Saturday, November 24, 2018

Week 12 Fantasy Football: Tight Ends Start'em, Sit'em

Ultimately, the decision of which player to start is largely determined by the composition of your roster (as well as your league's settings).

As an example, Cameron Brate is listed below as a "start" for Week 12. And I'd feel comfortable going into Week 12 with him as my starting tight end.

That said, he may be a sit for your team.

In other words, if you owned both Zach Ertz and Brate, you should start Ertz -- and in turn, bench Brate.

So while you won't find absolute start-sit recommendations below (use my Week 12 Fantasy Football Rankings for that instead), the goal here is to highlight some players that I like (and would feel comfortable starting) as well as some players that I dislike for this week (and would prefer to keep on my bench).

Embed from Getty Images

 

Week 12 Fantasy Football TE Start'em


TE - Vance McDonald, Pittsburgh Steelers (at DEN)

McDonald missed the season opener, but he has three-plus catches in all but one game since making his season debut in Week 2. Since exceeding 60 yards in three of four games, McDonald has had a more modest 25 to 47 yards over his four most-recent games, but he has scored in back-to-back weeks. In a plus matchup, McDonald has a chance to post a third consecutive top-10 performance.

TE - Cameron Brate, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (vs. SF)

Brate has finished outside the top-30 fantasy tight ends in five consecutive weeks. Over the past four weeks, Brate has failed to exceed 16 receiving yards. O.J. Howard's season-ending injury, however, should expand Brate's opportunities going forward. Of the remaining games this week, no game has a higher over-under than the Bucs-49ers game, which bodes well for Brate and all of the team's pass-catchers.

TE - Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts (vs. MIA)

Along with Eric Ebron, Erik Swoope and Mo Alie-Cox, Doyle is one of four Colts tight ends to finish as a weekly top-12 fantasy tight end this season. Although Doyle has missed multiple games this year, the position group has scored a total of 15 touchdowns, which is more than half of Andrew Luck's 29 touchdowns this season. Doyle is a top-five option for me this week.

 

Week 12 Fantasy Football TE Sit'em


TE - Kyle Rudolph, Minnesota Vikings (vs. GB)

Rudolph began the season with four consecutive games with either 50-plus yards or a touchdown. Since then, however, he has failed to do either and has averaged just three catches for 29 yards per game. So far this season, the Packers have limited tight ends to the fourth-fewest fantasy points. To be fair, Rudolph had season highs -- seven catches for 72 yards -- against them in Week 2, but he's outside my top-12 fantasy rankings this week.

TE - Evan Engram, New York Giants (at PHI)

Engram was one yard shy of his season high in Week 11, but the problem is that he had just two catches on as many targets. Without many opportunities, it could be a quiet day for the second-year tight end as the Eagles have allowed the third-fewest fantasy points to the position this season. Only O.J. Howard (Week 2) has finished with a top-12 weekly performance against them this season.

TE - Antonio Gates, Los Angeles Chargers (vs. ARI)

Turning back the clock, Gates posted a 5/80/1 line on seven targets to finish as the week's third-best fantasy tight end. For owners chasing points, it's worth noting that he has just one top-30 fantasy performance since Week 5. In addition, the Cardinals have allowed the seventh-fewest fantasy points to opposing tight ends this season. In other words, don't chase the points.

- More Fantasy Football Start'em, Sit'em for Week 12

Week 12 Fantasy Football Rankings:
More of our content and resources:
Keep track of our site's updates: (1) follow us on Twitter and/or (2) LIKE us on Facebook