Below you will find our Week 12 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).
Featured writer Ben Ruppert also highlights some TE rankings and matchups analysis for Week 12, 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 12. You can also check out RotoBaller's overall player rankings here.
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Week 12 Tight End - Rankings & Matchups Analysis
Travis Kelce is fresh off his second 100-yard game of the season, with a seven reception 108-yard performance against the Buccaneers in Week 11. Kelce leads the Chiefs in targets, receptions, and receiving yards this season. Tyreek Hill has one more touchdown than Kelce this season (4-to-3). This week the Chiefs travel to Denver to face the Broncos, and their top notch secondary. Denver has been almost as good against opposing TE this season compared to how well they’ve done against the WR position. They have given up the seventh fewest fantasy points to the TE position, while allowing the ninth fewest receiving yards. Given that Kelce is the receiving leader on this team, the Broncos will be sure to give him extra coverage on Sunday.
Zach Ertz has shown a nice reconnection with Carson Wentz over the past two weeks. After starting the season off well, Ertz missed Week 2 and 3 with an injury. When he came back after the bye in Week 5, he went through four straight weeks with nine catches total, with no game higher than 37 receiving yards. Over the past three weeks however, after the coaching staff said they needed to get him more involved, Ertz has caught 20 passes on 26 targets for 187 yards, and scored his first TD of the season last week. Ertz becoming more involved in the offense couldn’t come at a better time, with the Packers coming into town. Green Bay’s secondary has been awful this season; they have given up the fifth most fantasy points to the TE position this season, and have yielded the second most receiving yards in the league to the position. As long as he remains a vital part of this offense, he should be fired up with confidence.
C.J. Fiedorowicz has seen a nice uptick in targets lately, as he continues to grow his relationship with Brock Osweiler. Fiedorowicz led the team in targets last game with 10, and since the bye week his 15 are second on the team behind only DeAndre Hopkins. He faces a Chargers team this week that has been good against the TE position, giving up the 11th fewest fantasy points to the position overall. Outside of Delanie Walker, no TE has gotten double-digit fantasy points against them in standard scoring leagues this season. Fiedorowicz may have troubles this week, but next week faces an easy Packers secondary. For those looking to plug the hole left by Walker next week, Fiedorowicz is your man. For this week, I would proceed with caution.
Jared Cook came out of nowhere last week to have a huge game for the Packers. Cook suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 3 and had not played since then. He returned to play 61% of the teams offensive snaps, and caught 6-of-11 targets for 105 yards and a touchdown in the loss to Washington. Games like these are exactly why Green Bay went out and got Cook in the offseason, but even this game had its blemishes. He also dropped a walk-in touchdown, had multiple drops, and fumbled late to kill the Packers comeback. He has always had the talent to be good, but can never seem to put everything together consistently. With a tough matchup coming this week against the Eagles, Cook is a still a desperation play at best.
Week 12 Fantasy Football Rankings - Tight Ends
Rank | Overall Rank | Player Name | Pos |
1 | 17 | Greg Olsen | TE |
2 | 25 | Jimmy Graham | TE |
3 | 31 | Jordan Reed | TE |
4 | 40 | Delanie Walker | TE |
5 | 56 | Tyler Eifert | TE |
6 | 61 | Travis Kelce | TE |
7 | 67 | Kyle Rudolph | TE |
8 | 72 | Eric Ebron | TE |
9 | 73 | Zach Ertz | TE |
10 | 79 | C.J. Fiedorowicz | TE |
11 | 84 | Jason Witten | TE |
12 | 86 | Antonio Gates | TE |
13 | 98 | Martellus Bennett | TE |
14 | 101 | Cameron Brate | TE |
15 | 103 | Jared Cook | TE |
16 | 112 | Will Tye | TE |
17 | 114 | Vance McDonald | TE |
18 | 124 | Coby Fleener | TE |
19 | 125 | Gary Barnidge | TE |
20 | 135 | Lance Kendricks | TE |
21 | 139 | Julius Thomas | TE |
22 | 142 | Dennis Pitta | TE |
23 | 145 | Hunter Henry | TE |
24 | 148 | Jack Doyle | TE |
25 | 152 | Austin Hooper | TE |
26 | 154 | Charles Clay | TE |
27 | 158 | Vernon Davis | TE |
28 | 159 | Virgil Green | TE |
29 | 166 | Logan Paulsen | TE |
30 | 173 | Ladarius Green | TE |
31 | 175 | Clive Walford | TE |
32 | 176 | Jesse James | TE |
33 | 182 | Dwayne Allen | TE |
34 | 187 | Richard Rodgers | TE |
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.