If I wanted to start this out in a positive way, I'd say that it's great you have Jonnu Smith on your roster. After all, you drafted him in the double digit rounds (if you drafted him at all) and now he's viewed as a top-12 tight end by almost everyone after just three games. Of course, the bad news is he's only played three games because of a COVID outbreak in the Titans locker room that could be threatening his Week 5 game against the Bills as well. And the really bad news is that tight end as a position looks as feeble as ever.
Dalton Schultz is now rostered in 70% of leagues, which means he's probably not available in your league. If he is, consider yourself lucky and go add him right now. There is no greater priority. If he's not, well, you're hoping for a touchdown this week. There are a lot of ways to go about guessing who is the most likely to deliver that touchdown.
Greg Olsen's Seahawks have an implied point total of 32 points this week against Minnesota. Only the Chiefs and Ravens are higher. Mo Alie-Cox leads avaiable tight ends in touchdowns this season with two, and he has a matchup against the Browns, who have already allowed three scores to tight ends this season. If you want to bet against a defense though, Ian Thomas faces a Falcons defense that has allowed seven touchdowns to tight ends in four games.
If it seems like I'm being non-committal it's because none of these tight ends are actually my favorite waiver wire add in Week 5. That would be Jordan Akins if he clears the concussion protocol, and Eric Ebron if Akins can't go. There are a lot of possible options when the bar is this low.
More Week 5 Fantasy Prep: Waiver Wire | QB Preview | RB Preview | WR Preview | Trade Values | Cut List | Biggest Questions
Week 5 TE Preview
The following players are not being projected to play Week 5 at this time. Here's what it means:
Numbers to Know
- 5 -- Robert Tonyan has five touchdowns in his past three games. That's three more than he had in his career entering 2020.
- 20 -- Mark Andrews has just 20 targets in four games. At most positions that would make me very nervous about his reliability.
- 19.9% -- Evan Engram has been targeted on nearly a fifth of Daniel Jones' throws. Despite the poor production, I'll keep starting Engram.
- 4 -- After three straight weeks with good opportunity, Logan Thomas saw just four targets in Week 4. That experiment may be over.
- 46% -- Mo Alie-Cox played fewer than half of the Colts' snaps in Trey Burton's first game. The production is great, but it doesn't look sustainable.
Matchups that matter
Waiver Wire Targets
If you can't land Dalton Schultz then it's touchdown or bust, and Eric Ebron is the king of touchdown or bust. The Eagles have allowed the third most Fantasy points to opposing tight ends. Tyler Higbee scored three touchdowns against them. George Kittle caught 15 passes. Even Logan Thomas did well against the Eagles.
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Tonyan is on a bye this week, but I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to stash him and see what he does when Adams comes back.
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DFS Plays
Did you see the 49ers on Sunday night? Kittle was targeted on a third of the 49ers pass attempts. It doesn't matter who the quarterback is against the Dolphins, Kittle is an easy chalk play in cash games.
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Evan Engram has been mostly awful this season. Hopefully that will hold down his roster rate against a Cowboys defense that has been even worse. Engram has 30 targets this season which trails only Travis Kelce and Darren Waller at the position. I love him and Darius Slayton on the other side of a Cowboys stack.
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Heath's Projections
So who should you start and sit this week? And which surprising quarterback could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Week 5 rankings for every position, plus see which QB is going to come out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that out-performed experts big-time last season.
