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The Green Bay Packers have placed both Davante Adams and Allen Lazard on the COVID-19 IR this week and they will not be bringing back Marquez Valdes-Scantling in time for their Thursday night showdown with the Arizona Cardinals. This is a bad situation for Aaron Rodgers. But it may be a great situation for Robert Tonyan.

Tonyan scored four touchdowns in two games without Adams in 2020 and also had a season-high 98 receiving yards in one of those games. While we expected touchdown regression for Tonyan this season, there's little doubt he'll be one of Rodgers' first looks in the red zone on Thursday. Basically everyone outside the top 10 at tight end is touchdown dependent, so you might as well go with the guy playing with Rodgers, who has one of the highest touchdown rates in league history.

The one caveat I must add is that the Cardinals have been exceptional against tight ends this year. They still haven't allow

Fantasy points per game this season. I'm pretty skeptical of defense vs. tight end numbers in the first place, and these are particularly dubious.

Here's everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 8:

Week 8 TE Preview
TE Preview
Who's Out

The following players are not being projected to play Week 8 at this time. Here's what it means:

MIA Miami • #81
Age: 28 • Experience: 8 yrs.
Hunter Henry should be a reliable starter
TE Preview
Numbers to Know
  • 14.3% -- Robert Tonyan's career touchdown rate, which dwarfs Rob Gronkowski's career rate.
  • 20% -- Noah Fant's target share so far this season. We'll see what Jerry Jeudy does to that.
  • 29.3% -- Kyle Pitts' air yards share, comfortably the highest among tight ends this year.
  • 19.5 -- Rob Gronkowski's 19.5 Fantasy points per game leads all tight ends. He could return this week.
  • 7 -- Jared Cook has seven targets in two of his past three games.
  • 12 -- Ricky Seals-Jones is averaging 12 Fantasy points per game in his three starts.
TE Preview
Matchups that matter
CIN Cincinnati • #88
Age: 28 • Experience: 7 yrs.
Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP
@ BUF BUF -13.5 O/U 49.5
OPP VS TE
6th
PROJ PTS
9.3
TE RNK
6th
YTD Stats
REC
37
TAR
51
REYDS
427
TD
2
FPTS/G
13.1
JAC Jacksonville • #17
Age: 29 • Experience: 8 yrs.
Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP
@ KC KC -10 O/U 52
OPP VS TE
30th
PROJ PTS
8.5
TE RNK
12th
YTD Stats
REC
20
TAR
29
REYDS
171
TD
0
FPTS/G
7
TE Preview
Waiver Wire Targets
Week 7 Streamers
LAC L.A. Chargers • #87
Age: 36 • Experience: 14 yrs.
Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP
vs NE LAC -5 O/U 49
OPP VS TE
2nd
TE RNK
13th
ROSTERED
63%
YTD Stats
REC
21
TAR
33
REYDS
235
TD
2
FPTS/G
9.4
Bill Belichick will be far more interested in stopping Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Austin Ekeler.
CHI Chicago • #18
Age: 29 • Experience: 6 yrs.
Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP
@ ARI ARI -6.5 O/U 50.5
OPP VS TE
1st
TE RNK
11th
ROSTERED
65%
YTD Stats
REC
15
TAR
25
REYDS
155
TD
2
FPTS/G
6.1
Tonyan is still touchdown or bust, but his floor is slightly higher without Adams and Lazard.
PHI Philadelphia • #46
Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs.
Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP
@ SEA SEA -3 O/U 43.5
OPP VS TE
18th
TE RNK
17th
ROSTERED
17%
YTD Stats
REC
17
TAR
26
REYDS
204
TD
0
FPTS/G
5.9
Arnold has been a mixed bag since arriving in Jacksonville, but I expect five-plus targets coming off a bye against a mediocre Seattle secondary.
TE Preview
DFS Plays
Top Play
Projections powered by Sportsline
ATL Atlanta • #8
Age: 23 • Experience: 4 yrs.
Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP
vs CAR ATL -2.5 O/U 46
OPP VS TE
14th
PROJ PTS
13.3
TE RNK
2nd
YTD Stats
REC
31
TAR
44
REYDS
471
TD
1
FPTS/G
14
Those people who said Pitts was more of a wide receiver than a tight end look really smart right now. He's lining up out wide, running past people, and dominating targets and air yards. His price will only go up from here.
Contrarian Play
Projections powered by Sportsline
LAC L.A. Chargers • #87
Age: 36 • Experience: 14 yrs.
Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP
vs NE LAC -5.5 O/U 49
OPP VS TE
2nd
PROJ PTS
8
TE RNK
11th
YTD Stats
REC
21
TAR
33
REYDS
235
TD
2
FPTS/G
9.4
The Patriots have historically been hard on tight ends, I just don't think Belichick is going to make Cook a priority.
TE Preview
Heath's Projections

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