Week 4 Tight Ends: Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds

September 23, 2014

Matt Hartman analyzes Week 4 fantasy football tight ends (TE) - waiver wire pickups, adds and sleepers for both PPR and non-PPR leagues. NFL tight ends are a key component.

What's up Rotoballers? Welcome to my Week 4 tight end waiver wire pickups piece.  In this article you will continue to find plenty of Tight End waiver surprises throughout the year so make sure you check back weekly.  If you lost Kyle Rudolph or Dennis Pitta in week 3, this is your one stop to find out who to pickup. Hopefully the player you pickup will turn out to be waiver gold.

To help accommodate your needs in various leagues and formats, I’ll also be looking at deeper sleepers (way off the radar) to make this article a little more unique compared to others. All of my waiver wire recommendations will be organized by priority, so those players closer to the top of the article are more valuable to target. This also applies to the other options mentioned below the highlighted players. The first mentioned player has a higher recommendation than the preceding TEs (i.e. Jordan Reed > Charles Clay).  The goal is to recommend both short term tight end options (i.e. matchup plays, injury fill-ins), and also longer term tight end considerations (i.e. emerging rookies). With that said lets get to it!

Fantasy Football Tight Ends (TE) – Week 4

Niles Paul - Washington Redskins, 48% owned in Fleaflicker

With the absence of Jordan Reed due to injury and the loss of RG3, the chemistry between Kirk Cousins & Niles Paul has proven to be strong. The last two weeks Paul has hauled in 14 catches, 167 yards, and a TD.  This week Washington will have a short week (play on Thursday) and its unlikely that Jordan Reed will play.  So Reed out I would highly recommend a waiver claim on Paul and streaming him.  Keep in mind that Reed will be back soon so your value from Paul will be short term focused.

Recommendation: Stream in 10+ leagues (standard and PPR) for week 4;  Long term 14+ leagues (standard, PPR)

Larry Donnell - New York Giants, 38% owned in Fleaflicker  

As I've written in my prior articles and also in waiver articles, Donnell needs to be owned.  He's in the top 5 in scoring categories for TEs so far on the season.  Will he continue being a top 5 TE for the rest of the season?  I doubt that but I wouldn't be surprised if he was a top 12 TE by the end of the season.  Eli has always depended on his tight ends and used them as a safety blanket, and part of the reason for his decline last year was the absence of a quality pass catching tight end. Now that Eli has that player in Donnell, it makes Donnell a must add waiver wire pickup for bye week plug and play or injury replacements for Jordan Reed, Dennis Pitta, or Kyle Rudolph.

Recommendation: waiver wire pickup in 10+ team leagues (standard, PPR)

Travis Kelce - Kansas City Chiefs, 35% owned in Fleaflicker

We've touched on Kelce a lot at RotoBaller, as he's going to be a big part of the Chiefs offense this year.  So far on the season Kelce has been building up to be a fantasy stud and is getting increased snaps.  Due to this increase in playing time Kelce's production has increased as well with his first scoring TD of the season coming in week 3.  Kelce has seen 15 targets in limited action and show flashes of potential with 10 catches and 166 yards.  If Kelce is available on your waiver wire target him with your FAAB budget as he will be a TE1 whose value will only increase from here.

Recommendation: waiver wire pickup in 12+ team leagues (standard, PPR)

Jared Cook - St. Louis Rams, 34% owned in Fleaflicker

This week's deeper sleeper is Jared Cook of the Rams. He put together his best game of the season with 7 catches and 75 yards receiving in week 3. Last season Cook put up a decent season with 51 catches, 671 yards receiving, and 5 TDs which placed him 12th best in fantasy points in standard leagues.  Comparatively speaking he fared better than Delanie Walker, Garrett Graham, & Jordan Reed yet he's owned less than them.  If you are in a deeper league Cook is a nice waiver target for bench depth and also bye week assistance.

Recommendation: waiver wire pickup in 14+ team leagues (standard), continue monitoring for shallower leagues

More Higher Owned Tight End Waiver Options

50% owned or more in Yahoo, ESPN or Fleaflicker

Martellus Bennett (CHI), Jordan Reed (WAS), Jordan Cameron (CLE)

More Deeper League Tight End Waiver Options

Owen Daniels (BAL),  Dwayne Allen (IND),  Heath Miller (PIT), Garrett Graham (HOU),  Ladarius Green (SD), Rhett Ellison (MIN)

Recap of Last Week’s Recommendations

I didn't fare as well last week as in week 2, but all of these guys will be solid performers throughout the year.

• Antonio Gates: 1 target, 1 catch, 8 yards (1.8 PPR points)
• Delanie Walker: 7 targets, 4 catches, 54 yards (9.4 PPR points)
• Travis Kelce: 4 targets, 3 catches, 36 yards, TD (12.6 PPR points)
• Larry Donnell: 6 targets, 6 catches, 45 yards (9.5 PPR points)
• Niles Paul: 9 targets, 6 catches, 68 yards (12.8 PPR points)

I hope these guys help you in your matchup next week and going forward for the season. If anyone has any specific questions or is looking for any assistance, please feel free to comment on the article directly or send me a message to my twitter account at @businesssoxroto. See you all next week RotoBallers!