Fantasy Football Week 12 Tight End Preview: Streaming options, DFS plays, and more

While we have seen a lot of pass catchers negatively impacted by playing with backup QBs this season, David Njoku may be the rare example of someone who is better in Fantasy because the starter is out. 

Njoku has played with three quarterbacks this season. Deshaun Watson targeted Njoku on just 15.2% of his passes and Njoku averaged 6.8 yards per target and 1.7 Fantasy points per target. P.J. Walker targeted Njoku on 20.4% of his passes and Njoku averaged 7.3 YPT and 1.58 FPPT. Enter Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who has taken things to a new level. 

Njoku has seen 28.8% of Thompson Robinson's passes come his way. While his efficiency on those targets has cratered to just 4.8 YPT and 1.09 FPPT the Fantasy production is largely a product of Njoku having one touchdown with each of the other QBs and zero with DTR. The bottom line is that both backup QBs are targting Njoku at a higher rate, making him a PPR top-12 option on a weekly basis, even if it is only because of volume. 

My full set of projections for tight end and every other position can be found at SportsLine. Here's everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 12:

Week 12 TE Preview

Who's Out

Numbers to Know

Matchups That Matter

Waiver Wire Targets

DFS Plays

Projections

TE Preview

Who's Out

The following players are not being projected to play Week 12 at this time. Here's what it means:

Luke Musgrave TE

GB Green Bay • #88
Age: 23 • Experience: 2 yrs.

Give the Packers wide receivers a small boost but you can ignore the other Packers tight ends this week.

Mark Andrews TE

BAL Baltimore • #89
Age: 28 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Isaiah Likely is an add, but his involvement has been almost non-existent even when Andrews has been off the field.

TE Preview

Numbers to Know

• 2.39 -- George Kittle leads all tight ends with 2.39 yards per route run. He has not been the odd man out when everyone has been healthy this season.
• 1.4 -- Isaiah Likely has scored 1.4 PPR Fantasy points in the two games that Mark Andrews has either missed or left early this season. 
• 26.7% -- Trey McBride's 26.7% targets per route run ranks second this season at tight end, just barely behind Travis Kelce.
• 5 -- Sam LaPorta has exactly five targets in every game that both David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs have been full participants. if that trend holds up he may not be a must-start tight end in the Fantasy playoffs.

TE Preview

Matchups that matter

Pat Freiermuth TE

PIT Pittsburgh • #88
Age: 25 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ CIN PIT -1 O/U 34.5

OPP VS TE 20th

PROJ PTS 7.1

TE RNK 21st

YTD Stats
REC 9	TAR 14	REYDS 60	TD 2	FPTS/G 5.4

Evan Engram TE

JAC Jacksonville • #17
Age: 29 • Experience: 8 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ HOU JAC -1.5 O/U 48.5

OPP VS TE 24th

PROJ PTS 10.3

TE RNK 8th

YTD Stats
REC 59	TAR 74	REYDS 475	TD 0	FPTS/G 10.5

Hunter Henry TE

NE New England • #85
Age: 29 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ NYG NE -3 O/U 33.5

OPP VS TE 20th

PROJ PTS 7.4

TE RNK 17th

YTD Stats
REC 30	TAR 45	REYDS 298	TD 3	FPTS/G 7.8

Donald Parham Jr. TE

LAC L.A. Chargers • #89
Age: 26 • Experience: 5 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs BAL BAL -3.5 O/U 47

OPP VS TE 30th

PROJ PTS 4.8

TE RNK 24th

YTD Stats
REC 19	TAR 29	REYDS 179	TD 4	FPTS/G 6.1

TE Preview

Waiver Wire Targets

Week 12 Streamers (TE Preview)

Isaiah Likely TE

BAL Baltimore • #80
Age: 24 • Experience: 3 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ LAC BAL -3.5 O/U 47

OPP VS TE 22nd

TE RNK 18th

ROSTERED 4%

YTD Stats
REC 9	TAR 12	REYDS 89	TD 0	FPTS/G 1.6

Likely has been absolutely irrelevant in a small sample size without Andrews this season. And last year was a completely different system without Zay Flowers or Odell Beckham. Still, Likely had four games with double-digit Fantasy points last year including a monster Week 18 performance where he caught eight passes for 103 yards. The cupboards are bare on the tight end waiver wire, might as well take a shot at that type of upside against one of the worst defenses in the league.

Pat Freiermuth TE

PIT Pittsburgh • #88
Age: 25 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ CIN PIT -1 O/U 34.5

OPP VS TE 14th

TE RNK 21st

ROSTERED 52%

YTD Stats
REC 9	TAR 14	REYDS 60	TD 2	FPTS/G 5.4

Like Likely, Freiermuth did nothing to make you feel like rostering him last week. But Freiermuth's past is even more of a reason to give him a shot. So is his matchup. The Bengals have allowed the third most targets and yards to the position this season.

TE Preview

DFS Plays

Top DFS Play

Trey McBride TE

ARI Arizona • #85
Age: 24 • Experience: 3 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs LAR LAR -PK O/U 44.5

OPP VS TE 19th

PROJ PTS 10.9

TE RNK 4th

YTD Stats
REC 41	TAR 56	REYDS 461	TD 1	FPTS/G 8.5

I still believed McBride is underpriced at $6,100 which makes this one of the rare instances when Travis Kelce is on the main slate and I am not suggesting him in cash games. Of course, if you don't feel as comfortable with McBride, Kelce is the next best option.

Contrarian DFS Play

Kyle Pitts TE

ATL Atlanta • #8
Age: 23 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs NO NO -PK O/U 42

OPP VS TE 22nd

PROJ PTS 8.4

TE RNK 12th

YTD Stats
REC 35	TAR 58	REYDS 419	TD 1	FPTS/G 8.3

There is a real chance that Arthur Smith is coaching for his job down the stretch and there is a real chance this game against New Orleans plays a large role in determining his fate. Knowing that, I expect Smith to make full use of his best players. Pitts is still one of the best athletes playing the position.

TE Preview

Heath's Projections

My full set of Week 12 Fantasy Football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 12. Projected stats for all starting quarterbacks are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.