The tight end waiver wire was either incredibly easy or incredibly difficult this week. That all depended on whether or not you're in one of the 33% of leagues where Hunter Henry was still available.
Of course, if you didn't land Henry yet, you're probably in trouble. He's now owned in 86% of leagues and that will grow on Wednesday night.
If you speculated on Rhett Ellison, it's time to make different plans. Evan Engram was a full participant in practice on Wednesday, and we fully expect him to have a big day against a Cardinals defense that has struggled mightily against tight ends.
There's not a good tight end left in more than 40% of leagues, but I'll still give you my top priorities below.
Week 7 TE Preview
Who's Out
The following players are not being projected to play Week 7 at this time. Here's what it means:
Dissly is likely out for the year with a torn achilles. Luke Willson is a desperation play in his absence.
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Numbers to Know
- 12.3 - Hunter Henry's averaged targeted air yards. That's a big number for a tight end and shows how they used him more like a wide receiver.
- 20.8% - Gerald Everett's target share in Week 6. He didn't do anything with it, but it's encouraging he was still involved with Brandin Cooks back.
- 9 - Red-zone targets for Jason Witten this year. He lost a touchdown in Week 6, but is heavily involved in this area of the field.
- 80 - Offensive snaps for Darren Fells in Week 6. His snaps have gone up for four straight weeks.
- 37 - Receptions for Darren Waller, still the second most at the position despite the fact that he just had his bye week.
- 35.7% - Drop rate for Eric Ebron, the highest mark in football. It will be interesting to see how involved he is coming out of the bye.
Matchups that matter
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Waiver Wire Targets
Witten's ownership is a little higher than we normally consider, but he's so much better than the other options I didn't want to leave him out. He saw a season-high seven targets without Cooper in Week 6 and has at least 50 yards in three of his past four outings.
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I'm cautiously optimistic about Fells' increasing role in the offense. I still don't think he'll be a weekly starter, but the Colts have had their troubles with tight ends.
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Willson played 56 snaps on Sunday and should see a majority of the work Will Dissly was receiving. This week he's in what should be a high-scoring game with the Ravens, which helps his touchdown prospects.
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DFS Plays
Hooper has at least six targets in every game but one this year and he's topped 100 yards in two of his last three outings. The breakout looks legit. In Week 7, I expect a shootout between the Rams and Falcons with Matt Ryan again hoisting 40-plus passes. That should keep the volume coming for Hooper, who has outscored every other tight end by 15 PPR points this season.
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Hooper and Engram will rightly dominate ownership this week. But Fells' low prices open up a lot more opportunities with the rest of your lineup, and no one is going to play him. He's scored at least 12.9 PPR points in three of his past four games.
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Heath's Projections
Non-PPR Rank | PPR Rank | TE | NON-PPR | PPR |
1 | 1 | 11.52 | 18.20 | |
2 | 2 | 11.32 | 17.58 | |
3 | 3 | 11.26 | 16.76 | |
5 | 4 | Darren Waller | 10.03 | 16.66 |
4 | 5 | 10.51 | 15.98 | |
6 | 6 | Evan Engram | 9.87 | 15.43 |
7 | 7 | 9.71 | 15.21 | |
8 | 8 | Hunter Henry | 8.54 | 12.94 |
9 | 9 | Jason Witten | 6.58 | 10.56 |
10 | 10 | TJ Hockenson | 6.37 | 9.68 |
11 | 11 | 6.00 | 9.53 | |
13 | 12 | Gerald Everett | 5.24 | 8.34 |
12 | 13 | Darren Fells | 5.27 | 8.27 |
15 | 14 | 4.66 | 7.70 | |
16 | 15 | 4.62 | 7.48 | |
20 | 16 | 4.34 | 7.45 | |
14 | 17 | Eric Ebron | 4.96 | 7.27 |
19 | 18 | 4.38 | 7.23 |
So who should you sit and start this week? And which surprising quarterback could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Week 7 rankings for every position, plus see which QB is going to come out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that out-performed experts big time last season.
