Getty Tyler Higbee of the Los Angeles Rams
Welcome to Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Tight Ends edition for Week 15 of the NFL season. This edition features a pass-catcher out of Los Angeles looking to extend his run of stellar play.
* Reminder: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em is intended to present you with the non-obvious choices for your fantasy lineup. We dig deep into player matchups, scoring trends, and other factors to best help you with your fantasy decisions. Superstars such as Travis Kelce will not be found in this column. If you’re looking for players of such caliber check out our weekly fantasy football tight end rankings.
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TE: Start ‘Em
Start of the Week: Tyler Higbee at DAL
Higbee has been phenomenal since taking over for an injured Gerald Everett. Over the last two weeks, Higbee is the TE1 in fantasy with an average of 21.2 points, eclipsing the 100-yard receiving mark in both games. More importantly, he’s averaged 9.5 targets over that span. The Cowboys allow the 11th-most fantasy points to tight ends this season, including seven receptions and 92 receiving yards to Chicago Bears tight ends a week ago.
Noah Fant at KC
Fant may finally have a quarterback capable of putting his own skills on display. Fant is fresh off a 113-yard, one-touchdown performance in Week 14. Kansas City surrenders the sixth-most fantasy points to TEs in 2019. They’ve allowed 69 receiving yards and/or a touchdown to the position in four of their last five games.
Ian Thomas vs. SEA
After seeing just nine targets all season, Thomas came out of nowhere in place of Greg Olsen a week ago to put up 16.7 fantasy points on 10 targets. He has a great chance of turning that outlier performance into a trend in Week 15 vs. Seattle. The Seahawks give up the second-most fantasy points to opposing TEs, including allowing two 91+ yard receivers and three TDs to the position over their last three games.
Sleepers: Dallas Goedert at WAS
Zach Ertz is an obvious play, as he’s seemingly recaptured his previous elite form in recent weeks. However, his “backup” is worth a long look for fantasy lineups in Week 15. The Redskins have allowed four touchdowns to the tight end position over their last four games, three of which were to backups.
TE: Sit ‘Em
Sit of the Week: Ryan Griffin at BAL
Griffin is currently listed as questionable for Week 15, while having averaged just 17 receiving yards over the last three weeks. The Ravens allow the fewest fantasy points to the tight end position this season. This seems pretty self-explanatory.
Jacob Hollister at CAR
Hollister continues to get looks (14 over the last two weeks), however, his production has continuously dipped as the Seahawks passing offense is in the midst of a slump. Russell Wilson has averaged fewer than 229 passing yards in the last three games. The Panthers allow the fifth-fewest fantasy points to tight ends, surrendering just two TDs to the position since Week 1.
Blake Jarwin vs. LAR
Jarwin saw his biggest workload of the season a week ago and responded with just his second double-digit fantasy outing since Week 1. However, he still played just 30% of the team’s offensive snaps. In fact, he’s played fewer than 40% of the team’s snaps in five of the last six games. The Rams allow the seventh-fewest points to TEs. No player at the position has exceeded 45-receiving yards, nor found the end zone against Los Angeles since their Week 9 bye.
Buyers Beware: Mark Andrews vs. NYJ
You’ll likely roll the dice on Andrews this week, as talent-wise, and at times production-wise, he’s one of the better tight ends in all of football. With that said, he’s scored just 6.50 fantasy points or fewer in three of his last six games. The Jets are also surprisingly stingy at defending the position, surrendering the second-fewest points to TEs this year.
- *Check out our other Week 15 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Ems to further optimize your lineups
- Start-Sit [ QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | DEF | Ks]
READ NEXT: Fantasy: Tight End Rankings Week 15