Which tight ends have the most favorable fantasy matchups? Who is the best streaming option? And who has a poor matchup?
Here's a breakdown of five of the top fantasy football tight ends, as ranked by Sean Koerner, Chris Raybon and Matthew Freedman in their Week 3 fantasy football rankings.
The No. 1 TE
Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots
Gronk is always in a tier of his own. He'll take on a Lions defense that has allowed the 12th-most receiving yards per game and the seventh-most passing touchdowns to tight ends this season.
His ceiling projection is three points higher than any other tight end in the FantasyLabs Player Models.
Most Favorable Matchups
Evan Engram, New York Giants
Engram's target share (16%) isn't ideal, but he'll take on a Texans defense that got torched by Gronkowski (seven catches, 123 yards, one touchdown) in Week 1. Engram saw seven targets last week, and if he's in the six-to-eight-target range in Week 3, that could suffice.
Our rankers have Engram inside the top 10 in half-PPR, PPR and standard leagues.
Jared Cook, Oakland Raiders
Cook has been great for the Raiders this season, possessing 32% of their air yards and 22% of their target share. Now he gets a Dolphins defense that ranked in the bottom three in yards (1,034) and touchdowns (10) allowed to tight ends last season.
Matchup Downgrade
The Best Stream
Austin Hooper, Atlanta Falcons
Hooper ranks second on the team in targets, but sadly, it's just nine total targets, as Julio Jones has amassed 28 targets through the first two games.
Hooper is a touchdown-dependent, boom-or-bust option, but he has been utilized in the red zone so far, representing 27% of the red-zone target share for the Falcons.
He's sporting an average rank of 14.3 among our rankers.
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