For a player to be listed, he must be owned in 50 percent (or less) of Yahoo! leagues. The goal is to provide recommendations of players that have a greater chance of being available on your league's waiver wire. Of course, your league's size and settings could significantly impact whether these players (or better options) are available in your particular league(s).
With that said, here are some tight end waiver-wire options that I like heading into Week 6 (Yahoo! ownership in parenthesis):
[Note: Players listed below are sorted by my preference to add.]
1. C.J. Uzomah, Cincinnati Bengals (26 percent)
Not only is Tyler Eifert out for the season, but Tyler Kroft left Sunday's game with a foot injury. For as long as Kroft is out, it would open up the door for Uzomah to become nearly an every-down player. The upcoming schedule can't get any better as the Bengals face the Steelers, Chiefs and Bucs in their next three games. Those three opponents rank as the three most generous opposing defenses to fantasy tight ends this season.
2. Cameron Brate, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (29 percent)
Catchless in his first two games, Brate now has three catches and a touchdown in back-to-back games. With O.J. Howard (MCL) still sidelined coming out of the team's bye, Brate should continue to benefit. The Harvard alum will be a TD-dependent option, like most tight ends, but his outlook is improved for as long as Howard remains out.
3. Geoff Swaim, Dallas Cowboys (8 percent)
You won't feel good about starting Swaim, but the starting tight end now has at least three catches in four of five games including each of the past three. In his three most recent games, Swaim has a combined line of 11/141/1 on 15 targets. Currently the TE14 in PPR formats through Sunday's games, Swaim has been a top-15 PPR option for three consecutive games (although he may fail to hang onto that distinction after Monday night's game).
1-3. Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts (33 percent)
It's a weird ranking for Doyle, but if you don't need a tight end to start this week, Doyle is the best long-term option on this list. If you need someone to start this week, it's unclear how much more time Doyle will miss. Once he returns to the lineup, however, I'd expect him to be the team's primary tight end with Eric Ebron being more of a complementary option to Doyle -- albeit one that should still be a back-end TE starter in fantasy leagues.
5. Mike Gesicki, Miami Dolphins (4 percent)
At some point, Gesicki could become a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses due to his freakish athleticism. Up until now, he's been a fantasy-irrelevant option through five weeks.
On a positive note, Gesicki had a season-high five targets in Week 5 and finished with three catches for 26 yards, the second-best game of his career. For those in deeper leagues, there is at least some reason to hold out hope that things will improve as the season progresses for the former Nittany Lion.
- More Fantasy Football Waiver-Wire Advice Heading Into Week 6
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