Fantasy Football Week 9 Tight End Preview: Streamers, projections, DFS plays, and more
Everything you need to know about tight end in Week 9
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1 min read
One thing you may notice this week is that there are more waiver wire adds than normal. That's partially because three of them come with caveats. Greg Dulcich is a must-add, but he's not playing this week. Isaiah Likely and Foster Moreau are injury replacements who could be top-10 options if the starter remains out.
With all those options, you might dare think that tight end is about to get deep. We've made that mistake before. The truth is that there are some tight ends who have been must-start, who may not be much longer. Zach Ertz has a real target problem with DeAndre Hopkins back and Gerald Everett may have less obvious concerns.
Everett has played two games with Donald Parham this season, and while Parham has only played about 20% of the snaps, Everett has just six catches for 31 yards in the two games combined. While the loss of Mike Williams could free up some targets, it's also possible Keenan Allen is back this week. And Allen's target area is much closer to Everett's than Mike Williams' is.
Both Ertz and Everett have fantastic matchups this week, so I'm not suggesting you bench them. But I would have a short leash if their production starts to wane.
Here's everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 9:
Week 9 TE Preview
TE Preview
Who's Out
The following players are not being projected to play Week 9 at this time. Here's what it means:
T.J. Hockenson is the starting tight end for the Vikings now.
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TE Preview
Numbers to Know
- 18.8% -- Less than a fifth of Kirk Cousins passes have gone to a tight end this season. Expect this to increase after the Vikings acquired T.J. Hockenson.
- 11.1 -- Greg Dulcich has at least 11.1 Fantasy points in all three games he's played this season. He's a top priority even though he's on bye this week.
- 5 -- Catches in each of the last two games for Dalton Schultz with Dak Prescott back. Schultz hd two catches total in Cooper Rush's three starts.
- 274 -- Evan Engram is second among tight ends with 274 routes run.
- 12.5% -- Target share for Zach Ertz in two games since DeAndre Hopkins returned. That needs to increase if he's going to be a must-start tight end.
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Matchups that matter
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Waiver Wire Targets
Week 9 Streamers (TE Preview)
Dulcich is on bye this week but he still needs to be rostered in nearly all leagues. In his first three games in the NFL, he's performed as the No. 3 tight end in Fantasy Football on a per-game basis. If Russell Wilson gets healthy over the bye, this offense could take off in the second half, giving Dulcich double-digit touchdown upside.
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Engram is performing as a top-12 tight end and he's only scored one touchdown this season. He has top-five upside this week in a great matchup against the Raiders and the rest of the season.
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Tonyan may just be Aaron Rodgers' No. 1 target in Week 9 if Allen Lazard remains out. He has one touchdown on 42 targets this season. He had 15 touchdowns on 109 career targets coming into this season. There is regression coming.
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If Mark Andrews misses Week 9, Likely would be a top-10 tight end and possibly Lamar Jackson's No. 1 target. In tight end premium leagues, Likely could be startable even with Andrews healthy due to the loss of Rashod Bateman.
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Moreau has 14 targets in his last two games without Darren Waller. If Waller is out for Week 9, Moreau would be a low-end streamer.
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DFS Plays
Top DFS Play
Projections powered by
Sportsline
With Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, and Darren Waller all in primetime, there are no sure things in Week 9. Tonyan has 10-target upside and faces one of the worst defenses in football. a 20-point outburst isn't out of the question.
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Contrarian DFS Play
Projections powered by
Sportsline
Higbee is coming off a pair of disappointing outings and only ran 15 routes in Week 8. Most people seem to think the first five games of the season were a mirage, but I'm not sure the Rams have enough weapons to go away from Higbee in the passing game. If his volume rebounds and touchdown regression hits this week, Higbee could be a tourney winner with a sub-five percent roster rate.
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