NFL Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 17: Tight ends

Tonyan has been really good for the Packers this season. Well, he disappeared against the Titans in Week 16. Which was terrible for people who had a championship last week (as the Fantasy Gods intended). He should be better this week against the Bears. He scored 17.7 (including a touchdown) in his last meeting against the Bears in Week 12.

Graham got out-targeted by our guy Cole Kmet in Duval on Sunday, but he’s the dude who ended up with a pair of touchdown scores. He’s had three in the last three weeks and has played pretty well. And I don’t think you need me to remind you that it’s a REVENGE GAME for Graham this week.

Hurst has been on fire in recent weeks. And by “on fire” I mean that he’s had double-digit fantasy points in back-to-back games, buoyed by a touchdown in each game. We liked him last week because the matchup against the Chiefs was favorable. This is another favorable one because the Buccaneers had allowed a lot of production to tight ends in the five games prior to Week 16. And if not for Stafford’s injury, we probably would have seen a lot of T.J. Hockenson.

I had to get at least one Danger Zone candidate that’s probably a better DFS play than anything else. Anderson played 25 snaps on Sunday against the Broncos and still ended up leading Chargers tight ends in targets (six), good for second on the team overall. He had four receptions for 48 yards. The Chiefs have allowed the ninth-most fantasy points to tight ends this season. The fourth-most over the last month. And again, this team has already locked up its bye. Unlike the Chargers. 

Hooper was good against the Jets. I was kind of expecting a little bit more. Kind of like when I watched Soul. It was good. But it wasn’t like Coco good, you know what I mean? I ugly cried through Coco. Soul was a good movie. That was Hooper against the Jets. Now he’s got the Steelers, who have allowed the second-fewest fantasy points to tight ends this season.

Arnold has started to become a thing for the Cardinals in recent weeks. He was somebody I thought highly of coming into this season but never really had a true breakout. He was good in back-to-back games in Weeks 12-13. But he hasn’t been able to recapture the magic since, especially after losing a fumble last week against the 49ers. The Rams are one of the top defenses against tight ends over the last four weeks.

Engram had seven receptions for 65 yards against the Ravens on Sunday. Which, for him this season, was probably more than we should have expected. He’s got a really tough matchup against the Cowboys, who have allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points to tight ends this season. And I’m probably not giving him the benefit of the doubt, but I need something to win me back over. Like how the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian revived my faith in Star Wars after The Rise of Skywalker.

Ertz was tied with Jalen Reagor as the most-targeted pass catcher for the Eagles on Sunday. But he managed just three receptions for 33 yards. Ertz is now somebody you just start based on name value. Like going into Taco Bell. You never really crave Taco Bell; you just show up there. Actually, that’s a bad example, because sometimes you just need to rock the Bell, you know? But the FT has been tough on tight ends this year and with everything to play for, I’m going to pass.