X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

#TrendingNow - Dynasty Risers and Fallers Week 14

Fantasy football risers and fallers for dynasty leagues. Kyle Richardson looks for players trending up or down in dynasty value for Week 14 of the NFL season.

I would like to take a second and welcome you to the all tight end edition of #TrendingNow. If your name isn’t Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce or Zach Ertz, you can sometimes be overlooked at the position. Most fantasy football owners don’t play TE premium leagues (leagues in which TEs score more than other players) so there is a larger focus on running backs and wide receivers.

Wide receivers and running backs are going to give you bigger plays and top fantasy production that you will not get from a tight end outside of the elite level players. Based on fantasydata.com, only one tight end had an ADP inside the top 60 last year and that was Gronkowski at 18 overall. My strategy with tight ends is to wait and find value.

In most leagues, you can still get great value for tight ends by waiting till the later rounds after others have snatched up the top options. If you passed on Gronkowski at 18 overall, you would have had a shot at Leonard Fournette, Brandin Cooks, Doug Baldwin and the hottest player outside Alvin Kamara, Keenan Allen. One of those players paired with Even Engram at 161 overall would have given you a ton of production this year. So let’s take a look at the underappreciated tight end position.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:

 

#TrendingUp

Hunter Henry (TE, LAC)

One of my preseason picks to breakout in 2017 (even more then his 2016 campaign) got off to a slow start and owners lost confidence. Two out of Henrys first three games to start the season ended with zero catches. Total this season, Henry has six games with 25 yards receiving or less. Henry has been very boom or bust this season, but brighter roads are on the horizon. Antonio Gates will be done in Los Angeles leaving Henry the opportunity to fully flourish. The one stat that really sticks out to be is Henry’s 13 yards per reception, which is the same average as Travis Kelce, the current TE1. If Henry only had 10 more receptions on the season, he would currently have 631 receiving yards, which would be fifth overall for tight ends.

The production is there but the volume is not. Part of that is probably Gates taking snaps away, but it’s others as well. Four different tight ends saw a snap for the Charges in Week 13. Henry led the way with 50 snaps, but the others are chewing into his volume just enough to keep him on the fringe of top 10 tight end play. All that Henry is missing to be a legit top five TE is more volume. It’s coming in 2018 though, just don’t give up yet.

 

Ricky Seals-Jones (TE, ARI)

On September 25th Ricky Seals-Jones was promoted from the practice squad. On that day, I ran to every league I’m in and added him from free agency. Seals-Jones is a converted WR from Texas A&M but profiles as a more traditional TE. He is big, listed at 6-5, 243 pounds but is not fast. For Seals-Jones to be productive in the NFL, he is going to need to us his size against linebackers. Since he used to be a WR though, Seals-Jones has the footwork to run decent routes around big LBs who are not nearly as athletic. To top it all off, Seals-Jones has some decent NFL genes running through his family tree. His Cousin is Eric Dickerson, the single season rushing record holder. It always helps to have a mentor like Dickerson just a phone call away.

We didn’t hear anything from Jones-Seals this season until Week 11, and seemingly came out of nowhere. Since Week 11, Seals-Jones has nine catches for 170 yards and three touchdowns. Keep an eye on Seals-Jones as a deep stash in dynasty leagues. He plays in an offense with Larry Fitzgerald and David Johnson. Those two on their own will draw enough attention to give Seals-jones plenty of opportunities to produce. If you add in John Brown as well, the Cardinals offense will have playmakers all over the field in 2018. The key will be getting Carson Palmer healthy at this point. It’s not fair to expect Seals-Jones to become a top fantasy tight end right away, but I see a ceiling of top 15 by the end of 2018. I’m drawn to Seals-Jones due to his work as a wide receiver while an Aggie. He has the ability to perform from the TE position at the NFL level.

 

#TrendingDown

Austin Hooper (TE, ATL)

I didn’t buy into Austin Hooper like some others did this offseason. I understood why the hype reached certain levels, but the Falcons offense as a whole worried me. Now, I am not labeling Hooper as a bust and I am not saying he doesn’t have the opportunity to become a fantasy relevant tight end. Hooper was strongly considered by some to be a top 10 tight end heading into this season and he hasn’t performed close to those standards. It was probably unfair to expect that from Hooper anyway considering he only started three games last year and only had 19 receptions on 27 targets.

It looked like Hooper was well on the way to meeting those expectations after hauling in 128 yards on two catches for a touchdown to start the season. But it took him another five games after that just to reach 120 yards receiving. Outside of Week 1, Hoopers best performance came in Week 4 when he had 50 yards receiving. That’s his highest mark since the beginning of the season. In Week 11 he had negative receiving yards on two catches. I know I am not a football player, but that seems extremely difficult to do in the NFL when you touch the ball twice.

Maybe Hooper can bounce back in 2018 and become a more valuable dynasty asset. Hooper just hasn’t been consistent enough to head into the offseason planning on him being your starting tight end. If you play in deeper leagues and you can stash him, absolutely do it. He is only 23 years old and plays in an offense with a lot of weapons around. But is this a case of having too many weapons around him?

 

Jason Witten (TE, DAL)

As with Hooper, this is another case of a hot start gone cold. Jason Witten had 17 catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns in his first two games this year. With the possibility of an Ezekiel Elliot suspension still coming, it appeared Witten would continue to be a featured piece of the game plan. With a suspension to the star running back, the passing game would certainly need to pick up the slack. I even bought into the start by Witten and traded for him in a league hoping he would help with Kyle Rudolph’s slow start, but they decided to switch and now Rudolph is the one that is hot.

Witten has five games this year with only one reception. I don’t care who you are, I need someone who is going to get me more than one reception a game. It happens to players from time to time, nothing we can do about a down performance. But five times? No way I can roll him out in my lineup and be comfortable expecting a top 10 TE performance each week. Consistency continues to be the name of the game.

What is going to happen next year with the Cowboys or even Witten himself? The Cowboys will move back to a run first offense with Elliot, especially with how many troubles we have seen Dak Prescott have by himself this year. The most interesting part to this however, is Wittens interest in the open Tennessee coaching position. Maybe Witten will plan on hanging it up soon to get into coaching. When he sees players around him going down with concussions and possible CTE related life issues, he could decide to retire. Maybe he decides to give it one more go in 2018 and try for a ring. I’m not willing to pay much for this production and one more season in a dynasty league. If you pick him up as depth, that’s absolutely fine, but I don’t recommend in looking to Witten as your starting TE.

 

More 2017 Dynasty League Strategy




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

NFL38 mins ago

Josh Simmons May Not Be Cleared Until August
NFL47 mins ago

Jihaad Campbell A Candidate To Start On PUP List
NFL54 mins ago

Mykel Williams Still Hampered By Ankle Injury
NFL1 hour ago

Will Johnson Could Fall In Draft Due To Knee Injury
1 hour ago

Shedeur Sanders Could Fall Out Of First Round
1 hour ago

Cam Skattebo Visiting With Lions, Titans
Dallas Cowboys1 hour ago

Cowboys Expected To Pick Up Tyler Smith's Fifth-Year Option
Philadelphia Eagles1 hour ago

Cam Jurgens, Eagles Agree On Four-Year Extension
C.J. Stroud2 hours ago

Expects To Be "Running The Show" In New Offense
J.J. McCarthy2 hours ago

"No Limitations" For J.J. McCarthy
San Francisco 49ers2 hours ago

Fred Warner Could Stay Away From Offseason Program
Ousmane Dieng2 hours ago

Still Out On Tuesday
George Kittle2 hours ago

May Not Take Part In Offseason Workouts
Kevin Love2 hours ago

Remains Away From Team
Brock Purdy2 hours ago

Might Not Participate In Voluntary Workouts
Terry Rozier2 hours ago

Hurts Ankle Monday
New York Jets2 hours ago

Jets Picking Up Jermaine Johnson's Fifth-Year Option
New York Jets3 hours ago

Jets Picking Up Sauce Gardner's Fifth-Year Option
Damian Lillard3 hours ago

Officially Listed As Questionable For Game 2
Garrett Wilson3 hours ago

Jets Picking Up Garrett Wilson's Fifth-Year Option
Isaiah Stewart3 hours ago

Ruled Out For Game 2 Against Knicks
Spencer Strider3 hours ago

Placed On 15-Day Injured List With Hamstring Strain
Tobias Myers3 hours ago

To Start On Thursday Against Giants
Trent Frederic3 hours ago

A Game-Time Call Monday
Leon Draisaitl3 hours ago

Returns To Oilers Lineup For Postseason Opener
Logan Henderson3 hours ago

Heading Back To Triple-A
Jake Walman3 hours ago

Available For Game 1
Craig Yoho3 hours ago

Brewers Calling Up Craig Yoho
Brett Kulak3 hours ago

Ready To Play Monday
Christian Walker3 hours ago

Getting A Day Off
Aliaksei Protas3 hours ago

Expected To Return During First-Round Series
Mark Vientos4 hours ago

Still Absent Against Phillies
Nick Lodolo4 hours ago

Activated From Paternity List, Starting On Monday
Miro Heiskanen4 hours ago

Out On Monday
Jeimer Candelario4 hours ago

Out Again On Monday
Ross Colton4 hours ago

Uncertain For Game 2
Luis Arraez4 hours ago

Going On Seven-Day Injured List
Gabriel Landeskog4 hours ago

Activated From Injured Reserve
Nick Kurtz4 hours ago

A's Calling Up Nick Kurtz
Javier Báez5 hours ago

Javier Baez Starting In Center Field On Monday
Keider Montero5 hours ago

Starting On Monday Against Padres
Jace Jung5 hours ago

Recalled And Starting On Monday For Tigers
Kerry Carpenter5 hours ago

Out On Monday, Not Going On Injured List
Jorbit Vivas5 hours ago

Yankees Recall Prospect Jorbit Vivas
Trent Grisham5 hours ago

Placed On Paternity List
Ben Rice5 hours ago

Still Out On Monday
Chase Meidroth5 hours ago

White Sox Place Chase Meidroth On 10-Day Injured List
Kyle Stowers6 hours ago

Sitting Against Southpaw
Jake Rogers6 hours ago

Plays Catch On Monday
Triston McKenzie7 hours ago

Designated For Assignment
Auston Matthews12 hours ago

Finishes Game 1 With Two Assists
Mitchell Marner12 hours ago

Totals Three Points In Postseason Opener
Matt Boldy12 hours ago

Bags Two Goals In Losing Effort
Brett Howden12 hours ago

Scores Twice In Sunday's Win
Logan Stankoven12 hours ago

Nets Two Goals In Game 1 Victory
Brenden Dillon13 hours ago

Makes Early Exit Sunday
Cody Glass13 hours ago

Injured In Game 1 Loss
Jayden Daniels1 day ago

Focused On Improving In 2025
Isaiah Stewart1 day ago

Iffy For Monday Night
Aaron Gordon1 day ago

Listed As Probable For Game 2
Gabriel Vilardi1 day ago

To Remain Out For Game 2
Logan Thompson1 day ago

Could Be An Option Monday
Martin Fehérváry1 day ago

Martin Fehervary Iffy For Game 1
Tanner Jeannot1 day ago

Remains Week-To-Week, Out For Game 1
Zeev Buium1 day ago

Makes NHL Debut In Playoff Opener
Anthony Stolarz1 day ago

Makes First Career Postseason Start
1 day ago

Washington Hosts Tre Harris
NFL1 day ago

Will Johnson Visits With Seattle
NFL1 day ago

Devon Key Sticking With Denver
Jaylen Brown2 days ago

Not Expected To Be Limited On Sunday
Irv Smith2 days ago

Houston Re-Signs Irv Smith Jr.
Ja Morant3 days ago

Cleared To Play Friday
Brandon Williams3 days ago

Available Against Grizzlies
Anthony Davis3 days ago

Will Play Friday Night
Gary Trent Jr.3 days ago

Available For Game 1 Against Pacers
Taurean Prince3 days ago

Returns To Bucks Lineup Saturday
Isaiah Stewart3 days ago

To Return For Game 1
Ausar Thompson3 days ago

Available For Game 1
Rui Hachimura3 days ago

On Track To Play Saturday
Austin Reaves3 days ago

Ready To Go For Game 1
Luka Dončić3 days ago

Luka Doncic Removed From Injury Report
LeBron James3 days ago

Listed As Probable For Game 1
Ben Sheppard3 days ago

Probable For Saturday's Game 1
Kevin Durant3 days ago

To Houston Already Losing Steam
Ryan Blaney4 days ago

Bold Strategies Fall Flat, Still Musters A Top-Five Finish At Bristol
Lucas Glover5 days ago

Looks To Rebound After Poor Performance
Daniel Berger5 days ago

Looking To Continue Solid Play At RBC
Sepp Straka5 days ago

Looking To Bounce Back At RBC
Justin Thomas5 days ago

Looking To Shake Off Poor Masters At RBC Heritage
Xander Schauffele5 days ago

Still Looking For Year's First Win At RBC Heritage
Austin Dillon5 days ago

Nabs His First Top-10 Finish Of The 2025 Season At Bristol
Maverick McNealy5 days ago

Is An Intriguing Play At RBC Heritage
Shane Lowry5 days ago

Looks To Shake Off Poor Masters Sunday At RBC Heritage
Will Zalatoris5 days ago

Eyes A Bounce-Back At RBC Heritage
Gary Woodland6 days ago

Could Add Some Surprise At Hilton Head
Sam Burns6 days ago

Hoping For Better Times At RBC Heritage
Sahith Theegala6 days ago

Still Trying To Put It All Together
Aaron Rai6 days ago

Might Be That Guy For Hilton Head
Robert MacIntyre6 days ago

All Or Nothing At RBC Heritage
Tom Hoge6 days ago

Still Playing Solid Heading To Hilton Head
Nick Dunlap6 days ago

Continues To Have Rough Stretch
Keegan Bradley6 days ago

Looks To Move On From Masters Performance
Matt Fitzpatrick6 days ago

A Boom-Or-Bust Option At RBC Heritage
Patrick Cantlay6 days ago

A Strong Play At RBC Heritage
Jordan Spieth6 days ago

Targets Another Strong RBC Heritage Showing
Collin Morikawa6 days ago

Eyeing Victory At RBC Heritage
Max Homa6 days ago

Breaks Through At The Masters
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF