Bring on the injuries, and fire up your streamers.
It is Week 3, and we are racking up injuries already. That isn’t news to most of you by now, though. A huge issue for fantasy managers this season has been providing value at Tight End (unless you have Brock Bowers or Trey McBride).
Earlier today, the San Francisco 49ers ruled TE George Kittle doubtful for this Sunday’s matchup versus the Los Angeles Rams. This is devastating to Kittle owners; the 49ers, already down Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel, were expected to heavily lean on Kittle and teammate Brandon Aiyuk this Sunday. Some even had Kittle ranked TE1 on the week. Unfortunately, Kittle has hamstring tightness and will more than likely be on your benches this week.
Here are 3 TE streamers to help lessen the blow of Kittle’s presumed absence this week (and a fool’s gold to be aware of):
Zach Ertz (WAS) – 19% rostered on Sleeper; 15% Yahoo
Are we in 2018? No, but you should really consider streaming Zach Ertz this week. Ertz has TE16 (5.8 fpts) and TE8 (10.2 fpts) finishes in the 2024 season thus far.
Pros:
- Ertz is second on the Commanders in targets (8), and tied for second in receptions (7).
- He is also second in team routes run per drop back (RTE%) with 71.8%, only trailing teammate Terry McLaurin (77.5%) and team air yard share (30.1% to McLaurin’s 43.1%).
Cons:
- Amongst QBs wiith >20 drop backs this season, Commanders QB Jayden Daniels is 18th in the league with 71, and tied for the 10th fewest passing attempts with 53.
- Additionally, Daniels has yet to throw a touchdown pass, putting Ertz scoring potential in question.
- It may only be a matter of time until we see rookie TE Ben Sinnott take off, similar to how OC Kliff Kingsbury utilized Trey McBride over Ertz in Arizona.
Colby Parkinson (LAR) – 37% Sleeper; 30% Yahoo
There is a pretty decent chance Parkinson is available in your league, showing a 22% drop in roster percentage on Sleeper. The Rams need him to shine this Sunday, and your fantasy team might, too.
Pros:
- Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua and half of the Rams starting offensive line is injured, leading to more quick passes from Matthew Stafford and likely abandoning the run game earlier than planned.
- Parkinson’s average depth of target (aDOT) is 4.0 yards, perfectly fitting the bullet point above.
Cons:
- While the injuries are a pro for Parkinson’s offensive priority and predictive usage, they also downgrade the offense quite a bit. It is hard to operate down half of your starting offense.
- Parkinson has posted an abysmal 0.10 targets per route run (TPRR), lower than any other qualifying option in the rams passing attack.
Brenton Strange (JAX) – 9% Sleeper; 4% Yahoo
Evan Engram managers, this is a safe place. Engram hasn’t received a ton of coverage this season, and the Jags offense looks sluggish in general; this is a dart throw that could help you to victory in Week 3, or be just as valuable as leaving George Kittle in your lineup to rot. Time will tell.
Pros:
- Strange posted a TE9 performance following Evan Engram’s pregame disaster class last week, earning 3 catches (on 6 targets) for 35 yards.
- Strange played 68% of the offensive snaps in Week 2, exactly the same as Engram’s 68% in Week 1. He was also a 2nd round pick last season. Jacksonville like the 23-year-old Tight End, and the usage may be reason for you to like him as well.
Cons:
- Strange is a second-year tight end, and only has two career games with over 50% of snaps played. He is unproven
- Trevor Lawrence has only completed 51% of his passes, with 1 TD pass. If scared about scoring upside, you may want to roll with the more proven Zach Ertz.
Fools Gold: Mike Gesicki (CIN) – 39% Sleeper; 34% Yahoo
This might warrant mixed results. Two games into the 2024 season, Mike Gesicki has looked like one of Joe Burrow’s favorite targets. Earning 4 targets and a last-second dropped TD in Week 1, to 7 catches on 9 targets for 91 yards in Week 2, Gesicki looks super nice on the surface. Rookie 4th-round TE Erick All says “Not too fast.” The rookie from Iowa seems to be bouncing right back from the torn ACL he suffered last October, and increased his snap percentage to 52% (up from 24%) in Week 2; All caught all 4 of his targets for 32 yards against Kansas City last week.
Per PFF, All has overall TE9 in receiving grade so far. This was sub-tweeted in response to a tweet citing Zac Taylor praising All’s ability to take on a big workload. The Bengals seem to like what they have in All, and posting a 50-plus snap share percentage in Week 2 may go a long way for the rest of the 4th-round rookie’s campaign. Stream Mike Gesicki against the Washington Commanders, at your own risk.
Good luck in Week 3, and be sure to check out the Wolf’s Week 3 rankings for all of your fantasy football questions!
