Week 7 Fantasy TE Rankings: Travis Kelce falls, Hunter Henry rises

Matt Lutovsky

Week 7 Fantasy TE Rankings: Travis Kelce falls, Hunter Henry rises image

With Travis Kelce disappointing, by his standards and Arizona continuing its historic run of bad defense against tight ends, Evan Engram has moved into the top spot in our Week 7 fantasy TE rankings. Engram will have to prove he's ready to return from a knee injury that kept him out last week, but as long as he's active, he should be a monster against the Cardinals. Unfortunately, the "intrigue" at the top is about the only interesting thing in our rankings, as finding matchup-based TE sleepers is extra tough this week.

It's a shame, too, because fantasy owners need some sleepers with Will Dissly (Achilles') out for the year and Greg Olsen, O.J. Howard, and Vance McDonald on bye. The latter three haven't even been all that good/consistent this year, but at a position as thin as TE -- where even old reliables such as Delanie Walker are just old and no longer reliable -- losing anyone even semi-competent matters.

WEEK 7 NON-PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | D/ST | Kicker

This week, Noah Fant (vs. Chiefs), Darren Fells (@ Colts), and Dawson Knox (vs. Dolphins) are the top matchup-based sleepers. All have low floors and only moderate ceilings, with Fells being the most interesting after back-to-back solid weeks. He also has the best matchup on paper, but Jordan Akins could just as easily steal Houston's TE production, so don't be surprised if Fells disappoints.

WEEK 7 PPR RANKINGS: Running backWide receiver | Tight end

Still, you have to start someone if you don't have one of the top eight, and if that's the case, you're inevitably taking a risk. Gerald Everett (@ Falcons) seems more likely to boom than bust against Atlanta's horrible pass defense, so that's something. Jason Witten (vs. Eagles) remains a decent TD-or-bust candidate, and T.J. Hockenson (vs. Vikings) has shown he can have big games, so you could do worse than those two.

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Ultimately, this week is even tougher than most because of the top-15 teams in terms of fantasy points per game allowed to TEs, three are on bye (Bucs, Browns, Steelers) and seven are facing TEs who are every-week starts anyway (Cardinals, Seahawks, Titans, Falcons, Rams, Cowboys, Redskins). That leaves five "sleeper" matchups (Colts, Raiders, Chiefs, Dolphins, Bears). This week, Fells, Jimmy Graham, Fant, Knox, and Jared Cook get those matchups. Graham and Cook are over 70 percent owned in Yahoo leagues, which basically means they're every-week plays for most, too. (Update: Cook has been ruled out for Week 7.)

WEEK 7 DFS LINEUPS:
Y! cash | Y! GPP | DK cash | DK GPPFD cash | FD GPP

All you can really do is hope for a TD if you're digging this deep. Or, better yet, just hope your opponent's TD doesn't get one. That might be easier.

Note: These rankings will be updated throughout the week, so check back for the latest.

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Week 7 Fantasy TE Rankings

These rankings are for standard, non-PPR leagues.

Rank Player
1 Evan Engram, NYG vs. ARZ. Arizona has allowed 599 yards and seven TDs to tight ends this year, only keeping tight ends out of the end zone once (Cincinnati). As long as Engram is back from his knee issue, he should have a monster game.
2 Travis Kelce, KC @ DEN. Kelce hasn't scored since Week 2, but prior to last week he had at least 70 yards in every game. Few TEs can match his floor or ceiling, and even in an unfavorable matchup like this, Kelce can produce. 
3 Austin Hooper, ATL vs. LAR
4 George Kittle, SF @ WAS
5 Darren Waller, OAK @ GB
6 Mark Andrews, BAL @ SEA.
7 Zach Ertz, PHI @ DAL.  Ertz hasn't had fewer than four catches for 54 yards, which gives him a high floor for a TE, but he's only scored once and is yet to top 72 yards. Despite the relatively disappointing start, he's in a decent spot, as the Cowboys have had a few struggles against tight ends, including last week.
8 Hunter Henry, LAC @ TEN. Henry burst back onto the scene with eight catches for 100 yards and two TDs in Week 6. A decent chunk of that was in garbage time, so don't assume this will bet he norm, but Henry certainly has as much upside as most TEs. Tennessee allows the seventh-most FPPG to the position, so he's in position to have another good game.
9 Gerald Everett, LAR @ ATL. Everett has basically had two games and four bad ones this year, so by no means is he a high-percentage play. Atlanta has basically had one bad game against TEs, so it's also unclear just how favorable of a matchup this is. We know that Atlanta has one of the worst pass defenses in the league, and considering Everett is really used as a glorified receiver, we ultimately think he has major upside here. 
10 Jimmy Graham, GB vs. OAK. Oakland is tied for the fifth-most FPPG to TEs this year while Graham has been almost the definition of a boom-or-bust TE, scoring twice and posting two shutouts.
11 Delanie Walker, TEN vs. LAC. Walker had seemingly fallen out of favor in the Tennessee offense the past two weeks, but he regained a little footing with a 3-43 day on six targets. It helped that Tennessee was trailing all game, but it was still a good sign for Walker. The Chargers have basically had one bad game against TEs, allowing three to Houston back in Week 3, so this isn't a great matchup, but it's good enough for someone as established as Walker to take advantage of. 
12 Darren Fells, HOU @ IND. Fells has produced 6.9 standard fantasy points in three of the past four games. With an uptick in snaps and targets, he's an interesting sleeper against a Colts defense allowing the third-most FPPG to TEs.
13 Noah Fant, DEN vs. KC. Fant is almost a pure matchup play, as he hasn't had more than 37 yards in a game this year. Kansas City has allowed the third-most TE receiving yards this year, so if Fant was ever going to break out, it would be this week.
14 T.J. Hockenson, DET vs. MIN. Hockenson caught four-of-six targets for 21 yards in Week 6, and he was just barely unable to come down with a perfectly thrown fade pass in the end zone. The Lions gave him another chance around the goal line, throwing him a screen pass that he narrowly missed scoring on. Hockenson has obvious upside, and we've seen him put up big numbers once already this year.
15 Dawson Knox, BUF vs. MIA. Knox was solid in Weeks 3 and 4 (125 yards, TD), then saw a season-high five targets his last time out. The Dolphins haven't been terrible against TEs (eight FPPG), but given how bad the defense is in general, you have to give a bump in value to all players against it. 
16 Jason Witten, DAL vs. PHI. Witten is tied with George Kittle for the second-most red-zone targets among all TEs (9). Philadelphia hasn't alowed much to TEs, but Witten is always a good TD candidate.
17 Josh Hill, NO @ CHI.
18 Eric Ebron, IND vs. HOU. Doyle generally plays more snaps and has more value in PPR leagues, but Ebron remains more likely to score. 
19 Jack Doyle, IND vs. HOU
20 Luke Willson, SEA vs. BAL
21 Trey Burton, CHI vs. NO
22 Tyler Eifert, CIN vs. JAX
23 Jordan Akins, HOU @ IND
24 Tyler Higbee, LAR @ ATL
25 Jeremy Sprinkle, WAS vs. SF
26 Ryan Griffin, NYJ vs. NE
27 Benjamin Watson, NE @ NYJ
28 Irv Smith Jr., MIN @ DET
29 Kyle Rudolph, MIN @ DET
30 Mike Gesicki, MIA @ BUF

Matt Lutovsky

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