Week 7 means its time for this week’s tight end rankings for fantasy football.

Tight ends haven’t been decimated by injury like the running back position, but at such a shallow position, each injury looms large. Mainly, we’ll need to keep an eye on Rob Gronkowski who appeared close to making it back to action in Week 6, and he’s a top-10 TE option if he suits up. We mix in a bye week that will see Dawson Knox, Jared Cook, and Dalton Schultz all on PTO, and the position gets pretty thin, pretty quick.

I’ll take a look at a couple of guys of note, but hit us up on Twitter (@nerdballff or @NFLClark) with your pressing TE start/sit questions if I don’t address your guy.

Play of the Week: Zach Ertz vs Houston Texans

The Ertz trade rumors flew fast and loose in the off-season. He wanted a new contract while Philadelphia wanted to take a deliberate approach and find itself. The Eagles have found themselves at 2-4, a record that sounds a little better than what team has put on tape early in the season. And so the brain-trust that could once do no wrong has now abandoned one of their best receiving options along with running game.

In-season trades of a player of Ertz caliber are unusual in the NFL, but we have a strong player going to a team with a clear need for tight end. The Cardinals are undefeated and unstoppable on offense, and this week Kyler Murray and the red-birds face a Texans squad that is… not good. Playing Ertz in his first week with a new team is a big risk, but this is a risk I’d take if I’m staring down the back-half of the TE1 ranks this week.

Also, Ertz is rostered in 76% of CBS leagues, so even though the odds of finding him hanging out on the waiver wire are slim, I’m telling you there’s a chance!

Stream of the Week: Ross Dwelley vs Indianapolis Colts

Dwelley appears to be the fill-in for the injured George Kittle, seeing 91% of the snaps in the 49ers’ Week 5 matchup. The Niners had a bye in Week 6, and they’ll host the up and down Colts in Week 7. The Colts have given up some big games to TEs with Mark Andrews going for 147 and 2 touchdowns, and Mike Gesicki posting 57 yards and a TD, too. There are plenty of questions around who will play QB and who the lead back will be, but a cornerstone of the Shanahan offense is involving the tight end early and often.

Dwelley is only rostered in 2% of CBS leagues, so this is the target if you’re hurting at TE for this week.

PS: I’m calling a bounce-back game for Darren Waller against an Eagles squad that is having a hard time against the TE position, giving up the seventh-most points to the position.

Week 7 Tight End Rankings