Below you will find our Week 5 tight end rankings, to help determine your TE starts/sits for this week, brought to you by Bill Dubiel (@Roto_Dubs), Nick Mariano (@NMariano53) and Ben Ruppert (@Ben_Ruppert_21).
Lead columnist Bill Dubiel also highlights some TE rankings and matchups analysis for Week 5, and draws some matchup conclusions. He tells you who he likes, who he doesn't, and most importantly who he thinks you should be starting in Week 5.
Editor's Note: Be sure to check out FantasyAces DFS contests for Week 5. New users that sign up on Fantasy Aces and make a $20 deposit will receive RotoBaller's full season NFL Premium Pass for free (including Premium DFS), normally a $59.99 value. Expert DFS research, sample lineups, matchup ratings and lots more!
Week 5 Tight Ends - Rankings & Matchups Analysis
Jordan Reed busted out of his early-season slump with a 9-73-2 line against the Browns in Week 4. That probably won't be the case in Week 5 on the road against the Ravens, who haven't yet allowed a tight end touchdown. It hasn't been a parade of no-names either--they've managed to shut down Charles Clay, Gary Barnidge, Julius Thomas and Clive Walford. While Reed is not the prototypical tight end (he's closer to a wide receiver in routes and usage), I'm still lower on him than my colleagues. He's a top-three option at the position, which is still very thin, but I wouldn't expect anything close to last week's stat line.
Not sure what Nick's got against Kyle Rudolph. Why do you hate Kyle Rudolph, Nick? The Vikings tight end has only scored a touchdown in each of his last three games and is currently the TE2 in ESPN standard scoring. He and Sam Bradford clearly have a strong connection, particularly in the red zone, and I like his chances to tack on another score against the Texans at home on Sunday.
I'm not ready to buy into the Tom Brady/Martellus Bennett connection just yet. Bennett has been great so far, no doubt--he's on pace for over 1,000 yards and has been arguably the most reliable pass-catcher for the Patriots. However, he's done it with Rob Gronkowski at far less than 100%. Brady and Gronk have been the best passer-receiver combination of their generation, and I have faith that that chemistry is going to pick right back up...at Bennett's expense. If Gronk is hurt, you can go ahead and ignore everything I just wrote. Bennett will probably be top-three.
I've got Jacob Tamme higher than my colleagues on the grounds that the Broncos will be working very hard to shut down his more talented teammates. The Denver secondary is too good and too smart to get burned by Julio Jones like the Panthers did, and Devonta Freeman certainly won't have any room to run up front. Tamme should see a bunch of short looks as Matt Ryan tries to move the ball forward quickly under a ton of pressure.
I don't see anything to believe in with Richard Rodgers, so I'm not sure what my colleagues have him ranked so high far. While it's true that Jared Cook will be out for a while, neither tight end has made any kind of fantasy impact through three games for the Packers. I just don't see how that changes in Week 5 against the Giants.
Rank | Player Name | Pos | Nick | Ben | Bill | AVG |
27 | Jordan Reed | TE | 22 | 22 | 31 | 25.00 |
32 | Greg Olsen"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[-10]C[-2]">Greg Olsen | TE | 45 | 31 | 22 | 32.67 |
37 | Zach Ertz"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[7]C[-2]">Zach Ertz | TE | 31 | 41 | 44 | 38.67 |
44 | Delanie Walker"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[-4]C[-2]">Delanie Walker | TE | 41 | 51 | 40 | 44.00 |
52 | Zach Miller"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[17]C[-2]">Zach Miller | TE | 51 | 45 | 69 | 55.00 |
56 | Kyle Rudolph | TE | 61 | 57 | 56 | 58.00 |
65 | Martellus Bennett | TE | 57 | 61 | 83 | 67.00 |
66 | Rob Gronkowski | TE | 86 | 72 | 50 | 69.33 |
76 | Hunter Henry"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[-16]C[-2]">Hunter Henry | TE | 70 | 98 | 60 | 76.00 |
80 | Cameron Brate"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[-2]C[-2]">Cameron Brate | TE | 93 | 70 | 78 | 80.33 |
83 | Eric Ebron"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[9]C[-2]">Eric Ebron | TE | 84 | 79 | 92 | 85.00 |
84 | Dennis Pitta"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[-13]C[-2]">Dennis Pitta | TE | 79 | 107 | 71 | 85.67 |
89 | Jason Witten"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[12]C[-2]">Jason Witten | TE | 72 | 93 | 101 | 88.67 |
92 | Jacob Tamme | TE | 98 | 102 | 85 | 95.00 |
94 | Gary Barnidge | TE | 107 | 84 | 97 | 96.00 |
102 | Charles Clay | TE | 116 | 86 | 106 | 102.67 |
112 | Jesse James"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[-2]C[-2]">Jesse James | TE | 111 | 111 | 110 | 110.67 |
116 | Richard Rodgers | TE | 102 | 116 | 131 | 116.33 |
121 | Jack Doyle"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[-6]C[-2]">Jack Doyle | TE | 128 | 128 | 115 | 123.67 |
122 | Dwayne Allen"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[5]C[-2]">Dwayne Allen | TE | 123 | 123 | 127 | 124.33 |
138 | Antonio Gates"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[-1]C[-2]">Antonio Gates | TE | #N/A | #N/A | 137 | 137.00 |
143 | Vance McDonald"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[13]C[-2]">Vance McDonald | TE | 132 | 132 | 156 | 140.00 |
144 | Garrett Celek"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[-22]C[-2]">Garrett Celek | TE | 151 | 151 | 122 | 141.33 |
145 | Lance Kendricks"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[4]C[-2]">Lance Kendricks | TE | 138 | 138 | 149 | 141.67 |
146 | Ryan Griffin"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[-4]C[-2]">Ryan Griffin | TE | #N/A | #N/A | 142 | 142.00 |
149 | Clive Walford | TE | 143 | 143 | 145 | 143.67 |
152 | Will Tye"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[-2]C[-2]">Will Tye | TE | 146 | 146 | 150 | 147.33 |
161 | Virgil Green"}" data-sheets-formula="=BillWeekly!R[-4]C[-2]">Virgil Green | TE | #N/A | #N/A | 157 | 157.00 |
Check out all of RotoBaller's fantasy football rankings. Staff rankings are updated regularly for all positions and include standard formats, PPR scoring, tiered rankings and dynasty leagues.