Where, Oh Where, Have the Good Tight Ends Gone?

This may not be the right time, place or platform—but can we, as a collective of fantasy football managers—come together to ban the tight end position from all formats? Unpredictable and underwhelming. Top picks like Mark Andrews, Travis Kelce and Sam LaPorta find themselves ranked near 20 and above at the position while guys like Dallas Goedert, Brock Bowers and Cole Kmet take the spotlight. At least Kyle Pitts is still Kyle Pitts, nothing new with him.

But seriously, the TE slot has got to go (just don’t go replacing it with a superflex, either).

(All fantasy-related statistics are derived from FantasyPros.com and are based on standard format unless otherwise specified).

Bills-Ravens Fantasy Outlook

Start

Dalton Kincaid (TE)

There’s a lot going for Dalton Kincaid this week. Baltimore has allowed tight ends to have some decent fantasy finishes thus far, and he’s coming off of his most productive game in which he totaled 41 receiving yards and a touchdown against Jacksonville on Monday night.

Baltimore currently sits third in the league for most receiving yards allowed to tight ends with 240, only behind the Bengals (256) and Eagles (269). Despite Kincaid’s single touchdown making up only seven of Buffalo’s 47 points dropped on the Jags, he separates himself from guys like Andrews, Kelce and LaPorta who have yet to catch a ball in the end zone. Unlike those three, Kincaid is not a tight end whose starting job you need to question at this point in the season.

Khalil Shaki (WR)

Khalil Shakir is emerging as the go-to receiver in Buffalo as he leads the team with 14 receptions on 14 targets for a total of 168 yards. For reference, James Cook follows suit with 97. While his stats haven’t translated to the flashiest numbers in standard format, Shakir has proven to become an asset in full-PPR with a position rank of 17. He’s yet to produce a single-digit finish in fantasy this season, most recently earning 19.2 in PPR against Jacksonville. Baltimore’s secondary is showing to be more penetrable than its run defense, suggesting that Shakir will have himself another double-digit performance.

Others to start: Josh Allen (QB), Lamar Jackson (QB), James Cook (RB), Derrick Henry (RB), Tyler Bass (K)

Fringe Candidate

Zay Flowers (WR)

Zay Flowers had his worst fantasy performance of the season against Dallas on Sunday, despite tying Rashod Bateman for the team high in receptions with three. Targeted 10 and 11 times in his first two games, Flowers had only four looks on Sunday, reflective of Baltimore’s run-heavy scheme that combined the likes of Derrick Henry, Justice Hill and Lamar Jackson.

The Ravens finished with 274 rushing yards against the Cowboys —123 more than they put up in Week 2 and 89 more than they did in Week 1. On the flip side, Baltimore threw the ball the least it had across three games (182 passing yards), and the result was a 28-6 lead heading into the final quarter.

If Baltimore has finally grasped some sort of identity that’s centered around its RPO scheme, expect to see more of the Henry-Hill-Jackson trio on Sunday night and less downfield production out of the pass-catchers. Buffalo has allowed the eighth-fewest passing yards but sits directly in the middle of the pack for rushing yards allowed.

Flowers is a start candidate in deeper leagues based on draft value alone but certainly looks fine on the bench this week in eight-team or 10-team leagues.

Sit

Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely (TE)

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Against Dallas, Mark Andrews only saw the field in 33% of Baltimore’s offensive snaps, exactly half of Isaiah Likely’s usage. Andrews was targeted just one time on Sunday, running a total of four routes and finishing with zero receptions. Likely’s production wasn’t much better; just one catch for four yards.

With John Harbaugh addressing their lack of usage in the pass game with praise for their performance as blockers in the run game, Andrews and Likely appear to have low ceilings this week with narrow chances to boom. Baltimore is starting to establish its identity in a run-heavy offense that now leaves little opportunity for tight ends to score.

Justin Tucker (K)

Is this the arrival of Justin Tucker’s decline?

Here’s a look at his previous fantasy rankings among kickers, according to the numbers from Fantasy Football Today:

Yes, there’s still plenty of season left; plenty of time for that No. 15 to curl inside the top 10 and maybe even the top five before the Week 14 fantasy playoffs arrive. Just consider that this is the first instance in Tucker’s career that he’s missed a field goal in three straight games, and he’s certainly struggled the most he ever has with attempts from 50-plus-yards.

This is not to say Baltimore needs to go shopping for a new kicker as desperately as they need to seek out help at other positions—but in the realm of fantasy football, the fresher legs are slowly but surely creeping up, knocking Tucker down to pegs he’s never dropped to before. Consider this stat that went viral leading up to Week 3:

Absolutely wild: #NFL kickers are currently 35/37 on 50+ yard field goals this season…

The only two missed attempts have BOTH come from #Ravens kicker Justin Tucker. pic.twitter.com/6zaLTCJcWs

— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) September 17, 2024

For you Cars 3 fanatics out there, the Jackson Storms are passing Lightning McQueen. Take a look at kicker matchups in free agency before placing last year’s No. 2 finisher in your starting lineup. The Bills currently tie for the third-fewest field goal attempts allowed per game (1.3).

Others to sit: Curtis Samuel (WR), Nelson Agholor (WR), Rashod Bateman (WR), Keon Coleman (WR), Bills D/ST, Ravens D/ST

Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Frontrunners Around the League

Start

The Jalens: Jalen Nailor and Jalen Tolbert (WR)

The Jalens have each continued to put up respective fantasy numbers while flying under-the-radar in the shadows of Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb. Jalen Nailor now averages 12 points per game in full-PPR with his best result coming from Week 2 in which he scored a touchdown against the 49ers and raked in a season-high 54 receiving yards. But what’s most impressive about Nailor is that he’s scored a touchdown in each Minnesota game thus far.

Jalen Tolbert carries a slightly lower average at 9.9 points per game, but his last two weeks have produced 14.2 and 13.2 points in full-PPR.

Both are fine candidates for WR3 or your flex spot, whether you’re in a 10-man, 12-man, or even deeper league.

Chuba Hubbard (RB)

Hubbard is coming off of a massive boom week against the Raiders, earning 27.9 points in PPR and 22.9 points in standard format. He rushed for 114 yards and caught a pass from a freshly activated Andy Dalton in the end zone, not to mention posting up five receptions for 55 yards. The output from Hubbard marked his second highest rushing finish of his career, suggesting that we may be seeing a new peak on the way for the fourth-year back. He plays Cincinnati, which has allowed the 26th-most rushing yards this season and four rushing touchdowns.

Sit

Sam LaPorta (TE)

Sam LaPorta has yet to produce a finish above 10 points in full PPR, and now after suffering a low ankle sprain against the Cardinals on Sunday, he faces an even lower chance to do so in Week 4. Finishing as the best tight end in fantasy football last season, LaPorta was likely the first at his position off your draft board but now ranks 19th. It’s tough to bench a player who carried such high draft stock, but there are currently better alternatives in players like Evan Engram, Jauan Jennings, Mike Gesicki or Zach Ertz (in that order). Wait for LaPorta to fully recover before trusting him in your lineup again.

Carson Steele (RB)

In the absence of Isiah Pacheco and Clyde Edwards-Helaire, many fantasy managers have been quick to stash Kansas City’s Carson Steele, who now finds himself splitting carries with Samaje Perine. Steele had his most carries thus far in Week 3: 17 carries for 72 yards, equating to 4.2 yards per carry and more importantly, just 8.8 PPR points. In Week 4, he’ll face a sturdy Chargers run defense that has only allowed an average of 11.3 points to backs this season, and that has only ceded one rushing touchdown thus far (tied for second-fewest).

Feel free to leave me your questions in the comments, or tweet me @BrennanStewart_ . Also, be sure to check out Tanner George’s top free agent picks for Week 4.

Good luck!

The post Where, Oh Where, Have the Good Tight Ends Gone? appeared first on Russell Street Report.

Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2024/09/25/fantasy/tight-end-troubles/