Last week, Taysom Hill broke the slate from the tight end position, posting a week-high 46.52 fantasy points with a salary of just $4,500. After that massive performance, Hill’s on a bye this week, along with the Falcons, Bills, Bengals, Jets and Jaguars. With so many teams getting the week off, the starting options at the position are a little thin. Don’t worry! There are some sleepers ready to step up and give your fantasy team a boost. Whether you’re looking for a fill-in on your season-long roster or just a cheap DFS tight end, check out my five fantasy football sleeper tight ends for Week 12.
Last week, my five sleepers were Davis Allen (0.0 FPTS), Will Dissly (18.0 FPTS), Dawson Knox (8.0 FPTS), AJ Barner (3.5 FPTS) and Brock Wright (7.5 FPTS). Dissly went off on Sunday Night Football but Allen was a big miss not getting any targets vs. the Patriots.
This week, I ranked my top-10 plays at the position on Monday, but some other values have emerged as news broke throughout the week. Coming into the 12 games on Sunday and Monday, here are my top five fantasy football sleepers at the position:
Luke Schoonmaker, Dallas Cowboys
Normally, I save my deep sleeper at the minimum salary for my last pick, but for a second straight week, there’s a huge value play staring us in the face. Last week, Davis Allen torched my picks by putting up nothing from his $2,500 salary, but that doesn’t mean the strategy was off, just the player. This week, an even better option at the minimum salary opens up with Schoonmaker expected to start for the Cowboys.
Like Allen did last week, Schoonmaker makes a ton of sense in DFS contests like the NFL $2.5M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st] since he allows you to have more salary to spend in other spots than any other player on the slate. Even if you go another way in your TE spot, using him at the FLEX spot is basically a cheat code that unlocks more salary to stack stars in other spots. Now, as we were reminded last week, that works best when the player actually produces something, and I think with Schoonmaker, we’ll have that happen on Sunday.
Schoonmaker only has 14 catches for 112 yards in 10 games this season, but he’ll be moving into the starting lineup vs. the Commanders since Jake Ferguson (concussion) is out. Ferguson’s injury happened on Monday Night Football after salaries for Sunday’s DFS contests were already released.
After Ferguson left, Schoonmaker caught 6-of-10 targets from Cooper Rush ($5,000) and finished with 11.6 fantasy points. He finished second on the team in targets behind only CeeDee Lamb ($7,300) and should be busy once again this week against Washington.
Tight ends have at least four catches in six of the last seven games against the Commanders and have scored five touchdowns during that span.
Schoonmaker is a great buy for DFS at the minimum salary and owned in only 10% of season-long leagues. He’s a solid scoop-and-start off waiver wires and can be a straight-up replacement for Ferguson for as long as the Cowboys’ tight end is injured.
Ja’Tavion Sanders, Carolina Panthers
The Panthers’ offense hasn’t exactly been a mine of fantasy wealth this season, but the rookie tight end has been a solid contributor over the last few weeks and gets a great matchup vs. the Chiefs in Week 12. Since Carolina is coming off its bye week, Sanders is only owned in 5% of season-long leagues, and he has an affordable salary under $3,500 on Sunday’s main DFS slate.
Sanders scored his first NFL touchdown in Week 10 against the Giants in Germany. He only had two catches for eight yards, though, so his fantasy production actually dipped after he posted 12.7 fantasy points in Week 9 and 12.1 fantasy points in Week 7.
Sanders had at least three catches in four of his last six games and averaged 4.3 targets per game during that time. He had over 45 yards in three of those games and tacked that touchdown on just before the bye for good measure.
Sanders has played at least 73% of snaps in five of those six weeks and played 88% of snaps before the bye week with veteran Ian Thomas ($2,500) playing just 22%.
The Chiefs have been the third-best fantasy matchup for tight ends this season. Opposing tight ends have an average of 74.3 receiving yards per game and three touchdowns against Kansas City on the season.
Theo Johnson, New York Giants
Johnson has been another rookie on the rise who is coming off his bye week. However, he’s also dealing with a new QB since Tommy DeVito ($4,000) is taking over for the soon-to-be free agent Daniel Jones.
While working with Jones, Johnson had at least 30 yards and at least three catches in five of his last six games and scored his first NFL touchdown in Week 9 against Washington.
Johnson’s role this week is less certain than Sanders’, but his salary is also lower at $2,900. The Bucs are also a great matchup for tight ends, who have scored five touchdowns in their last five games while averaging 85.5 receiving yards per game during that stretch.
Noah Gray, Kansas City Chiefs
It’s important not to just chase points from a reserve who has one big game, but I don’t think that’s the case with Gray, who has become a real contributor for the Chiefs as their second tight end this season.
Last week, Gray broke through for two touchdowns and 18.3 fantasy points against the Bills. While he hadn’t been involved to that level, the big performance didn’t exactly come out of nowhere either. Gray has finished with multiple catches in six of his last seven games dating back to Week 4 when he had four catches for 40 yards. He has averaged 28.4 yards per game in those seven games.
His role was significant enough that I had him as a stash back in Week 8, but with DeAndre Hopkins ($5,400), he’s stayed on the fringes until last week.
This week, the Chiefs are in a great matchup against the Panthers, who have allowed the second-most fantasy points per game to tight ends this season. Opposing tight ends have six touchdowns in the last four weeks and at least six catches in each of those contests.
Austin Hooper, New England Patriots
Even though Hunter Henry ($4,000) is the Patriots’ top tight end and one of Drake Maye’s ($5,500) top targets, there has been enough work for Hooper to be a value play the last few weeks. Hooper has at least three catches on four targets in four of his last five weeks.
Hooper caught all of his four targets for 35 yards last week against the Rams, and he had even more production with three catches for 64 yards against the Bears in Week 10. He doesn’t have as high a ceiling as Johnson, Sanders or Schoonmaker since they’re primary options in their offenses, but he has been getting enough work to be one of the the top five fantasy football sleepers at the position.
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