My Week 3 fantasy football tight end rankings, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Gronk and Ride Him to the Title, are here!
Things are starting to take shape at the top of the tight end ranks now that we have two weeks in the books. No doubt, we’ll still have plenty of guys emerge, and we’ll likely see a few of these top dogs fall back to the pack. Heading into Week 3, though, we’re no longer fumbling around in the dark like a couple of teenagers.
Week 3 Standouts
Rob Gronkowski (TE3) — Gronkowski was being drafted as a TE2 this off-season. Meaning either you or someone else in your league may be choosing between starting a guy like Mark Andrews/George Kittle or the guy they drafted as a backup in Gronkowski. If you have Gronk as your TE2, you need to move that other big-name tight end in a package deal to upgrade somewhere else. If your tight end sucks, you need to make a play to get Gronk on your roster. The Tom Brady to Rob Gronkowski glory days are back. Do not let the insane 3.3 fantasy points per target Gronk’s open the year with go to waste because we thought the once-retired tight end was never going to scale the fantasy mountain again.
Logan Thomas (TE14) — Thomas is a fringe TE1 despite Washington losing Ryan Fitzpatrick. I can’t imagine Taylor Heinicke is the long-term answer for Washington, but Thomas offers a solid receiver operating over the middle on short routes. Young, limited quarterbacks are well advised to take these easy throws, and Heinicke likely recognizes this. I expect Thomas will have unspectacular but serviceable fantasy production this week against the Buffalo Bills. At least until the Washington coaching staff stops bending over backwards convincing themselves Cam Newton doesn’t give their team a better chance to threaten another playoff berth.
Sensible Streamer
Maxx Williams (TE24) — The Baltimore Ravens drafted Maxx Williams in the second round of the 2015 NFL draft. Williams declared for the draft after his sophomore year, and he ended up being the first tight end selected in the 2015 draft. He never quite popped with the Ravens, and his first two seasons with the Cardinals weren’t fantasy relevant.
Cut to Week 2, and Williams had a huge game in the barn-burner between the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings. Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury haven’t featured the tight end in their time together in Arizona, and this performance may well end up as the high water mark for the Cardinals TE this year. However…
With Kyler Murray going head-to-head with Tom Brady for the early-season MVP favorite, anyone wearing red who can catch has a chance to emerge as a fantasy powerhouse (I’m looking at you Rondale Moore). Added bonus Arizona is playing the Jacksonville Jaguars this week, who’ve given up the eighth-most fantasy points to receivers to start the year. If you do not have one of the top-5 tight ends in my ranks this week, and you can spare the roster spot, Williams is a must-add. Williams is 0% rostered in the Sleeper leagues.
Week 3 Tight End Rankings
Rank | Name | Team | Opp |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Travis Kelce | KC | vs LAC |
2 | Darren Waller | LV | vs MIA |
3 | Rob Gronkowski | TB | @ LAR |
4 | T.J. Hockenson | DET | vs BAL |
5 | Noah Fant | DEN | vs NYJ |
6 | George Kittle | SF | vs GB |
7 | Mark Andrews | BAL | @ DET |
8 | Jared Cook | LAC | @ KC |
9 | Tyler Higbee | LAR | vs TB |
10 | Kyle Pitts | ATL | @ NYG |
11 | Robert Tonyan | GB | @ SF |
12 | Dallas Goedert | PHI | @ DAL |
13 | Gerald Everett | SEA | @ MIN |
14 | Logan Thomas | WAS | @ BUF |
15 | Jonnu Smith | NE | vs NO |
16 | Hunter Henry | NE | vs NO |
17 | Cole Kmet | CHI | @ CLE |
18 | Mike Gesicki | MIA | @ LV |
19 | Zach Ertz | PHI | @ DAL |
20 | Austin Hooper | CLE | vs CHI |
21 | Tyler Conklin | MIN | vs SEA |
22 | Jack Doyle | IND | @ TEN |
23 | Adam Trautman | NO | @ NE |
24 | Maxx Williams | ARI | @ JAC |
25 | Blake Jarwin | DAL | vs PHI |
26 | Dalton Schultz | DAL | vs PHI |