Saturday, October 24, 2020

Fantasy Football Start'Em, Sit'Em: Week 7 TEs

The decision on which player to start, or sit, largely comes down to the options on your roster (and/or possibly the players available on your league's waiver wire).

As an example, T.J. Hockenson is listed below as a "start" for Week 7. And we'd certainly be comfortable going into Week 7 with him as our starting tight end.

Then again, Hockenson may be a "sit" for your team.

In other words, if you own both Travis Kelce and Hockenson, you should start Kelce and, in turn, bench Hockenson.

For a more direct answer on whether we would start Player X over Player Y, check it our Week 7 Fantasy Football Rankings. Instead of those direct comparisons, the goal here is to highlight players that we like, or dislike, for the week.

Week 7 Fantasy Football TE Start'em

T.J. Hockenson, Detroit Lions (at ATL)

In his two most recent games, Hockenson has been limited to just 26 total yards and two catches per game. That said, one of those two catches in each game were touchdowns. On the season, the second-year tight end has a total of 17 catches for 197 yards and three touchdowns over five games.

So far this season, the Falcons defense has allowed either the most or second-most receptions (40, 2nd-most), receiving yards (438, 2nd-most) and receiving touchdowns (seven, most) to opposing tight ends. Only the Saints have allowed more fantasy points per game to the position this season.

Rob Gronkowski, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at LV)

After a slow start earlier this season, Gronkowski said, "I came here to block, baby." Since hauling in only two catches for 11 yards on four targets through the first two weeks of the season, Tom Brady has been looking Gronk's way much more often. With a minimum of six targets in three of the past four games, Gronkowski has 15 catches for 207 yards and a touchdown over that four-game span.

Robert Tonyan, Green Bay Packers (at HOU)

Tonyan (ankle) is listed as questionable for Sunday, so there is obviously some concern. Fortunately the Packers-Texans game kicks off at 1 p.m. ET, so fantasy owners will know ahead of time if they need to look in a different direction.

Over the past four games, Tonyan has a total of 16 catches for 198 yards and five touchdowns. No team has a higher implied total than the Packers this week and no game has a higher weekly total. Meanwhile, the Texans have allowed the 11th-most fantasy points per game to the position this season.

Week 7 Fantasy Football TE Sit'em

Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams (vs. CHI)

Outside of his three-TD explosion in Week 2, Higbee has no other touchdowns this season. Exceeding the 40-yard mark in only two games with a season high of only 56 yards, Higbee has disappointed fantasy owners this season. Based on half-PPR scoring, here are his weekly finishes: TE21, TE1, TE20, TE32, TE29 and TE16.

We have Higbee ranked outside our top 15 fantasy tight ends for this week as well.

Hayden Hurst, Atlanta Falcons (vs. DET)

As my TE13 for the week, Hurst isn't necessarily a terrible option at the position if you don't have a better option. That said, the Lions have allowed the second-fewest fantasy points to opposing tight ends this season and the team that has allowed the fewest (Indianapolis) is on a bye this week.

Hurst has been solid, not great, this season as he has 50-plus yards and/or a touchdown in four of his past five games. That said, he has only finished as a top-12 fantasy tight end twice (in six games) this season.

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