Fantasy Football Week 14 Tight End Preview: Why Taysom Hill he could be a league-winning tight end

It has been a tale of two seasons for Hill with 65% of his rushing production, 58% of his targets, and all of his touchdowns coming in the last six weeks. Over that stretch he's TE5, averaging 14.9 FPPG. With Derek Carr hurt, more likely that Hill's role grows than shrinks if he's healthy.

Hill matched his season-high with 15 touches in Week 13 and it's hard to see why the team would go away from that. He's averaging 4.9 yards per carry on the season compared to 3.8 for Alvin Kamara and 2.8 for Jamaal Williams. And Hill's 6.9 yards per target is better than Kamara, Williams, or fellow tight end Juwan Johnson. With Michael Thomas and Rashid Shaheed both hurt, a Chris Olave target is about the only thing more valuable to the Saints than a Hill touch right now.

There was a time when I begrudgingly would call Hill a start "if you don't have a tight end you like." We're past that now and if Carr misses significant time it wouldn't be that surprising if Hill is a league winner at tight end in the playoffs.

You can find more in my weekly projections over at SportsLine. Now here is the rest of the Week 14 TE Preview:

Week 14 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 14 at this time. Here's what it means:

Tyler Higbee TE

LAR L.A. Rams • #89
Age: 31 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp will dominate targets for the Rams.

TE Preview

Numbers to Know

• 13 -- Taysom Hill had 13 rush attempts last week and has seven or more on four of his last five games. He's a start in all formats where he's TE-eligible, but he's top three in non-PPR.
• 2 -- David Njoku only caught two passes in his first game with Joe Flacco. I'm still ranking him like a must-start option but another dud and we'll have to question that.
• 15.2 -- Cole Kmet has four games with at least 15.2 PPR Fantasy points. He's a start this week despite his Week 11 stinker against Detroit.
• 9.17 -- The Texans have seen 9.17 tight end targets per game, the most in the NFL. If Zach Wilson is back at QB, Tyler Conklin is in play.
• 21.8 -- The Browns have allowed a league-low 21.8 yards per game to tight ends. Evan Engram is very risky if Trevor Lawrence is out.

TE Preview

Matchups that matter

Evan Engram TE

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

Weekly Breakdown

@ CLE CLE -3 O/U 31

OPP VS TE 16th

PROJ PTS 9.9

TE RNK 8th

YTD Stats
REC 73	TAR 91	REYDS 606	TD 1	FPTS/G 11.5

Tyler Conklin TE

NYJ N.Y. Jets • #83
Age: 28 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs HOU HOU -5.5 O/U 33

OPP VS TE 26th

PROJ PTS 7.3

TE RNK 15th

YTD Stats
REC 42	TAR 59	REYDS 449	TD 0	FPTS/G 7.2

Brevin Jordan TE

HOU Houston • #9
Age: 23 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ NYJ HOU -5.5 O/U 33

OPP VS TE 7th

PROJ PTS 6.9

TE RNK 16th

YTD Stats
REC 9	TAR 11	REYDS 124	TD 1	FPTS/G 3

Gerald Everett TE

CHI Chicago • #14
Age: 29 • Experience: 8 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs DEN LAC -3 O/U 44

OPP VS TE 3rd

PROJ PTS 8.1

TE RNK 14th

YTD Stats
REC 29	TAR 36	REYDS 254	TD 3	FPTS/G 7.3

TE Preview

Waiver Wire Targets

Week 14 Streamers (TE Preview)

Isaiah Likely TE

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

Weekly Breakdown

vs LAR BAL -7 O/U 40

OPP VS TE 4th

TE RNK 14th

ROSTERED 54%

YTD Stats
REC 13	TAR 18	REYDS 129	TD 0	FPTS/G 2.2

I have very mixed feelings about Likely this week, and wouldn't start him over anyone you normally start. But the role in this offense combined with his athleticism does give him significant upside. He showed that upside twice last year, topping 18 Fantasy points, but he also has averaged less than five FPPG in three games that Andrews has played less than half the snaps.

Tyler Conklin TE

NYJ N.Y. Jets • #83
Age: 28 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs HOU HOU -3.5 O/U 33

OPP VS TE 28th

TE RNK 16th

ROSTERED 34%

YTD Stats
REC 42	TAR 59	REYDS 449	TD 0	FPTS/G 7.2

I would move Conklin to the top priority if Zach Wilson is announced as the Week 14 starter. It's an outstanding matchup and Conklin has shown low-end starter potential with Wilson in the past.

Gerald Everett TE

CHI Chicago • #14
Age: 29 • Experience: 8 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs DEN LAC -2.5 O/U 44

OPP VS TE 2nd

TE RNK 12th

ROSTERED 57%

YTD Stats
REC 29	TAR 36	REYDS 254	TD 3	FPTS/G 7.3

The Broncos allow the most Fantasy points to tight ends and Chargers tight ends have combined to score eight of Justin Herbert's 21 passes this season. The only problem for Everett is that five of those eight have been scored by Donald Parham and Stone Smartt.

TE Preview

DFS Plays

Top DFS Play

Travis Kelce TE

KC Kansas City • #87
Age: 34 • Experience: 12 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs BUF KC -2.5 O/U 47.5

OPP VS TE 19th

PROJ PTS 15.8

TE RNK 1st

YTD Stats
REC 74	TAR 93	REYDS 813	TD 5	FPTS/G 16.7

Kelce is back on the main slate in a potential shootout against a Bills defense that he has torched in the past. That's good timing because cash game mainstay Tray McBride is on bye. George Kittle is the only other tight end I would consider in cash games in Week 14.

Contrarian DFS Play

David Njoku TE

CLE Cleveland • #85
Age: 27 • Experience: 8 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs JAC CLE -3 O/U 31

OPP VS TE 21st

PROJ PTS 9.6

TE RNK 10th

YTD Stats
REC 53	TAR 84	REYDS 509	TD 2	FPTS/G 9.5

The Jacksonville pass defense is falling apart and Amari Cooper is questionable at best. I'll overlook Njoku's stinker and take him at a discounted price and roster rate in Week 14.

TE Preview

Heath's Projections

My full set of Week 14 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 14. Projected stats for all starting quarterbacks are available at Sportsline.