October 25, 2016

Craig Rondinone 2016 fantasy football tiered rankings for Week 8 tight ends (TE) - waiver wire pickups, adds & sleepers for PPR and non-PPR. These are NFL TEs to target.

Three fewer games equals six fewer tight ends for fantasy football owners to use this week.

A half-dozen teams are on bye this upcoming week, so you would think the tight ends ranks would be decimated.  Luckily for fantasy owners, most of the tight ends that will be off have medium-to-no fantasy value.  The best of the bunch is Baltimore’s Dennis Pitta, which says it all.

But if you are in a deep league or have been living with a mediocre tight end up to this point, you may need a warm body.  Here are three tight ends to consider on the waiver wire this week:

Editor's Note: Once you're done here, be sure to read about even more Week 8 waiver wire recommendations, for all fantasy-relevant positions. Just click on any link: ALL - RB - WR - TE - QB - DEF - FAAB - CUTS

Week 8 Waiver Wire – Tight Ends (TE)

Vernon Davis, Washington Redskins

If you believed Davis was just a one-week wonder when he filled in for the concussed Jordan Reed two weeks ago and caught a touchdown pass, then consider yourself the Dan Quinn of your fantasy league.

Davis showed he was no fantasy fluke this past weekend by catching six Kirk Cousins passes for 79 yards against Detroit.  Davis has quickly jelled with Cousins and is putting up Reed-like numbers while filling the void at tight end for the Redskins.  His legs look rejuvenated and he is playing his best football in three years.

There is no telling when Reed will escape the dreaded concussion protocol system and find his way back on the field.  That means Davis will continue to be the top tight end and could lead the Skins in targets this week at Cincinnati with the way the receivers on the roster are splitting up the passes thrown outside the numbers and downfield.

Erik Swoope, Indianapolis Colts

Swoope is one of the more unlikely fantasy football stories in 2016.  With starting tight end Dwayne Allen out with an ankle injury, and with Indianapolis’ No. 2 and No. 3 wide receivers also sidelined with injuries, this undrafted former basketball player has suddenly emerged as a dark horse waiver pickup in fantasy leagues.

Swoope has four catches for 93 yards over his last two games.  These are the first receptions of his NFL career, but they will not be the last as long as the Colts receiving corps remains decimated with injuries.  Swoope is blessed with a big athletic body and obviously can box out defenders with his basketball background.  His first NFL touchdown is in his near future if Allen misses more games.

Being the third tight end on an NFL team’s depth chart makes a player about as valuable fantasy-wise as the fourth-string quarterback or the fifth-string fullback.  Luckily, Andrew Luck loves utilizing his tight ends as much as I love utilizing my knife and fork at dinnertime.  Fantasy owners have seen how second-string tight end Jack Doyle has become a fantasy lottery ticket in recent weeks.  Take a chance on Swoope and he may the next one cashing in.

Lance Kendricks, Los Angeles Rams

I know Kendricks is on bye this week, and I know that his name has been mentioned in this column two times over the past month.  All that aside, Kendricks remains one of the best options at tight end on many league waiver wires because of his production over the past month.  He has been targeted 27 times and has 19 receptions over the Rams’ last four contests and has now become the king of the eight-yard pass.

Los Angeles’ starting signal caller Case Keenum is in jeopardy of losing his job before President Obama does.  While Keenum has done a solid job finding Kendricks over the middle and in the flat, you would think that most quarterbacks could do better.  With Kendricks coming into his own as a big-bodied tight end who can box out defenders, a quarterback switch could bump his fantasy value up a notch.

Kendricks is no help to fantasy owners this week and will never win a gold medal in the 100-yard-dash at the Olympics.  But he has been a decent fantasy performer in recent weeks and could be even better if Keenum is replaced by another quarterback who could get the ball in Kendricks’ hands more often.

Other Options

C.J. Fiedorowicz, Houston Texans

Who would have thought that DeAndre Hopkins would end up playing second fiddle to Fiedorowicz?  The Texans’ top tight end has a favorable matchup against Detroit’s below-average pass defense, so six receptions for 55 yards and a score is not unreasonable.

Jacob Tamme, Atlanta Falcons

Julio Jones gets 100 targets to Tamme’s three every week.  That said, Tamme does historically better at the Georgia Dome than he does in road games, and with Atlanta hosting Green Bay this week, Tamme’s chances at snagging a TD pass skyrocket.

Virgil Green, Denver Broncos

Green is still a block-first, catch-second tight end, so if he catches three or four passes a fantasy owner would be ecstatic.  If there is a Sunday for Green to stumble into a two-yard touchdown reception, it would be this weekend against San Diego’s banged-up secondary.