2021 NFL Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 2: Tight ends

The Broncos will be without Jerry Jeudy for a while, and let’s be thankful that wasn’t season-ending. It's still a huge bummer, though. We need Courtland Sutton to step up. Tim Patrick has always been overlooked. But the biggest bump in production could come from Fant who led the team with eight targets on Sunday and finished with six receptions for 62 yards. Love the matchup against the Jaguars this week. Teddy Bridgewater is one of my sleepers for this week, and I really do believe Fant could challenge for TE4 this week. I know, I’m trying to be modest.

I don’t know, is this the year for Higbee to breakout? He was second only to Cooper Kupp in targets in Week 1 against the Bears. He finished with five receptions for 68 yards. And let’s be honest, we didn’t get a real glimpse into this Rams offense because two broken plays made up so much of the Rams' output on Sunday night. Thank you Eddie Jackson. Former teammate Gerald Everett had two touchdowns against the Colts last week, and I’m not chasing those points (Tyler is more involved anyway), I will fire him up this week.

I’m old enough to remember when “I’m old enough to remember when” jokes were funny. Just kidding, they never were. But there were some people who thought Gronk was going to be a blocking tight end. And he’s great at it. But let’s be serious. He looks like an every-week starter. He’s not likely to do the 8-for-8 thing for 90 yards and two touchdowns but he should consistently see targets. And it’s not like Bruce Arians likes to take his foot off the gas. I like this game to be a high-scoring affair so make sure you have some Bucs shares.

Look. I’m not going to spend a lot of time here talking about how you need to start Aaron Jones and Davante Adams, because as I put in the opener, the Packers are going to rebound huge. I’m starting Tonyan this week. And if somebody in your league was foolish enough to drop him after one week, then you need to make sure you go out and add him right now. And because I’m cool like this, I went and looked it up. Tonyan scored a touchdown in each game against the Lions. In other words, he’s never played a game against the Lions where he hasn’t scored a touchdown.

I’ve seen enough, Smith is a better fantasy value to Hunter Henry. Yes, I’m prone to slight exaggerations after one week. Sue me. But here’s my thing: he caught all five of his targets for 42 yards. Double digits feels like it’s possible every week, as long as the dude doesn’t cough it up. But we’re past that. Plus, I feel like the end zone targets are going to start to materialize soon as well.

Brah, it was so awful to have that bagel looking at me all Sunday after this performance against the Patriots. Like, that kind of stuff is haunting though more comforting than seeing 1.12 for whatever reason. You know what I mean? Like, if you’re going to score less than five, just go ahead and go full bagel. Probably not going to be easier this week, either. The Bills allowed just one reception to Eric Ebron last week. (Which means Gesicki is going 9-102-2.)

Look, I stood up for Ertz during the offseason but it was clear Dallas Goedert was the better play against the Falcons. And Ertz is now dealing with a hamstring injury so be sure to monitor his status. I would like to believe in Ertz, and maybe there are some matchups that would be ideal. This isn’t one of those matchups.

I do like two touchdowns. And I know that I’m going to be greedy when I say this but, when you get a pair of touchdowns from a player, you want it to be a monster day. It’s like when you’re golfing and you have two birdies but still shoot a 94. Like, you should be happy you made a few birds. And hell, you could have shot 100 if you hadn’t. But at the same time, you wish you got into the 80s with a score like that. That said, I want more consistency before Everett is a must-start.

Again, here’s another guy who was very efficient with his receptions last week. He had three receptions for 21 yards and a pair of scores. He will be Jameis Winston’s go-to near the goal line. It will be very volatile. The good news is the Saints look like they want to keep everything close to the line of scrimmage and keep Jameis from, well, being Jameis. I’m just telling you Johnson will be heavily touchdown dependent.

It’s worth noting Firsker is the tight end to have in Tennessee, as he was more-involved than Geoff Swaim. He was targeted four times but finished with just three receptions for 19 yards and no touchdowns. He’s worth monitoring as the season moves on, and he might be able to carve out a role as a bye-week replacement. I’m not starting him this week, however.