Fantasy TE Rankings Week 18: Who to start, sit at tight end in standard, PPR fantasy football leagues

Matt Lutovsky

Fantasy TE Rankings Week 18: Who to start, sit at tight end in standard, PPR fantasy football leagues image

If your fantasy football league is still going in the final week of the regular season, then congratulations! You are truly a brave soul to take on the inevitable mocking and withstand change for so long. We don't agree with you, but damnit if we don't respect you. As a reward for your courage, we're happy to offer up some Week 18 fantasy TE rankings for both standard and PPR leagues to help you finish the season on a high note.

Injuries are important to track every week, but in Week 18, it's more important to know which players might be rested because their teams have nothing to play for. Even if a player is slated to start, it's tough to know just how many snaps he'll get if his team has locked up their playoff spot, but we'll do our best throughout the week to stay on top of each situation and update accordingly. The Buccaneers and Giants are locked into their playoff seeds, while several other teams are only playing for seeding that may or may not matter much to them. For now, we'll still rank their players as if they're going all out.

Matchup-wise, the Seahawks (vs. Rams in Week 18), Cardinals (@ 49ers), Dolphins (vs. Jets), Falcons (vs. Buccaneers), and Titans (@ Jaguars) allow the most fantasy points to TEs, so Tyler Higbee, George Kittle, Tyler Conklin, Cade Otton, and Evan Engram are all great options if they're expected to play the majority of snaps. Otton and Conklin are widely available on waiver wires, making them the top streams of the week, though Otton obviously comes with risks because we don't know how much he'll play, never mind the fact that Blaine Gabbert will likely be throwing him passes. If Otton rests, Ko Kieft becomes your Week 18 sleeper.

WEEK 18 FANTASY RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRsD/STs | Kickers

The Lions (@ Packers), Giants (@ Eagles), Broncos (vs. Chargers), Jaguars (vs. Titans), Buccaneers (@ Falcons), Raiders (vs. Chiefs), and Patriots (@ Bills) round out the top 12 in terms of fantasy points allowed to TEs. That puts Robert Tonyan on the streamer map and moves Dallas Goedert, Gerald Everett, Darren Waller, and Dawson Knox into "must-start" territory. Those in really deep leagues can even try MyCole Pruitt against the Bucs, although he managed just 50 yards in a better matchup against Arizona last week, so he's probably best left for DFS tournaments.

The Saints (vs. Panthers), Bills (vs. Patriots), Cowboys (@ Commanders), Bears (vs. Vikings), 49ers (vs. Cardinals), Commanders (vs. Cowboys), Eagles (vs. Giants), Browns (@ Steelers), Packers (vs. Lions), and Steelers (vs. Browns) allow the fewest fantasy points to TEs. We still see T.J. Hockenson as a must-start, but Dalton Schultz, Pat Freiermuth, and David Njoku are in more precarious positions. They're all better in PPR leagues, though, so we'd still use them in most 12-team formats, especially if you can't get Conklin or Tonyan.

Overall, there are enough decent TEs to go around if you're still playing this week. As long as you stay on top of the matchups, who's in, who's out, and who's facing potentially bad weather, you should be fine.

We'll be updating these TE rankings as needed throughout the week, so check back for the latest changes and analysis.

Week 18 fantasy TE rankings for standard leagues

Rankings based on standard, non-PPR scoring

Rank    Player
1    Travis Kelce, Chiefs @ Raiders
2    George Kittle, 49ers vs. Cardinals
3    Evan Engram, Jaguars vs. Titans
4    Tyler Higbee, Rams @ Seahawks
5    Darren Waller, Raiders vs. Chiefs
6    Dawson Knox, Bills vs. Patriots
7    Mark Andrews, Ravens @ Bengals
8    T.J. Hockenson, Vikings @ Bears
9    Dallas Goedert, Eagles vs. Giants
10    Tyler Conklin, Jets @ Dolphins
11    Gerald Everett, Chargers @ Broncos
12    Cade Otton, Buccaneers @ Falcons
13    Cole Kmet, Bears vs. Vikings
14    Pat Freiermuth, Steelers vs. Browns
15    Taysom Hill, Saints vs. Panthers
16    Dalton Schultz, Cowboys @ Commanders
17    Juwan Johnson, Saints vs. Panthers
18    Robert Tonyan, Packers vs. Lions
19    Noah Fant, Seahawks vs. Rams
20    Hayden Hurst, Bengals vs. Ravens
21    David Njoku, Browns @ Steelers
22    Chig Okonkwo, Titans @ Jaguars
23    MyCole Pruitt, Falcons vs. Buccaneers
24    Trey McBride, Cardinals @ 49ers
25    Albert Okwuegbunam, Broncos vs. Chargers
26    Logan Thomas, Commanders vs. Cowboys
27    Jordan Akins, Texans @ Colts
28    Austin Hooper, Titans @ Jaguars
29    Jeff Driskel, Texans @ Colts
30    Jelani Woods, Colts vs. Texans
31    Hunter Henry, Patriots @ Bills
32    Mike Gesicki, Dolphins vs. Jets
33    Brock Wright, Lions @ Packers
34    Ian Thomas, Panthers @ Saints
35    Daniel Bellinger, Giants @ EaglesRank    Player
1    Travis Kelce, Chiefs @ Raiders
2    George Kittle, 49ers vs. Cardinals
3    Evan Engram, Jaguars vs. Titans
4    Tyler Higbee, Rams @ Seahawks
5    Darren Waller, Raiders vs. Chiefs
6    Dawson Knox, Bills vs. Patriots
7    Mark Andrews, Ravens @ Bengals
8    T.J. Hockenson, Vikings @ Bears
9    Dallas Goedert, Eagles vs. Giants
10    Tyler Conklin, Jets @ Dolphins
11    Gerald Everett, Chargers @ Broncos
12    Cade Otton, Buccaneers @ Falcons
13    Cole Kmet, Bears vs. Vikings
14    Pat Freiermuth, Steelers vs. Browns
15    Taysom Hill, Saints vs. Panthers
16    Dalton Schultz, Cowboys @ Commanders
17    Juwan Johnson, Saints vs. Panthers
18    Robert Tonyan, Packers vs. Lions
19    Noah Fant, Seahawks vs. Rams
20    Hayden Hurst, Bengals vs. Ravens
21    David Njoku, Browns @ Steelers
22    Chig Okonkwo, Titans @ Jaguars
23    MyCole Pruitt, Falcons vs. Buccaneers
24    Trey McBride, Cardinals @ 49ers
25    Albert Okwuegbunam, Broncos vs. Chargers
26    Logan Thomas, Commanders vs. Cowboys
27    Jordan Akins, Texans @ Colts
28    Austin Hooper, Titans @ Jaguars
29    Jeff Driskel, Texans @ Colts
30    Jelani Woods, Colts vs. Texans
31    Hunter Henry, Patriots @ Bills
32    Mike Gesicki, Dolphins vs. Jets
33    Brock Wright, Lions @ Packers
34    Ian Thomas, Panthers @ Saints
35    Daniel Bellinger, Giants @ Eagles

Week 18 fantasy TE PPR rankings

Rankings based on full-point PPR scoring

Rank    Player
1    Travis Kelce, Chiefs @ Raiders
2    George Kittle, 49ers vs. Cardinals
3    Evan Engram, Jaguars vs. Titans
4    Tyler Higbee, Rams @ Seahawks
5    Darren Waller, Raiders vs. Chiefs
6    Dawson Knox, Bills vs. Patriots
7    Mark Andrews, Ravens @ Bengals
8    T.J. Hockenson, Vikings @ Bears
9    Dallas Goedert, Eagles vs. Giants
10    Tyler Conklin, Jets @ Dolphins
11    Gerald Everett, Chargers @ Broncos
12    Pat Freiermuth, Steelers vs. Browns
13    Cade Otton, Buccaneers @ Falcons
14    Cole Kmet, Bears vs. Vikings
15    Dalton Schultz, Cowboys @ Commanders
16    Taysom Hill, Saints vs. Panthers
17    Juwan Johnson, Saints vs. Panthers
18    Hayden Hurst, Bengals vs. Ravens
19    David Njoku, Browns @ Steelers
20    Robert Tonyan, Packers vs. Lions
21    Noah Fant, Seahawks vs. Rams
22    Chig Okonkwo, Titans @ Jaguars
23    MyCole Pruitt, Falcons vs. Buccaneers
24    Logan Thomas, Commanders vs. Cowboys
25    Trey McBride, Cardinals @ 49ers
26    Albert Okwuegbunam, Broncos vs. Chargers
27    Jordan Akins, Texans @ Colts
28    Austin Hooper, Titans @ Jaguars
29    Jelani Woods, Colts vs. Texans
30    Hunter Henry, Patriots @ Bills
31    Jeff Driskel, Texans @ Colts
32    Mike Gesicki, Dolphins vs. Jets
33    Brock Wright, Lions @ Packers
34    Ian Thomas, Panthers @ Saints
35    Daniel Bellinger, Giants @ Eagles

Matt Lutovsky

Matt Lutovsky Photo

Matt Lutovsky has been a writer and editor for The Sporting News since 2007, primarily writing about fantasy sports, betting, and gaming.