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There's an important distinction to be made when talking about the current state of the tight end position, and it's one I fear I may not have been drawing clearly enough lately. There are more viable Fantasy tight ends right now than we're used to seeing, by which I mean, there are quite a few players with solid roles in their offenses. 

By my count, there are 16 tight ends with a target share of at least 15% right now, and that doesn't include the likes of Rob Gronkowski, Dawson Knox, Pat Freiermuth, or Hunter Henry. It also doesn't include Logan Thomas, who could make his return from the IR this week as he is set to return to practice. Fifteen percent isn't a massive number, but historically, it puts you in the starting tight end discussion.

The problem is … well, as you can see from week to week, there still aren't that many players you can actually trust. Everyone's threshold for trust is different, but it's fair to ask whether Kyle Pitts has done enough to meet it lately. The same is true for T.J. Hockenson, Mike Gesicki, and Dalton Schultz. I mean, I feel like I can trust those guys, and I do think they represent the sort of second tier at tight end, the guys I wouldn't be able to bring myself to sit.

Of course, I would have said the same of Dan Arnold last week, and he didn't even have a target. There's potential here, but weekly studs remain more rare at tight end than anywhere else. 

Here are my tight end rankings for Week 12. To see the rankings of Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard, and Heath Cummings, make sure you head here. 

Week 12 TE Rankings

  1. Mark Andrews vs. CLE
  2. George Kittle vs. MIN
  3. Rob Gronkowski @IND
  4. Kyle Pitts @JAX
  5. Mike Gesicki vs. CAR
  6. Dallas Goedert @NYG
  7. Dan Arnold vs. ATL
  8. Evan Engram vs. PHI
  9. Tyler Higbee @GB
  10. Pat Freiermuth @CIN
  11. Noah Fant vs. LAC
  12. Hunter Henry vs. TEN
  13. Jared Cook @DEN
  14. Tyler Conklin @SF
  15. Logan Thomas vs. SEA
  16. Austin Hooper @BAL
  17. O.J. Howard @IND
  18. David Njoku @BAL
  19. Gerald Everett @WAS
  20. C.J. Uzomah vs. PIT

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