Let’s face it… Tight end has been all over the map this season for fantasy football. Your top tight ends are guys who were undrafted or barely drafted (Austin Hooper & Darren Waller). Your “reach for ‘em” tight end studs like Zach Ertz, George Kittle and Travis Kelce have been okay, but they haven’t been what you’d hoped for when you passed on much needed tight ends and running backs to get them. The middle class of tight ends (O.J. Howard, Eric Ebron, and Evan Engram) have been mostly useless or will be useless this week (Engram is already out for the week). So, you turn towards a TE sleeper to try to undo the pain of drafting three targets per week for 26 yards.
It’s not shocking that you’re looking for a weekly advantage by trawling for fantasy football tight end sleepers. Don’t fret, we’re here to help. To qualify as one of our tight end sleepers, you have to have ownership in, at most, 50% of Yahoo! leagues. For people in deeper leagues, we recommend a fantasy football tight end sleeper available in at least 90% of Yahoo! leagues. As always, check to see if the recommended tight ends in Waleed’s Waiver Wire Cheat Sheet slipped through the cracks. If they didn’t, then read on!
Week Ten TE Sleeper:
Jack Doyle versus Miami (30% Owned)
Let’s let it ride this week with Jack Doyle. Last week, I figured that Jacoby Brissett would lean on Jack Doyle to replace T.Y. Hilton. Instead, it was Brian Hoyer leaning on Zach Pascal. But hey, Jack Doyle scored a touchdown, and Eric Ebron was seemingly phased entirely out of the Colts offense last week (two targets). This week, we do the easiest thing to do in the fantasy football community: pick on the Dolphins. The Dolphins seemingly have a strong tight end defense, as they are a neutral matchup overall. However, Ryan Griffin was a dragged toe away from notching a seventh catch, and a touchdown last week, which would have vaulted him up to 14.5 fantasy points in half-PPR.
If you look deeper at the Miami tight end defense, it mostly has to do with matchups and teams not needing to go toward the tight end. Mark Andrews crushed them week one, then the Dolphins failed to play a halfway decent tight end until… Uhm… until, well… uh… Jack Doyle in week ten.
Week Ten TE Sleeper:
Mike Gesicki at Indianapolis (20% Owned)
FINALLY! Mike Gesicki, one of my favorite preseason sleepers (please don’t close the window on that admission) makes his way into one of these dang articles. He finally had a big game last week, notching six catches for 95 yards on six targets as the Dolphins took down the Jets last week. This week, the Dolphins hope to replicate that outcome, which likely means more targets for Mike Gesicki. That means more fantasy football production for those bold enough to start Mike Gesicki this weekend as the Dolphins will have to lean on him harder after the loss of Preston Williams.
This is a preferable matchup for the Dolphins to look towards Gesicki, and not their other options this week. The Colts allow the eighth-most fantasy football points to tight ends (half-PPR) and the twelfth-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. Six of the eight tight ends to play against the Colts this season have at least 8 fantasy points in half-PPR, and they let fantasy football junk bond Vance McDonald score on them last weekend. FIRE! UP! YOUR! GESICKIS!
Week Ten TE Sleeper:
Jacob Hollister at San Francisco (4% Owned)
On paper, Hollister looks like he has a truly terrible matchup. Literally nobody allows fewer fantasy football points to tight ends than the San Francisco 49ers. They boasted such a stout defense thanks to the efforts of Kwon Alexander. When Kwon Alexander tore his pec and went out for the season last week, the 49ers lost a top-five coverage linebacker this year per Pro Football Focus’s grading. 49ers one of the best against opposing tight ends, but that was before Kwon Alexander went down last week. Alexander had a top-five linebacker coverage grade per Pro Football Focus before getting hurt. Now, the 49ers turn to rookies Dre Greenlaw and Azeez Al-Shaair alongside Fred Warner in their starting linebacker group.
Hollister has taken up the Will Dissly Mantle in Seattle, becoming Russell Wilson’s preferred tight end target last week. He turned his six targets into four catches, 37 yards, and two touchdowns, including the game-winner. That’s some impeccable trust for Russ to go to Hollister with the game on the line. It took overtime to get him his six targets, but they were high-value targets along the way.
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If you’re looking for more Fantasy Football Week 10 sleepers, look no further. We have you covered!
Impractical Fitzmagic (Week 10 QB Sleepers)
Handcuffs! (Week 10 RB Sleepers)
Pascal’s Triangle (Week 10 WR Sleepers)
The Cat’s Out of the Bag (Week 10 DST Streamers)
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