Fantasy Football Week 5 Tight End Projections and Rankings: George Kittle Cruises, Mark Andrews Flounders
For the first time this season, Week 4 saw a new TE1 in fantasy football. It wasn't Trey McBride, but rather TJ Hockenson, with 13 receptions for 119 yards. Sam LaPorta, Brock Bowers, and George Kittle followed. As we take a peek into the following Week 5 tight end projections, McBride isn't king this week.
Top-12 Tight Ends
Kittle is TE1, but only in standard scoring formats. Among tight ends with at least 12 targets, Kittle ranks third in yards per reception (15.3). McBride ranks 28th out of 30 tight ends (7.3). Thus, McBride leads in receptions, but Kittle outpaces him in explosion.
Despite two down weeks, Dalton Kincaid is a must-start. He is far the best in yards per reception (18.8) and has a great catch rate of 79%. With DJ Moore out, Kincaid's volume ranges around 30% of the Bills' passing offense, but is not limited to it.
Hockenson caught 13 passes for a 100% catch rate in Week 4. As long as Justin Jefferson is out, Hockenson is the No. 1 pass-catcher. Kyler Murray may look at him the same way he looked at Trey McBride in Arizona.
High Upside Plays
Kenyon Sadiq was targeted on 3 of Geno Smith's 14 passes in Week 4. That cannot be expected in Week 5. Instead, Smith should be attempting more than twice that output. Even in a small sample, Sadiq had 3 targets; technically, a 21% target share. He ran nearly 90% of possible routes and is about fully ramped up after a preseason injury.
Colston Loveland had a season-best 9 targets on a 30% target share in Week 4. His target share is up to 14% for the season so far and is expected to normalize toward 20% in October. The Packers offer a mediocre Week 5 matchup.
Fade These Tight Ends
Now that Nico Collins has returned to the Texans lineup, Dalton Schultz's high usage is mostly diminished. He went from a >30% target share to 11% in Week 4 on 3 targets out of the Texans' 26 total.
The Ravens may run the football more than they pass it. No pass-catcher outside of Zay Flowers should be considered. That includes Mark Andrews, who is merely TE16 in fantasy football with Lamar Jackson.
Sleeper of the Week
The team is allowing more yards per game to tight ends than the Cincinnati Bengals (102.2). They are rated 9th-worst in fantasy points allowed to tight ends, and that is entirely because they allowed 0 touchdowns. Four games is a small sample size for touchdowns.
Greg Dulcich should get plenty of volume in this matchup. He is the second-most-targeted receiver on the Dolphins.
Week 5 Projected Leaders
- Targets: Trey McBride (11.3)
- Receptions: Trey McBride (8.4)
- Yards: Trey McBride (78.4)
- Touchdowns: Dalton Kincaid (0.81)
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.