Joe Flacco’s three best targets during the first month until youngsters Breshad Perriman and Kamar Aiken get going.

As long as Pitta does not pull a Bo Jackson and injure his hip again, he could be a fantasy sleeper. He has better pass-catching skills than Baltimore’s two younger tight ends, Maxx Williams and Crockett Gillmore, and more experience connecting with Flacco. Fantasy owners will likely just have to wince every time Pitta gets tackled.

 

Other Options

Kyle Rudolph, Minnesota Vikings

Rudolph was able to grab four passes for 65 yards with Shaun Hill throwing to him last week. He should be able to keep that up or do better in the coming weeks when Sam Bradford becomes his QB.

Clive Walford, Oakland Raiders

Walford is the third-best option in Oakland’s aerial attack behind receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree.  With Derek Carr looking more and more like a top-15 fantasy QB, Walford could be primed for a 650-yard, six-TD campaign.

Brent Celek, Philadelphia Eagles

Zach Ertz is out indefinitely with a displaced rib, so quarterback phenom Carson Wentz and the Eagles are lucky to have a grizzled veteran like Celek on the team. Celek should be a solid safety valve for the rookie rifleman over the next several weeks while Ertz is sidelined.

 

Check out RotoBaller's famous fantasy football draft sleepers and waiver wire pickups list, updated regularly!