Our favorite adds at the beginning of the week were Gerald Everett and Tyler Higbee, and to be honest, if George Kittle is your only tight end, you should already have one of them. But I can understand if you don't want to play Everett on Thursday because you want to wait it out on Kittle. I would not, but I understand it. So, you'll find potential Kittle replacements in the waiver section later in this article. First, maybe I should explain why I'd prefer to just start Everett.
This doesn't have much to do with my confidence level in Everett. He's a fine stream, but that doesn't signify a high floor or ceiling. The tight end position is that bad. It's just that I'm not sure Kittle has a high floor or ceiling in this offense either.
What we've seen from Trey Lance as a passer is that he can do things down the field and outside the numbers that we've really never seen Jimmy Garoppolo do. We've also seen Lance struggle with throws that Garoppolo and most quarterbacks in the league make look easier. That's likely just inexperience, and this is not to dump on Lance. But with him at quarterback we should expect a low volume pass offense with passes that are not particularly accurate. Considering Kittle already has to fight off Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk for targets, that's concerning.
None of this is to say that Kittle is already a bust. He hasn't even played yet, and we haven't seen Lance play in decent weather yet this year. But for what it's worth, there's a significant chance of rain in San Francisco on Sunday as well.
To be clear, I'd still start Kittle over any of the streamers listed below if he's active. I just won't do so with very high expectations.
Here's everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 2:
Week 2 TE Preview
Who's Out
The following players are not being projected to play Week 2 at this time. Here's what it means:
Kittle is trying to get back for Week 2, but after a DNP on Thursday, we don't expect him.
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Numbers to Know
- 10 -- An astonishing 10 targets for Pat Freiermuth in Week 1. He also led the Steelers with 75 receiving yards. He may be a must-start tight end.
- 23.4% -- Mark Andrews led the Ravens with a 23% target share. Don't worry about the Week 1 hiccup.
- 0 -- Cole Kmet did not record a catch or a Fantasy point in Week 1. That makes him tough to trust this week.
- 2 -- O.J. Howard caught both of Davis Mills' touchdown passes, but those were his only two targets in the game. He's stash-worthy, but you shouldn't start him until he plays more snaps.
- 41% -- Mike Gesicki only ran a route on 41% of the Dolphins pass plays. It's just one game, so I understand if you want to hold him, but Gesicki looks like he's headed to the waiver wire.
- 89 -- Kyle Pitts now has 89 yards in three career games against the Saints. It doesn't get much easier in Week 2 against the Rams.
Matchups that matter
Waiver Wire Targets
Engram's Jacksonville debut was a disappointment, but he was out there for a majority of the routes, so I wouldn't mind giving him one more week as a streamer. For what it's worth, the Colts just gave up two touchdown catches to O.J. Howard.
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I don't like how much Okwuegbunam was splitting with Andrew Beck, but I still believe he has double-digit PPR upside in PPR, and that's about all you can ask for out of a tight end. It's a good matchup and the Broncos have one of the highest implied totals of the week, so that helps his touchdown odds as well.
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The likely return of Allen Lazard hurts Tonyan's target upside, but the combined narrative of Aaron Rodgers after a loss and Aaron Rodgers versus the Bears gives Tonyan excellent touchdown odds.
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DFS Plays
Pitts' price is simply too low on FanDuel. While I don't love the matchup, we're still talking about arguably the most athletic tight end in the league, who is essentially playing wide receiver and earning a 22% target share. He should be priced closer to the top options even after a bad week.
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Don't be too put off by Higbee's drops last week. It's essentially a three-man show in the passing game with Higbee, Cooper Kupp, and Allen Robinson. I like him more on DraftKings because it's full PPR but he projects for good value and a low roster rate on both sites.
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