Top 30 tight end rankings for Week 11 fantasy football

UPDATE

George Kittle won’t play this week, so Travis Kelce has the No. 1 spot secured. Ross Dwelley has some value in Kittle’s spot in a great matchup, but he’s risky due to his ability.

Jared Cook gets a bump in a great matchup in Tampa Bay this week. There aren’t many upside plays at tight end, so Cook looks even better.

Noah Fant is my favorite extreme risk/reward tight end of the weekend.

We’re at Week 11, and the tight end roller coaster has made me ill. Kyle Rudolph with two, one-yard touchdown receptions? Anthony Firkser besting Jonnu Smith? Austin Hooper hurt? Ben Braunecker? And Week 10 was somewhat chalky for tight ends. That tight end renaissance we thought was happening. It wasn’t.

But we still have studs to play and a lot of goose eggs to be laid. It’s time to pick your poison, in what I like to call, the tight end wheel of un-fortune!

Bye Weeks

Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans

TEs on bye: Jimmy Graham, Evan Engram, Jacob Hollister, Jonnu Smith

Injury/Status Report

Austin Hooper: Hooper has a sprained MCL and is considered week-to-week. You’ll need a replacement tight end.

George Kittle: Kittle missed MNF with a knee injury. He wasn’t entirely ruled out until the day of the game, so there’s a chance he returns this week.

Chris Herndon: Herndon injured his ribs in his first game back and will be out “an extended amount of time.” Ryan Griffin will continue to lead the way at tight end for the Jets.

TE Ranking Tiers

Tier 1

Travis Kelce appears to be in full force after a big game against the Titans, where he scored one touchdown and had another called back. He’s back to his No. 1 tight end ways. George Kittle is right up there with him and probably would be my No. 1 against the Cardinals sad tight end defense, but I’ll go with the healthier Kelce.

Tier 2

Mark Andrews reasserted himself against a weak Bengals defense and should be able to keep things up in what should be a shootout against the Texans.

Jared Cook finally showed some rapport with Drew Brees, which is excellent, especially now that he faces Tampa Bay’s awful tight end defense. I could see playing him over Zach Ertz. Greg Olsen returned from dad-running school to put a strong game on the Packers and gets another good matchup at home against the Falcons this week.

TE Streamers

Can O.J. Howard build off last week? Hard to be too excited after his awful start to the season, but he did have his highest number of snaps and targets last week, and if that continues, he will stumble into fantasy points.

Jack Doyle needs touchdowns to be worthwhile in fantasy, but he’s scored in his last two games, and while T.Y. Hilton is gone, he should continue to see touchdown opportunities.

Noah Fant is very much a boom or bust option, but with his targets going up of late, I feel better about giving him a shot.