Tight end non-PPR rankings for Week 6 fantasy football

Final injury report

Out: Mo Alie-Cox (knee)
Doubtful:
Questionable: Noah Fant (ankle), Tyler Eifert (neck), Jordan Akins (ankle, concussion)

Friday AM update

Mo Alie-Cox and Tyler Eifert both remained DNPs on Thursday. They’ll likely need to get in some kind of practice on Friday to have a shot at playing on Sunday. There were two notable changes to the injury report on Thursday. Eric Ebron was upgraded from DNP to full and Jonnu Smith was upgraded from DNP to limited.

Friday morning saw the Indianapolis Colts close their facility due to multiple positive Covid-19 tests. They are working to confirm those positives and figure out next steps. We’ll keep an eye out for more information on the game status and potential impact on Mo Alie-Cox, Jack Doyle, and Drew Sample this weekend.

Wednesday injury report

NFL teams returned to practice on Wednesday to begin on-field preparations for Week 6. The biggest news is the addition of Mo Alie-Cox with a knee injury. He’s been hit or miss but has shown some impressive upside and prior to his injury was developing into an intriguing bye week consideration for deeper leagues.

DNP: Mo Alie-Cox (knee), Eric Ebron (hand), Tyler Eifert (neck), TE Jonnu Smith (quadricep)
Limited: Hayden Hurst (back), Richard Rodgers (neck), Noah Fant (ankle), Rob Gronkowski (shoulder)
Full: N/A

We’ve spent another week on the tight end carousel. What did we learn in Week 5? Tom Brady targeted the tight end position at a rate of 36.5% against the Bears on TNF, dispersing targets pretty evenly among Rob Gronkowski, Cameron Brate, and... second-year TE Tanner Hudson? We can’t count on any of these options for anything more than touchdown upside in season-long leagues.

We also learned that George Kittle is human. He wasn’t able to connect for much with either of his quarterbacks Sunday, while the offense struggled as a whole. It remains to be seen whether or not Garoppolo’s Sunday flop was injury related, but we should plan for a Week 6 bounce back for Kittle regardless of who is under center.

Injury news

Jaguars TE Tyler Eifert left Week 4 early with a concussion, and though he was cleared fo return this week, he left early again after suffering a stinger. Teammate James O’Shaugnessy has an opportunity for an increased workload in the coming week considering Eifert’s 13 targets over the last two weeks, providing upside in DFS formats.

Several other tight ends returned to the lineups this weekend, including Browns TE David Njoku who posted just six total yards on the day. Teammate Austin Hooper saw 10 targets in the Browns Week 5 contest with the Colts.

We continue to await news regarding Broncos TE Noah Fant, who will possibly look to return from an ankle injury suffered in Week 4.

Bye weeks

Week 6 byes will heavily impact the tight end depth available for fantasy managers, with several top-end options knocked out of lineups.

Chargers TE Hunter Henry has ranked as the TE12 through the first five weeks of the NFL season, but will look to take a jump in standard rankings if he can continue producing touchdowns with gunslinging rookie, Justin Herbert. He ranks third among tight ends in targets and should be a target for your teams if you can wait him out during the bye.

Saints TE Jared Cook returned in Week 5 after a groin injury held him out of the team’s prior contest. He finished with a decent day for fantasy managers, courtesy of a 41-yard receiving touchdown bomb from Drew Brees. His usage has been disappointing consider the target opportunities available in the absence of WR Michael Thomas.

Streaming options

Dallas TE Dalton Schultz

Schultz emerged as the team’s lead TE after teammate Blake Jarwin went down with injury, and sufficient to say, he’s done a masterful job with the role. He’s ranks sixth in receptions, yards, and receiving routes run among tight ends, and is the TE8 in standard formats since starting in Week 2. Don’t let the injury of Dak Prescott wear you down. We have seen TE Tyler Eifert be a red zone threat when healthy, and Dalton targeted the TE in the red zone at a rate of nearly 30% in 2019.

Colts TE Trey Burton

It’s a possibility that Mo Alie-Cox might not actually be a “thing,” much to our dismay. In the last three weeks, Alie-Cox has totaled just 23 total routes run per Pro Football Focus, ranking 51st among tight ends. Teammate Trey Burton, on the other end, has been a bit more active (though less productive). As Burton continues to get healthy and adapt to his new offensive scheme, it’s possible we see an uptick in usage to produce a viable fantasy option. After all, we know Philip Rivers loves targeting the TE position, and the Bengals have allowed 50+ receiving yard games to tight ends in three of five weeks so far on the season.