The first Week 18 in the history of Fantasy Football is a lot like Week 17 used to be, or Week 16 before that. More than 80% of leagues are over, but there's still plenty to discuss.
We'll break down DFS more in depth this week, and we'll start talking 2022. For those of you more interested in 2022, Jamey Eisenberg will have our early 2022 rankings published next week. For those of you interested in. beyond 2022, I'll have a full Dynasty update the week after that. And yes, for those of you playing Week 18, I have waiver wire adds below.
For the other three positions, I've focused in this section on who my No. 1 tight end in Dynasty or 2022 is. And it is an interesting debate between Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews in redraft or Andrews vs. Kyle Pitts in Dynasty. For the record, I'm thinking Andrews in redraft and Pitts in Dynasty right now. But what is more interesting to me is the back half of the top 12. After we get past Andrews, Kelce, Pitts, Darren Waller and George Kittle.
The discussion in redraft starts with whether Rob Gronkowski returns. If he does, I think he has to be in the top six considering he's TE4 on a per-game basis this year. And despite disappointing years, T.J. Hockenson and Dallas Goedert need to at least be in the top eight. After that it gets really interesting. Do you count Pat Freiermuth's touchdowns with a new quarterback? Can Dalton Schultz and Dawson Knox build on their breakouts? Do we go back to Zach Ertz and Noah Fant or hope for a breakout from Cole Kmet or Brevin Jordan?
One things for sure, with all these names, someone is going to talk about deep tight end is next preseason. Then we'll wait for the position to implode again.
Here's everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 18:
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If Waller cannot return Foster Moreau is a borderline top-12 option.
TE Preview
Numbers to Know
17.5 -- Mark Andrews leads all tight ends with 17.5 PPR FPPG. That would have ranked first or second each of the past five seasons.
1,018 -- Kyle Pitts's 1,018 receiving yards are the most in the modern era for a rookie tight end. He is a strong buy for Dynasty purposes and a dark horse for TE1 in 2022.
2 -- George Kittle saw two targets in his first game with Trey Lance. His projected target volume will be a hot topic this offseason.
3 -- Darren Waller only topped 65 yards in three games this season.
6.5 -- Cole Kmet has averaged 6.5 targets per game since Week 8. If Jimmy Graham leaves he'll be a prime sleeper candidate.
