Saturday, October 2, 2021

Week 4 Fantasy Football TE Start'em, Sit'em

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, Tyler Higbee is listed below as a "start" for Week 4. And I'd certainly be comfortable going into Week 4 with him as my starting quarterback.

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

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

For a more direct answer on whether we would start Player X over Player Y, check our Week 4 Fantasy Football Rankings. Instead of making those direct comparisons, the goal here is to highlight players that we like, or dislike, for the week.

Week 4 Fantasy Football TE Start'em

Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams (vs. ARI)

The Arizona Cardinals have allowed the third-fewest fantasy points to the position, but they haven't faced any difficult matchups either with the Titans, Vikings and Jaguars being their first three opponents. That said, the Rams have a top-three implied total this week in what should be one of the week's highest-scoring affairs.

Aside from a Week 2 dud (1/8/0) against the Colts, Higbee has a pair of top-10 weekly finishes. On the season, he has 11 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown on 12 targets.

Logan Thomas, Washington Football Team (at ATL)

On the field for 100% of Washington's offensive snaps so far this season, Thomas has scored in two of three games and has a minimum of three catches each week. Facing the Falcons this week, Thomas has a top-six fantasy matchup.

Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons (vs. WAS)

Pitts has performed as a mid-tier TE2 so far this season, disappointing fantasy managers that used an early pick on the gifted rookie. That said, Pitts has more targets (17), receptions (12) and yards (139) this season than Logan Thomas (TE7, half-PPR scoring). Of course, the biggest difference is that Thomas has scored twice and Pitts has yet to score his first NFL touchdown. With Russell Gage (ankle) out again this week, it's possible that we see a bump in Pitts' target share (even though that didn't come to fruition last week).

Week 4 Fantasy Football TE Sit'em

Evan Engram, New York Giants (at NO)

Engram made his season debut last week and connected with Daniel Jones on two-of-six targets for 21 yards. Even though the Giants will be without a couple of receivers (Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton), I'd still prefer to keep Engram on my bench. The New Orleans Saints have allowed the eighth-fewest fantasy points to opposing tight ends and only the Houston Texans have a lower implied total this week.

Jonnu Smith, New England Patriots (vs. TB)

While I would prefer to start neither Patriots tight end, a case could be made that Hunter Henry (TE16 in my rankings) is a better play than Smith (TE20). Per data charted by PFF, Smith has ran a route on just 26% of pass plays last week while Henry did so on 70%. The season-to-date numbers in routes run has Henry (65%) nearly doubling up Smith (36%), even though Smith has a minimum of five targets each week and more targets to-date (16, 13.68%) than Henry (13, 11.11%).

Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles (vs. KC)

Goedert had a season-high 66 yards last week, but he once again had only two receptions. Through three weeks, Goedert has only eight receptions and 11 targets. Even more frustrating for those that roster Goedert is the fact that Zach Ertz had a 4/53/1 line in Week 3. While I have him ranked just outside of my top 12 (TE13) and ahead of Ertz, the presence of Ertz makes him more of a high-end TE2 than a low-end TE1 the rest of the way.

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