Fantasy Football Week 15 tight end rankings: Darren Waller's return doesn't make him a must-start

The position looks like it will be getting back some star power

By Chris Towers

Dec 18, 2022 at 11:16 am ET • 2 min read

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As the Fantasy Football playoffs begin, the tight end position could be in better shape than it has been in a long time. That's not necessarily because of a sudden influx of young, productive players that has emerged, but rather because we might be getting two of the bigger names at the position back from injuries this week.

Before we get to my Week 15 rankings for tight end, here are three big questions facing the position heading into this week:

Will Dallas Goedert (shoulder) and Darren Waller (hamstring) be back?

We thought both would be cleared to play this week, but it turns out only Waller is back in time for Week 15. That's disappointing, because Goedert has been the much better player when healthy, and you might have a real decision to make with Waller. If you have someone like Evan Engram or Greg Dulcich, I'm fine rolling with them, but otherwise, I'm probably starting Waller over most alternatives you might have picked up since -- that includes Cole Kmet, Gerald Everett, and Pat Freiermuth, who has been disappointing over the past few weeks and has Mitchell Trubisky in at QB this week, who he has been less productive with than with Kenny Pickett. Waller hasn't been great this season, but his 16% target share is good enough, especially considering he was clearly not 100% before going on IR. Hopefully he is now.

Is Chigoziem Okonkwo's breakout for real?

Breakout is a relative term here, as it always is when we're talking about tight ends. However, he has at least five targets in three straight games, totaling 13 catches for 148 yards and a touchdown over that stretch. Okonkwo is still mostly a part-time player for the Titans, however, having topped 50% of the snaps just once all season and never more than 60%. He's a pretty impressive athlete, but even in Sunday's six-catch game, he was out on the field for just half the team's pass plays -- and most weeks, the Titans aren't anywhere close to 44 pass plays. Okonkwo is a decent streamer, but unless his role grows, I don't see him as much more than that right now.

Here are my Week 15 rankings at tight end: