Fantasy Football Week 7 Tight End Rankings: George Kittle, Travis Kelce

This is actually a GREAT week at the tight end position. For starters, we are potentially getting George Kittle back. Plus, a lot of the right guys have the right matchup. It’s easier than ever to find someone viable and paint a picture of their upside. The hard part? Choosing the right guy. 

As always, that’s what our goal is. If you want the season-long rankings for your roster decisions, those can be found at the bottom of the waiver wire article, where it says Yin & Yang Tight End. In this article, I share my thoughts for Week 7. If you want my rankings for every position and every format, those are available to Fantasy Alarm Members here. We actually have our Spooktober deal running now, where you can get 20% off the monthly price for the rest of the NFL season. There’s no better time than now to sign up - especially if you have fantasy basketball drafts coming up!

As always, I’ll be available for comments or concerns in the Twitter or Reddit threads, so feel free to weigh in there with your own thoughts - or any questions you have for this week!

*Players highlighted in red have injury concerns that we need to monitor

SUNDAY UPDATES

• Thursday Night and Sunday Morning players who have already played have been removed
• Tyler Warren moved up with Josh Downs inactive
• Slight drop for Darren Waller and Harold Fannin Jr due to weather
• Zach Ertz moved up with Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel both out
• Cade Otton moved down with Mike Evans back and Emeka Egbuka possibly playing.
•  Ja'Tavion Sanders swapped with Tommy Tremble with JT Sanders active

Week 7 Tight End Rankings: Tier 1

CeeDee Lamb has a chance to play this week, but the game has an absurd 55.5 point over/under, and Washington has been weak vs. the TE (second-worst team in DVOA per FTN Fantasy behind only the Panthers). These two players have been the most consistent, and they both have decent matchups, so you lock them into your TE spot and, if you have both, you put one at the flex. 

Week 7 Tight End Rankings: Tier 2

Because of the added upside Tyler Warren offers in any given week of a rushing and/or passing TD on top of his regular production, he’s not likely to ever be too far down these rankings. Neither is a healthy George Kittle or Tucker Kraft, who are two of the rare tight ends capable of breaking off monster plays. Since I’ve been doing this, the only tight ends to have multiple 60+ yard plays in the same season are George Kittle, Tucker Kraft, and Mark Andrews.

Week 7 Tight End Rankings: Tier 3

Travis Kelce historically crushed the Raiders, which includes averaging 19 PPR points in his two games vs. them last year. LaPorta’s game has shootout potential this week, which always offers upside. 

Week 7 Tight End Rankings: Tier 4

The only thing keeping Darren Waller and Harold Fannin out of tier 3 is this tricky weather situation in Cleveland, where winds could be crazy. The ranking of Fannin is also based on the assumption that David Njoku is out this week. Dallas Goedert, Kyle Pitts, and Cade Otton all offer the next best combination of floor and ceiling given their roles, matchups, and various WR ailments. 

Week 7 Tight End Rankings: Tier 5

This tier is the most interesting, and it’s certainly the range where I’d encourage people to “go with their guy”. You can make upside cases for all of these guys. Ertz in a shootout. Mason Taylor with a great matchup and no Garrett Wilson. Hunter Henry has a good matchup, too, and TD potential. Engram has three straight games of 6+ targets despite his odd deployment. Michael Mayer didn’t quite do a full Brock Bowers impression as he largely remained inline, but he did get 7 targets. And T.J. Hockenson is T.J. Hockenson, but the QB situation is up in the air. 

Week 7 Tight End Rankings: Tier 6

This group of guys is your “next best bet,” but they all have some warts. I do not think Juwan Johnson is fully healthy, and he has not produced since hurting his ankle in that Bills game. Dalton Schultz actually has a decent matchup, but he hasn’t really been turning his targets into much. They also refuse to throw him screens, which are free catches for virtually everyone else. Chig Okonkwo has been okay and has speed, but has been losing snaps to Gunnar Helm - this coaching change could shake things up for better or worse. The Johnson had a terrible matchup last week (PHI), he has a terrible matchup this week (DEN), and he has a terrible matchup again next week (PHI).

Week 7 Tight End Rankings: Tier 7

These guys are all pretty flimsy in terms of their potential usage, but in any sort of PPR, I’d still start them instead of going for Tier 8. Injuries have helped elevate guys like Higbee, Fant, Long, and Tremble, but do we actually like the players themselves? Much more of DFS dart throws than guys I want to add to a fantasy team and start. Guys like Gadsden, Barner, and Loveland are part-time players. 

Week 7 Tight End Rankings: Tier 8

Starting Taysom Hill in fantasy is a journey only you can choose for yourself.

Week 7 Tight End Rankings: Tier 9

These guys terrify me with their current roles in the offense - don’t trust it.