Week 12 Fantasy Football Early Rankings: Trey McBride's Epic Run, Upside for Rome Odunze and More

Week 12 Fantasy Football Early Rankings: Trey McBride's Epic Run, Upside for Rome Odunze and More

Ian Hartitz previews his Week 12 rankings.

Hide your kids, hide your wife: Week 12 is here. It's time to win another fantasy matchup, people!

What follows are my abbreviated early PPR ranks along with some key questions and answers ahead of this week's slate of action. Check out our Fantasy Life Rankings for full ranks from our squad of alleged expert rankers (code "Ian" for 20% off!).

As always: It's a great day to be great.

Early Week 12 Fantasy Football Rankings

Quarterback

RankQBMatchup
1Josh AllenBUF@HOU
2Lamar JacksonNYJ@BAL
3Jalen HurtsPHI@DAL
4Drake MayeNE@CIN
5Patrick MahomesIND@KC
6Caleb WilliamsPIT@CHI
7Dak PrescottPHI@DAL
8Daniel JonesIND@KC
9Jared GoffNYG@DET
10Matthew StaffordTB@LAR
11Brock PurdyCAR@SF
12Baker MayfieldTB@LAR

Who are the best streaming QBs for Weeks 12?

There are two bye weeks remaining: Week 12 and Week 14. Why are there no bye weeks in Week 13? *Best Nate Bargatze impression* Nobody knows.

But yeah: Managers depending on Bo Nix, Justin Herbert, Marcus Mariota or Tua Tagovailoa will need a new plan this week. Lucky for you, a scholar, I've got some pretty, pretty, pretty good sub-50% rostered streaming options for the occasion.

Week 12: Cardinals Jacoby Brissett vs. the Jaguars

All the 32-year-old veteran has done in five starts is average 314 passing yards while accounting for 11 TDs against just 3 INTs. Wild but true: The only QBs with more fantasy points per game than Brissett since Week 6 are Josh Allen, Jaxson Dart and Joe Flacco. That's it!

While the Jaguars deserve credit for shutting down the Chargers last week, we previously saw Matthew Stafford (182-5-0), Geno Smith (284-4-1) and Davis Mills (292-2-1) shred this group. Overall, Jacksonville has allowed the fifth-most fantasy points per game to opposing QBs this season. Brissett is my QB14 on the week and someone I'd start ahead of guys like Sam Darnold, Jordan Love and Trevor Lawrence among others.

Honorable mention: Panthers QB Bryce Young just had probably the best game of his young career and now gets an injury-ravaged 49ers defense that just allowed one of those aforementioned big performances from Mr. Brissett … Saints QB Tyler Shough has performed admirably in his first two NFL starts and gets a reeling Falcons team that had no answers for Young and might be close to checking on Cabo flights considering Michael Penix (knee) is potentially done for the season.

What QBs have been dealt the roughest hand this season?

Well, in terms of having an unfortunate case of the butterfingers: The Jaguars (26), Broncos (26) and Browns (21) are the only three teams that have been charged with 20-plus drops through 11 weeks of action. You can see a full list of every team's drop total here.

That said: There's a bit more that goes into a quarterback being set up for success or failure than simply catching the football. A good offensive line and run game also certainly go a long way!

Presenting: Supporting Cast Rating, which takes the average of every team's PFF rush, receiving, pass blocking and run blocking grades—everything except passing. It's not a perfect stat (what is?) due to the reality that blocking is accounting for 50% of the equation and QBs have an impact on their offense's run game. But as Abraham Lincoln famously once said: PFF grades are better than nothing.

Best Offensive Supporting Casts

  1. Colts: Second in pass blocking and rushing, third in run blocking and fifth in receiving: This is as complete of any offense in the league—and it makes for an especially pristine offensive environment with head coach Shane Steichen pushing easy buttons like play-action rate and pre-snap shift/motion at elite levels.
  2. Rams: The Rams are considered elite in run blocking (1st) and receiving (2nd), but middling marks in rushing (15th) and pass blocking (27th) prevent them from claiming the top spot. But hey: Simply having two of the game's best individual talents at WR—fantasy's WR2 and WR8, respectively, on a per-game basis this season—is a pretty awesome start for any QB, let alone arguably the greatest WR whisperer the position has ever seen.
  3. Bills: This might seem high considering the lack of high-end playmakers at receiver, but Buffalo's average receiving grade (16th) isn't bad enough to disrupt their top-six standing in everything else. Of course, Josh Allen deserves a lot of credit for helping make this run game boom: Only Jonathan Taylor (15) and Josh Jacobs (11) have more rushing scores than Allen (10) this season!
  4. Seahawks: That Jaxon Smith-Njigba guy has helped Seattle easily rank first in receiving, and give the rest of the offense credit for combining to drop a league-low four passes through 11 weeks. The run game also grades out well (3rd) despite mediocre ranks in pass and run blocking: Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet have combined to post the league's fifth best rate in missed tackles forced per carry.
  5. Bears: The run game has become borderline lethal since Ben Johnson and company returned from their Week 5 bye, while this offensive line should also be applauded for posting top-6 marks in both pass and run blocking. Of course, Caleb Williams' houdini acts under pressure have helped prevent plenty of sacks as well. Either way: Credit to all these parties for carrying the load while receiving—which was supposed to be the strength of this offense—ranks just 18th.

As for the worst: The Saints, Titans, Bengals, Dolphins, and in last place, the Browns have earned bottom-five ranks after 11 weeks of action. Adds up!

Quick hits

QB1 Josh Allen: Allen's 44.7 fantasy points in Week 11 were good for the second-highest single-game mark since 2015. The only better performance was achieved by … Josh Allen (51.9) in Week 14 last season. He's good!

QB12 Baker Mayfield: Baker's 5-39-1 rushing line on Sunday was great to see considering he had … zero rush attempts in his previous three games! Throw in the potential to get Bucky Irving (shoulder) and/or Chris Godwin (fibula) back in the lineup ahead of Sunday night's potential shootout with the Rams, and I'm comfortable getting Mayfield back into the mid-tier QB1 mix. That said: This passing game hasn't exactly been flirting with high-end efficiency in recent weeks.

Mayfield yards per attempt:

  • Weeks 1-6: 7.9 (8th)
  • Weeks 7-11: 5.7 (27th)

QB18 Jameis Winston: It remains to be seen if Jaxson Dart (concussion) will be ready to go for the Giants' rough Week 12 matchup in Detroit. Either way, fans should take solace knowing that Winston will not go down without a fight. Overall, Winston's 9.4 average target depth since 2020 is easily the highest mark among 49 qualified QBs—second-place Lamar Jackson (8.6) is nearly a full yard below! Will this gunslinging downfield mentality necessarily lead to much real life or fantasy success? No. Will it make for a more entertaining edition of what is otherwise another lost Giants season? Absolutely!

QB21 J.J. McCarthy: It's not fair to write our end-of-story evaluation of McCarthy in pen after just five career starts. That said: the 2024 NFL Draft's 10th overall pick has looked a lot like the NFL's worst QB this season. That's McCarthy in the bottom left corner in the below chart, and Vikings fans won't like the man on the opposite end of things.

image.png

QB22 Mason Rudolph: Expected to start at least one game with Aaron Rodgers (left wrist) likely sidelined. While it'd make sense if the Steelers embrace the run game and refrain from putting too much on Rudolph's plate, Myles Garrett's BFF actually did play the best football of his career the last time we saw him starting games wearing black and yellow. Incredibly, Rudolph averaged a robust 9.7 yards per attempt while ranking fourth in EPA per play (+0.17) during his limited action at the end of the 2023 season. Don't get too carried away, but I also wouldn't necessarily nosedive expectations for DK Metcalf and company—a sentiment that was shared by Fantasy Life Director of Analytics Dwain McFarland during the Sunday night recap edition of THE Fantasy Life Show.

QB25 Tyrod Taylor: The Jets have benched Justin Fields. If you've watched 30 or so minutes of Jets football this season, you can probably see why. That said: I wouldn't expect a 180 here just by swapping out QBs. This WR room remains laughably bad with Garrett Wilson (knee, IR) out of the picture, and it's not like the artist formerly known as TyGod has made the most out of his opportunities this season. Overall, Taylor ranks dead last in adjusted net yards per pass attempt (3.2), this metric accounts for TDs, INTs and sacks on top of yards, among 41 qualified QBs this season.

Running Back

RankRBMatchupRankRBMatchup
1Christian McCaffreyCAR@SF13Ashton JeantyCLE@LV
2Jahmyr GibbsNYG@DET14Quinshon JudkinsCLE@LV
3Jonathan TaylorIND@KC15Jaylen WarrenPIT@CHI
4Bijan RobinsonATL@NO16Breece HallNYJ@BAL
5Derrick HenryNYJ@BAL17Travis Etienne Jr.JAX@ARI
6TreVeyon HendersonNE@CIN18Emanuel WilsonMIN@GB
7Chase BrownNE@CIN19Aaron Jones Sr.MIN@GB
8James CookBUF@HOU20D'Andre SwiftPIT@CHI
9Saquon BarkleyPHI@DAL21Woody MarksBUF@HOU
10Rico DowdleCAR@SF22Kareem HuntIND@KC
11Javonte WilliamsPHI@DAL23Alvin KamaraATL@NO
12Kyren WilliamsTB@LAR24Kenneth Walker IIISEA@TEN

What RBs have done the most cool shit this season?

My definition:

  • Cool Shit / ko͞ol SHit / noun: Explosive plays + touchdowns + tackles avoided / total carries and targets.

I decided to double-count these factors: An explosive touchdown featuring three broken tackles is worth five points, not one. Cool? Cool.

The leaderboard among all RBs with 50+ opportunities (full list is here):

  1. Jonathan Taylor (44.8%)
  2. Jahmyr Gibbs (41.5%)
  3. Omarion Hampton (40.9%)
  4. Kenneth Walker (40.4%)
  5. Jaylen Warren (39.7%)
  6. Bijan Robinson (39.2%)
  7. De'Von Achane (39.1%)
  8. Kendre Miller (38.5%)
  9. Bucky Irving (37.8%)
  10. James Cook (37.1%)

Adds up! Particular kudos to Hampton, Warren and Miller (injuries suck) for posting the position's top-3 marks in forced missed tackles per opportunity. Warren sure looked like he was on his way to a BIG performance last week before suffering an ankle injury. I appreciated his ability to seamlessly transition a failed hurdle attempt into a f*ck you stiff arm.

Of course, Warren could be sidelined depending on the severity of his ankle injury. This would instantly boost Kenneth Gainwell up into the mid-tier RB2 ranks ahead of a smashable matchup with the Bears. Gainwell is only rostered in 32% of Yahoo leagues as of Monday, making him an obvious waiver wire darling this week and someone who should absolutely be scooped up if possible.

Additional priority handcuffs available in at least half of Yahoo leagues that you should look to stash with any extra bench spots:

What offensive lines have improved their run-blocking in recent weeks?

I like to look at RB rush yards *before* contact per carry as a good measure of a team's run-blocking ability. While not perfect, it does tend to do a good job quantifying the sort of lanes that are being opened up and the stat typically does correlate quite nicely with the league's most efficient rushing attacks.

The below chart denotes every team's rank in RB rush yards before contact per carry overall, in Weeks 1-5, and in Weeks 6-11.

image.png

Some notes:

  • Squads that have improved the most are headlined by the Dolphins (+16 rank difference), Vikings (+14), Steelers (+13), Bengals (+13), Buccaneers (+13), Bears (+13) and Eagles (+12).
  • The Giants (+11) and Packers (+10) have also gone from atrocious to something closer to average.
  • Meanwhile, nobody has experienced a bigger dropoff than the Cowboys (-26, pre-MNF). Injuries haven't helped, but the schedule shouldn't have been THAT hard other than the Broncos, considering the Panthers, Commanders, and Cardinals aren't exactly juggernauts.
  • The Jaguars (-19) and Jets (-16) also went from elite to bad in a hurry.
  • Additional squads that simply haven't been great in recent weeks: The Seahawks (-15), Commanders (-13), Patriots (-13), Cardinals (-12) and Texans (-10).
  • Final note: Poor Quinshon Judkins and Ashton Jeanty.

Who was *this* close to having a much bigger Week 11?

The following players were tackled at the 1-yard line and did NOT score a TD on the same drive last week (pre-MNF):

Players tackled at the 1-yard line and did NOT score on the same drive:

The two RBs atop this unfortunate leaderboard this season: Etienne (7) and Kyren Williams (5). The latter is especially unfortunate considering all five of these sheeshy occurrences occurred on different drives!

Moral of the story: Find someone who loves you like Matthew Stafford loves Davante Adams near the goal line.

Quick hits

RB5 Derrick Henry: I've published this stat recently, but you know what? It's awesome. Let's do it again.

Derrick Henry career yards per carry by month:

  • September: 4.3
  • October: 4.8
  • November: 4.9
  • December: 5.2
  • January: 5.4

Up next: Jets, Bengals, Steelers and the Bengals. Giddyup!

RB6 TreVeyon Henderson: The top-3 RBs in yards after contact per carry this season: Jonathan Taylor (4.5), Javonte Williams (4) … and TreVeyon Henderson (4)! The rookie has racked up five TDs across his last eight quarters of football and is cemented as a high-end RB1 for however long Rhamondre Stevenson stays sidelined. I would struggle to get Henderson lower than ~RB20-ish even with the return of Mondre ahead of this week's smash spot against the Bengals. Consider: Cincy has allowed a full seven additional PPR points per game to opposing backfields than any other defense—that's the same difference between the 31st ranked unit (Buffalo) and the 12th (Minnesota)!

RB8 James Cook: Hasn't found the end zone on the ground in three weeks, but the Bills have finally re-tapped Cook's upside as a receiver. Consider: Cook scored 23 PPR points from purely receiving production in Weeks 1-9 this season … which is exactly as many as he has in just his last two games!

RB10 Rico Dowdle: Seized the starting job and promptly went off for 141 yards and a pair of scores against the Packers in Week 9, but life hasn't been quite as great over the past two weeks. Overall, Dowdle has totaled just 98 yards on his last 37 carries (2.6 yards per carry)—the third-worst mark among 46 qualified RBs during this span. The overall usage remains great, and it'd make sense if Dowdle catches his stride against the 49ers' banged-up front-seven this Sunday, but I do wonder whether or not Dave Canales might be inclined to (again) shuffle up his backfield usage should this inefficiency continue. I'm comfortable selling HIGH on Dowdle over these next two weeks if possible; getting the Rams, a bye, and then the Saints, Buccaneers and Seahawks to end the season isn't ideal.

RB17 Travis Etienne, RB34 Bhayshul Tuten: The rookie started to loosen ETN's stranglehold on this backfield before suffering an (apparently minor) ankle injury. Credit to Tuten for running HARD: He's racked up at least three yards after contact on 51% of his carries this season—a mark that only trails Brian Robinson (54%) and Aaron Jones (52%). I'd be awfully surprised if Tuten ever straight up surpasses Etienne on the depth chart, but his growing role could produce some viable FLEX opportunities down the stretch, and there's legit RB1-worthy upside on the table should the Jaguars' starting RB miss any time due to injury.

RB18 Emanuel Wilson: While Josh Jacobs isn't believed to be dealing with an overly serious knee injury, his Week 12 status is very much in doubt at the moment. Enter: Wilson, who has been THE backup running back, y'all, in Green Bay this season. The third-year back dominated usage following Jacobs' departure and profiles for 15-20 combined carries and targets should the Packers be without their featured back. That's tough to complain about inside of the league's 13th-ranked scoring offense ahead of a matchup with the Vikings, who have allowed the 10th-most rushing yards to opposing RBs this season.

RB25 Sean Tucker, RB30 Rachaad White: Shoutout to Tucker for his yearly impression of LaDainian Tomlinson last week! Unfortunately, current jurisdiction in continental America prevents the Bucs from facing the Bills in every game, so we shouldn't exactly expect the same sky-high efficiency and scoring upside moving forward. It's also possible Bucky Irving (shoulder) is good to go for Sunday night's matchup with the Rams. But if not? Tucker has earned the right to be the higher-ranked Bucs back due to his ascension over the team's last three games.

Wide Receiver

RankWide ReceiverMatchupRankWide ReceiverMatchup
1Jaxon Smith-NjigbaSEA@TEN13Justin JeffersonMIN@GB
2Puka NacuaTB@LAR14Zay FlowersNYJ@BAL
3Amon-Ra St. BrownNYG@DET15Stefon DiggsNE@CIN
4Rashee RiceIND@KC16Tetarioa McMillanCAR@SF
5CeeDee LambPHI@DAL17Jameson WilliamsNYG@DET
6Tee HigginsNE@CIN18DeVonta SmithPHI@DAL
7Nico CollinsBUF@HOU19A.J. BrownPHI@DAL
8Davante AdamsTB@LAR20Michael Pittman Jr.IND@KC
9Chris OlaveATL@NO21Michael WilsonJAX@ARI
10Emeka EgbukaTB@LAR22DK MetcalfPIT@CHI
11Rome OdunzePIT@CHI23Wan'Dale RobinsonNYG@DET
12George PickensPHI@DAL24Jauan JenningsCAR@SF

Who are the league's best and worst WRs at hauling in deep balls?

Every Sunday I sink into the couch with my dachshunds for about 10 hours to:

  1. Watch Red Zone on one TV
  2. Watch a quad box of games on a second TV (sometimes a tri-box because somehow in the year 2025 we don't always get four late-afternoon games)
  3. Prep for THE Fantasy Life Show's game-by-game recap episode
  4. Write down a bunch of questions to answer later in an attempt to help quantify what I'm seeing

I only bring this up to preface this study with an admission that this is 100% an effort to build Troy Franklin and Xaiver Worthy slander regarding their inability to track down deep passes. Not that every deep misfire is on the WR – Patrick Mahomes overthrew Worthy on a potential long TD in Week 11 – but it really does seem like these two pass-catchers in particular are in a class of their own.

And *drumroll please* … It turns out they are! Especially Franklin. Note that I even included playoff data since both deserve credit for making some big plays last January/February.

Worst catch rates on passes thrown 30+ yards downfield 2024-2025 (min. 10 targets, including playoffs):

  1. Jalin Hyatt (0/10, 0%)
  2. Troy Franklin (2/28, 7%)
  3. Dontayvion Wicks (1/13, 8%)
  4. Keon Coleman (1/12, 8%)
  5. Adonai Mitchell (1/10 (10%)

Worthy comes in as the 12th-worst deep ball receiver (4/19, 21%). Not great, but hey, that is somehow better than Malik Nabers (19%) and Rome Odunze (15%)! Of course, there's a *slight* difference in QB play at hand there.

On a positive note, George Pickens (58%), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (57%), DeVonta Smith(54%), and Nico Collins (50%) are the only WRs to haul in at least half of their targets thrown 30-plus yards downfield. You can view the whole list here.

Who left some serious meat on the bone in Week 11?

"Unrealized air yards" measure the total amount of air yards on incomplete targets. This helps identify players who had all sorts of fantasy-friendly downfield opportunities, but they simply couldn't come up with completions for one reason or another.

Anyway, 11 players had at least 80 unrealized air yards in Week 11 (pre-MNF):

  • Broncos WR Troy Franklin (132)
  • Vikings WR Jordan Addison (123)
  • Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (122)
  • Bears WR Rome Odunze (115)
  • Patriots WR Kyle Williams (108)
  • Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase (103)
  • Jets WR Adonai Mitchell (95)
  • Cardinals WR Michael Wilson (88)
  • Eagles WR DeVonta Smith (81)
  • Eagles WR AJ Brown (81)
  • Rams WR Davante Adams (80)

Unfortunately Odunze has been a bit of a regular in this section in recent weeks. The man was en fuego during the first four weeks of the season, but times have been tough since returning from the team's Week 5 bye.

Odunze PPR points per game:

  • Weeks 1-4: 19.9 (WR3)
  • Weeks 6-11: 9.2 (WR50)

Good news: Up next is a rather pristine matchup against the Steelers' 31st-ranked defense in PPR points per game allowed to opposing WRs. Odunze profiles as someone VERY capable of taking advantage of a Steelers defense that runs more man coverage than just about anyone:

Bears WR target share splits against man/zone coverage:

  • Rome Odunze: 30% target share vs. man, 23% vs. zone
  • DJ Moore: 17% vs. man, 13% vs. zone
  • Olamide Zaccheaus: 17% vs. man, 17% vs. zone
  • Luther Burden: 5% vs. man, 7% vs. zone

Quick hits

WR2 Ja'Marr Chase, WR12 Tee Higgins: Joe Flacco took over in Week 6. The highest scoring WRs in fantasy since (PPR points per game):

  1. Drake London (24.4)
  2. Jaxon Smith-Njigba (23.9)
  3. Ja'Marr Chase (21.5)
  4. Rashee Rice (19.3)
  5. Tee Higgins (18.5)

Not too shabby! Unfortunately, Chase has been suspended one game for spitting on Jalen Ramsey. His absence takes Higgins from an auto-start WR1 to a legit top-six option at the position against a Patriots defense that has allowed 14 receiving scores to opposing WRs this season—tied for the second most in the league.

WR7 Nico Collins: Has posted 7-136-0 and 9-92-1 receiving lines over the past two weeks with Davis Mills under center. Collins has an NFL-best 25 targets in this span! We should see the return of CJ Stroud (concussion) sooner rather than later, but it's nice knowing that Mills is capable enough to get the offense's clear-cut best player the rock. Collins is up to WR10 status on the season in PPR points per game after his rough start.

WR10 Emeka Egbuka, WR27 Tez Johnson: It was probably just the wind, but I did find it interesting that Egbuka posted a season-low 4.7-yard average target depth in Week 11. His previous single-game low was 11! My WR10 ranking reflects the reality that I'm not concerned here, although the return of Chris Godwin (fibula) could further squeeze the available targets. Reminder: Tez has actually out-scored Egbuka on a per-game basis (11.7 vs. 10.6) since Week 6. A hamstring injury did limit Egbuka to a 53% snap rate in Week 6, but this has quietly been a pretty rough dropoff.

Egbuka PPR points per game:

  • Weeks 1-5: 20.5 (WR3)
  • Week 6-11: 10.6 (WR38)

Good thing America loves a comeback!

WR17 Tetarioa McMillan: T-Mac's 8-130-2 masterclass against the Falcons was a good reminder of just how talented the rookie is. We shouldn't assume Bryce Young will perform at that level every week moving forward, but hey, it sure was a good data point! Ultimately, McMillan is on pace for 1,156 yards and six scores–that's good enough for weekly WR2 treatment in reasonable matchups like next Monday night's spot against the banged-up 49ers.

WR39 Jakobi Meyers: The NFL's leaderboard in most targets without a single receiving TD:

  • Meyers (58)
  • Cade Otton (53)
  • Kendrick Bourne (42)
  • Darnell Mooney (42)
  • Chigoziem Okonkwo (42)

WR42 Luther Burden: The Bears' rather electric rookie appeared to leap Olamide Zaccheaus on the depth chart last week. Now, a newfound full-time role doesn't necessarily mean Burden will even finish as a weekly top-three target inside a passing game averaging a good-not-great 227 passing yards per game (13th), but it is a step in the right direction! Burden has been one of the game's most-efficient rookie WRs on a per-route basis and is someone worth scooping on the waiver wire if possible due to the potential end-of-season upside should Ben Johnson decide to emphasize getting him the rock.

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WR43 Isaiah Hodgins: Immediately assumed a near every-down role with Darius Slayton (hamstring) sidelined. We've seen Hodgins randomly boom in this offense before, and having Jameis Winston under center is a pretty damn great recipe for getting the most out of an otherwise mediocre WR (just ask Breshad Perriman). Don't get too carried away, but Hodgins profiles as a sneaky-solid FLEX option against the Lions' banged-up secondary.

WR57 AD Mitchell: Had the most AD Mitchell game ever last Thursday night, displaying some truly awesome route-running savvy … and equally horrible hands. Have we ever seen AD Mitchell and Dontayvion Wicks in the same room at the same time?

Tight End

RankTight EndMatchup
1Trey McBrideJAX@ARI
2Brock BowersCLE@LV
3George KittleCAR@SF
4Tyler WarrenIND@KC
5Travis KelceIND@KC
6Jake FergusonPHI@DAL
7Mark AndrewsNYJ@BAL
8Dallas GoedertPHI@DAL
9Hunter HenryNE@CIN
10Juwan JohnsonATL@NO
11Theo JohnsonNYG@DET
12Kyle Pitts Sr.ATL@NO

How are fantasy's top TEs scoring their fantasy points?

The below chart denotes every top-24 TE's PPR scoring this season by what percentage of their points have come from receptions, yards, and TDs.

image.png

Some notes:

  • Tight ends who have run a bit hot in the TD scoring departments include: George Kittle, Dallas Goedert, and (especially) Darren Waller. That said, each is a certified #good football player and earned these fantasy-friendly red zone targets for a reason. Keep an eye on Waller's potential return from IR – this Dolphins TE room has a legit top-five schedule in the fantasy playoffs.
  • On the other side of things, Tyler Warren, Oronde Gadsden, Dalton Schultz, and Kyle Pitts haven't had the world's best TD luck this season. The former two are solid candidates for positive regression thanks to their quality real-life passing attacks, but I struggle to get as excited about the overall scoring upside in Houston and Atlanta.
  • Jaguars TE Brenton Strange (hip/quad) should be back before too long. He boasts upside TE2 potential the rest of the way thanks to his every-down role in an offense dealing with plenty of injuries at WR.
  • I'm annoyed at Mark Andrews, AJ Barner and Tyler Warren for making me include a rushing column. George Kittle's cell is red because he actually has one carry for negative three yards this season. But yeah: I could ABSOLUTELY see a TE breaking the position one of these years if they ever manage to land a full-time tush push job at the goal line, although at this point I'd be surprised if the Eagles' not-so-secret weapon isn't out-lawed this coming offseason due to all the difficulties with properly officiating the play.

Quick hits

TE1 Trey McBride: You already know McBride is the TE1 in fantasy, but get this: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Puka Nacua, Drake London, Ja'Marr Chase, Rashee Rice, and Amon-Ra St. Brown are the only *WRs* averaging more PPR points per game than Jacoby Brissett's soulmate. Hell yeah!

TE5 Travis Kelce: Kudos to the future Mr. Swift-Kelce for re-gaining his once elite YAC ability. We haven't seen 2025's TE5 in PPR points per game move this well in years!

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TE7 Mark Andrews: Has scored 17 TDs in his last 19 regular season games with Lamar Jackson. It's a good thing too, because Andrews has gained 35 or more receiving yards in just one game all season, although I guess now we have to consider him a rushing threat as well.

TE9 Hunter Henry: Has one TD in his last seven games and hasn't surpassed 51 receiving yards in a game since Week 3. So what is he doing in the top 10? You guessed it: This Bengals matchup is borderline erotic for the TE position. Cincy is allowing a league-high 22.5 PPR points per game to opposing TE rooms–the difference between them and the 31st ranked Jaguars (4.7) is the same as Jacksonville and the league's 14th-ranked defense (Broncos)!

TE21 Darnell Washington: The Steelers don't feature one TE enough to actually feel good about any of them in fantasy land, but good god Darnell Washington is fun to watch. On behalf of Planet Earth, thank you for allowing the below highlights to exist, Arthur Smith.

Players Mentioned in this Article

  1. Josh Allen
    JoshAllenQ
    QBBUFBUF
    PPG
    17.29
  2. TreVeyon Henderson
    TreVeyonHenderson
    RBNENE
    PPG
    8.93
    Proj
    7.35
  3. James Cook
    JamesCook
    RBBUFBUF
    PPG
    12.46
  4. Derrick Henry
    DerrickHenry
    RBBALBAL
    PPG
    10.03