Week 8 Fantasy TE Rankings: Travis Kelce, Zach Ertz both moving down

Billy Heyen

Week 8 Fantasy TE Rankings: Travis Kelce, Zach Ertz both moving down image

If you've read one introduction to our tight end rankings this season, you've read them all. So, before we get into the Week 8 fantasy TE rankings, let's focus on one player: Zach Ertz. He was drafted as either the No. 2 or 3 TE in almost all drafts, oscillating with George Kittle behind Travis Kelce. In the preseason, we explored the likelihood of Ertz repeating his remarkable 116-reception 2018. It seemed like he'd regress a bit, but he's been further off the pace than we'd expect as we near the fantasy season's halfway mark.

Ertz is on pace for 80 catches across 16 games this season, which is nothing to sneeze at. But for fantasy owners who used a third-round pick on him, it's disappointing. Ertz's highest single-game yardage this year is 72. He's only caught one touchdown, less than his backup, Dallas Goedert. Aside from a 16-target game in Week 2 when the Eagles' receivers were dropping like flies, Ertz has averaged 7.2 targets per game. If he's going to get to 100 catches this season on that level of targets, he basically has to catch every one.

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It's not a playing time issue. Ertz is on the field nearly every play, even when the Eagles were down 27 on their final drive of Sunday Night Football in Week 7. Goedert has taken some more production that a year ago, which doesn't help. The Eagles have relied on multiple running backs, which isn't unusual. It really just seems like the Ertz regression hit harder than we might've expected. He's still an every-week start, as tight end isn't strong enough to think anything else. You'll just have to recalibrate your brain to what a good Ertz game looks like in 2019.

Moving beyond Ertz, the tight end rankings are pretty static this week. We see the slight fall for Travis Kelce with Matt Moore as his QB. Darren Waller finally broke his TD drought and is looking every bit like a star. Austin Hooper continues to look great, and he caught a touchdown from Matt Schaub when Matt Ryan exited Sunday, but if Ryan misses Week 8, that's a slight hit.

WEEK 8 PPR RANKINGS: Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end

Mark Andrews and Jason Witten are the TEs on bye this week. If you need a fill-in, Vance McDonald is probably the best option as he faces the Dolphins. You also might be able to snag Jared Cook ahead of a game with the TE-friendly Cardinals, although you'll have to watch Cook's injury status after he missed Week 7.

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

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Week 8 Fantasy TE Rankings

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These rankings are for standard, non-PPR leagues.

Rank Player
1 Austin Hooper, ATL vs. SEA. If Matt Ryan is forced to miss Week 8, Hooper might slide down a few spots. He's still an automatic start against a Seattle defense allowing the third-most fantasy points to TEs.
2 Darren Waller, OAK @ HOU
3 Travis Kelce, KC vs. GB. You can't sit a TE as talented as Kelce in what could be a Sunday Night Football shootout, even with Matt Moore as his quarterback.
4 George Kittle, SF vs. CAR
5 Evan Engram, NYG @ DET
6 Hunter Henry, LAC @ CHI. The Bears defense looks mortal. Henry has looked great in his two weeks back despite the struggles of the Chargers as a whole. He's back in the every-week start category.
7 Zach Ertz, PHI @ BUF
8 Vance McDonald, PIT vs. MIA. Coming off a bye, McDonald entered the lead-in to Week 8 only about half owned in Yahoo leagues. That should skyrocket ahead of a matchup with the winless Dolphins, especially since it looks like Mason Rudolph is healthy and good to go.
9 Gerald Everett, LAR vs. CIN (in UK)
10 Cameron Brate, TB @ TEN. The Titans have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to tight ends, as that's sort of their whole plan on defense -- funnel everything to the middle. With O.J. Howard (hamstring) out, Brate is in positiion to have a big game.
11 Jonnu Smith, TEN vs. TB. Delanie Walker (ankle) is out, so the athletic Smith will have a nice matchup against a Bucs defense allowing the second-most FPPG to TEs.
12 Josh Hill, NO vs. ARZ. Jared Cook (ankle) is out, Drew Brees (thumb) is expected to be back, Hill caught a TD last week, and Arizona is having a historically bad season against TEs. What's not to like here?
13 Greg Olsen, CAR @ SF. San Francisco's defense has been a terror of late, so Olsen's upside is capped, but you've still probably got to start him unless you want to stream McDonald or Cook. 
14 Darren Fells, HOU vs. OAK
15 Jimmy Graham, GB @ KC. Kansas City has allowed the fifth-most receiving yards to tight ends this season, although only one touchdown to go with that. Graham doesn't have huge upside at this point in his career, but he should find a way to 50 yards in this one.
16 T.J. Hockenson, DET vs. NYG
17 Eric Ebron, IND vs. DEN. Just when we were ready to be all-out on Ebron, he caught a season-high four passes for a season-high 70 yards and a touchdown. He still doesn't see the field enough to matter all the time, but he showed he can still produce when given the chance.
18 Irv Smith Jr., MIN vs. WAS. The rookie had a career day in Week 7, catching five passes for 60 yards. The Vikings get a favorable Thursday night matchup against Washington, but it's tough to rely on Smith yet with Kyle Rudolph still playing such a large share of snaps.
19 Tyler Eifert, CIN vs. LAR (in UK)
20 Dawson Knox, BUF vs. PHI. In a favorable matchup with the Dolphins in Week 7, Knox let us down. He's going to get four or five targets each week, enough to give him a usable floor. But with how Buffalo's offense is currently constructed, it doesn't seem his ceiling is that high.
21 Noah Fant, DEN @ IND
22 Dallas Goedert, PHI @ BUF
23 Luke Willson, SEA @ ATL
24 Benjamin Watson, NE vs. CLE. Watson might be back to make this job his own, especially with Matt LaCosse and Ryan Izzo dealing with injuries. 
25 Jack Doyle, IND vs. DEN
26 Mike Gesicki, MIA @ PIT
27 Kyle Rudolph, MIN vs. WAS
28 Jeremy Sprinkle, WAS @ MIN
29 Ricky Seals-Jones, CLE @ NE. This is a bad matchup, but Seals-Jones put together an encouraging game before Cleveland's bye - and that included finally leading Browns' TEs in snaps. If you're desparate, he might catch a few balls this week and could be reliable moving forward.
30 Trey Burton, CHI vs. LAC

Billy Heyen