Fantasy Football Week 3 Tight End Preview: Streaming options, numbers to know, and more

I went into last week keeping a positive outlook about all of the top eight tight ends who struggled, but keeping a closer eye on Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, and Dalton Kincaid. There was very little between the three of them that made me feel better. Through two weeks, the trio has combined for 15 catches for 148 yards and zero touchdowns. I’d be pretty disgusted if they combined for those numbers in one week. Brock Bowers himself has 15 catches for 156 yards this season. 

But what are you going to do about it?

The likely answer is nothing. Yes, you saw what I did there. Even Isaiah Likely fell back to earth in Week 2. So, while I’m going to list streamers for you below, like always, I’m not actually starting any of them over any of these tight ends. And I’m a long way from making that decision with Kelce and Andrews. I’m much closer with Kincaid.

Through two weeks, the Bills have only thrown 42 passes. They’ve scored 65 points in those two games and won both. While they won’t stay this run-heavy, the feedback they’re getting from this approach is positive, so I don’t see a big change. In a low-volume attack, Kincaid is going to need a big target share. Through two weeks, he’s been targeted on 14.6% of the Bills passes. That’s tied for second on the team. with Keon Coleman. If you’re going to be a low-volume tight end, you’re going to need touchdowns or downfield targets. Kincaid currently has zero end zone targets and negative air yards on the season. 

Now, I want to be careful here. That last paragraph sounds like a compelling case for dropping Kincaid and streaming. I am not there yet. He is still a high-end prospect attached to Josh Allen. The Bills have only thrown three passes into the end zone, so his lack of a target there is not alarming yet. I’m just saying there is nothing in the profile to feel good about. At all. If that doesn’t change soon, Kincaid managers may want to make a change. If T.J. Hockenson is available in your league, it wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.

As always, you can find my full projections for every position and every player over at Sportsline.

Here’s everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 3:

Week 3 TE Preview

The following players are not being projected to play Week 3 at this time. Here’s what it means:

• 50 — Travis Kelce has not topped 50 yards in a regular season game since Week 14 of last year. It’s the first time in his career he’s gone five regular season games in a row without hitting that mark.
• 19.6 — George Kittle has averaged nearly 20 FPPG when Deebo Samuel has missed time over the past two years. He may be TE1.
• 31.9% — Hunter Henry leads all tight ends with a 31.9% target share.
• 2.95 — Mike Gesicki is averaging an elite 2.95 yards per route run.
• 3 — Isaiah Likely leads all tight ends with three red zone targets.
• 11.1% — Sam LaPorta’s target share is down to 11.1%, tied with Josh Oliver for 47th at the position.

My full set of Week 3 Fantasy football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. You can find them here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don’t live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 3. Projected stats for all starting tight ends are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.

Who should you start and sit this week? And which surprising running back could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Week 2 Fantasy rankings for every position, plus see which RB comes out of nowhere to crack the top five, all from the model that has outperformed experts big-time.