The second week of the NFL season is always tough for fantasy football owners. We finally have some stats and data to go on for our start 'em, sit 'em decisions, but one week is hardly a big enough sample size. That's especially true at tight end, where a random touchdown or fluky high-target game can really swing our opinions of a player. We don't want to overreact too much, but it's inevitable that our Week 2 fantasy TE rankings are going to be affected more than they should be by what happened last week.
Fortunately, TE has a pretty set hierarchy at the top. Travis Kelce (vs. Chargers), Mark Andrews (vs. Dolphins), George Kittle (vs. Seahawks), Kyle Pitts (@ Rams), and Darren Waller (vs. Cardinals) are untouchable when healthy. After that, though, things get tougher, especially with Kittle (groin) getting a dinged up last week in practice and likely being "questionable" for this week.
WEEK 2 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/ST | Kicker
Most of the drafted starters, like T.J. Hockenson (vs. Commanders), Zach Ertz (@ Raiders), and Dallas Goedert (vs. Vikings), are still worthwhile plays this week, no matter how they performed in Week 1. Remember, it's not just a players' opening-week performance that could be fluky -- defenses can also deceive us. Again, we're inevitably going to overreact if a defense gave up a lot of yards or a touchdown to a TE, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're a bad TE defense, especially if they played a stud tight end. That's why our TE rankings aren't too adventurous yet. We're a bit worried about Dalton Schultz (vs. Bengals), who lost Dak Prescott (thumb) for the foreseeable future. He should still see a lot of targets, but his ceiling is now capped.
WEEK 2 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | D/ST | Kicker
Obviously, a few tight ends stood out for good reasons. We liked what we saw from Gerald Everett (@ Chiefs), Logan Thomas (@ Lions), and Tyler Higbee (vs. Falcons) even though the latter two didn't have monster numbers. Only Higbee is in our standard top 12, but all three can be used this week in what look like decent matchups.
WEEK 2 FANTASY PICKS: Sleepers | Busts | Start 'em, sit 'em
Hunter Henry (@ Steelers), Irv Smith Jr. (@ Eagles), Cole Kmet (@ Packers), and Mike Gesicki (@ Ravens) really struggled, but we're not ready to write any off completely. We're also not recommending playing any this week, mind you, but we wouldn't be surprised if Henry and Gesicki had nice bounce backs.
WEEK 2 DFS: Best values | Best stacks
We are a bit leery of O.J. Howard (@ Broncos) and Tyler Conklin (@ Browns) this week despite solid Week 1's. Conklin has a better matchup, but he also put up his touchdown in garbage time. Howard only had two targets, so his two TDs seem kind of fluky.
WEEK 2 DFS LINEUPS: FanDuel | DraftKings | Yahoo
Overall, there's no reason to make drastic changes to your TE game plan. As long as your starter is healthy, he's probably worth using again this week. If you were one of the last owners to select a TE in your draft and have two similar guys on your roster, then you can try to play the matchup or base your start 'em, sit 'em decision on what happened in Week 1, but this early in the season, you'll often wind up just chasing stats and being a week too late on your decision.
We'll be updating these standard TE rankings as needed throughout the week, so check back for the latest changes and analysis.
Week 2 fantasy TE rankings for standard leagues
Rankings based on standard, non-PPR scoring
| Rank | Player |
| 1 | Travis Kelce, Chiefs vs. Chargers |
| 2 | Mark Andrews, Ravens vs. Dolphins |
| 3 | Kyle Pitts, Falcons @ Rams |
| 4 | Darren Waller, Raiders vs. Cardinals |
| 5 | George Kittle, 49ers vs. Seahawks |
| 6 | Zach Ertz, Cardinals @ Raiders |
| 7 | T.J. Hockenson, Lions vs. Commanders |
| 8 | Dallas Goedert, Eagles vs. Vikings |
| 9 | Pat Freiermuth, Steelers vs. Patriots |
| 10 | Dalton Schultz, Cowboys vs. Bengals |
| 11 | Dawson Knox, Bills vs. Titans |
| 12 | Tyler Higbee, Rams vs. Falcons |
| 13 | Hunter Henry, Patriots @ Steelers |
| 14 | Logan Thomas, Commanders @ Lions |
| 15 | Robert Tonyan, Packers vs. Bears |
| 16 | Albert Okwuegbunam, Broncos vs. Texans |
| 17 | Irv Smith Jr., Vikings @ Eagles |
| 18 | Mike Gesicki, Dolphins @ Ravens |
| 19 | Gerald Everett, Chargers @ Chiefs |
| 20 | Cole Kmet, Bears @ Packers |
| 21 | Evan Engram, Jaguars vs. Colts |
| 22 | David Njoku, Browns vs. Jets |
| 23 | Noah Fant, Seahawks @ 49ers |
| 24 | Cameron Brate, Buccaneers @ Saints |
| 25 | Tyler Conklin, Jets @ Browns |
| 26 | O.J. Howard, Texans @ Broncos |
| 27 | Hayden Hurst, Bengals @ Cowboys |
| 28 | Kylen Granson, Colts @ Jaguars |
| 29 | Austin Hooper, Titans @ Bills |
| 30 | Jonnu Smith, Patriots @ Steelers |
Week 2 TE fantasy projections, rankings from Draft Sharks
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