National Tight Ends’ Day was another success! We had 14 tight end touchdowns and that was with six teams on bye. The godfather of NTED, George Kittle, got his touchdown, while Tucker Kraft went off on the Steelers on Sunday Night Football for a 7/143/2 line to eclipse the field. We’re still lacking consistency from the bulk of the good fantasy tight ends, but their upside remains strong.
Week 9 byes
Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets
Tight ends on bye
Harold Fannin, David Njoku, Cade Otton, Dallas Goedert, Mason Taylor
TE streamer of the week
Theo Johnson, Giants vs. 49ers
Johnson has been a useful streamer at times this season due to his work in the red zone. He has four touchdowns in their last five games, but his targets haven’t been high enough for consistent receptions and yardage. That could change this week, as his running mate Daniel Bellinger suffered a neck injury. If Bellinger is out, Johnson should see an uptick in routes and targets.
TE injuries
Brock Bowers, Raiders
Bowers’ knee injury finally got the better of him and he had to sit out the last four games. At this point I’d expect the team to make sure he is at least close to 100% before bringing him back, as Bowers has not looked like his old self since he suffered the injury. Hopefully he’ll be back to his old self this week after the bye.
Cole Kmet, Bears
Kmet is dealing with a back injury that kept him out in Week 8. He is considered “week-to-week,” which means we may not see him this week either. First round rookie Colston Loveland will get the lead role while Kmet is out. He did see an uptick in work in their loss to the Ravens last week, so maybe he can get things going moving forward.
Daniel Bellinger, Giants
Bellinger suffered a neck injury and couldn’t return to the game. His status is still murky, so keep an eye on the news this week, especially if you’d like to use Theo Johnson as a tight end streamer.
Week 9 odds
Highest point totals
Cardinals at Cowboys (53.5)
Chiefs at Bills (52.5)
Bears at Bengals (51.5)
Colts at Steelers (50.5)
Lowest point totals
Broncos at Texans (39.5)
Chargers at Titans (43.5)
Highest implied individual team totals
Rams (29)
Packers (28.5)
Ravens (28.5)
Cowboys (28.3)
Lions (28)
Lowest implied individual team totals
Saints (15.5)
Panthers (16)
Titans (16.5)
Largest point spreads
Saints at Rams (-13.5)
Panthers at Packers (-12.5)
Chargers (-10.5) at Titans
Vikings at Lions (-8.5)
