Tight ends are garbage every year in fantasy football. Don’t even try to argue with me. Here are some week 12 tight end sleepers to get you all worked up over headed into this weekend. These guys could get you that three catch, 27-yard performance you’re absolutely yearning for. I am so tired of tight ends, guys. Seriously. To qualify for this list, a tight end must be unowned in over 50% of Yahoo! leagues. But, as luck would have it, nobody topped 31% ownership. For deep leagues, we offer you one player available in over 90% of leagues. As always, check to see if there’s a guy available in Waleed’s Waiver Wire Cheat Sheet. If not, here are some tight ends who could all combine for 43 yards or they could all get two touchdowns. Tight end is stupid. Maybe these tight end sleepers are less stupid?
Week 12 Tight End Sleeper:
Ryan Griffin versus Oakland (31% Owned)
In 2008, Paris Hilton starred in The Hottie and the Nottie. If that movie had a rational message, it would be that inner beauty, and what you were searching for the whole time, was always right in front of you. The movie’s actual message is “the ugly girl can get a makeover and you can fall in love with her, instead.” In this metaphor, Chris Herndon’s injury is the makeover, and Ryan Griffin is the titular Nottie. We kept talking for weeks that once Herndon returned, his role in the offense would mean beaucoup production, ignoring Griffin entirely. If you pull out the game where Herndon tried to play, Griffin has 17 targets for 15 catches, 225 yards, and 3 touchdowns in his last three contests.
This week, Griffin gets an Oakland squad that is the titular Hottie for matchups (everyone wants to go after them). The Raiders allow the third-most fantasy points on the season to tight ends and have given up at least 11 fantasy points to the position in three of their five games since their bye.
Week 12 Tight End Sleeper:
Dallas Goedert versus Seattle (30% Owned)
It’s the season of giving thanks, and I am thankful for Dallas Goedert over everything else this week. Goedert is out there in 70% of Yahoo! leagues, and if his recent hot stretch had been in weeks one through four, he would be owned in that many leagues. As it stands, the Eagles tight end has touchdowns in three of his last four games and is averaging 5.6 targets per contest in his last five games. The Dallas Goedert breakout is here, but we’re all too deep into the season to see it. This week, Goedert gets a Seattle defense that gives up the seventh-most fantasy points to tight ends, including blowup games from marginal TEs like Vance McDonald, Gerald Everett, and Ricky Seals-Jones.
Week 12 Tight End Sleeper (BONUS):
David Njoku versus Miami (28% Owned)
I doubt Njoku plays this weekend, and even if he does, this is a “knock the rust off” game. Don’t get tricky and start him this weekend but get ahead of the crowd and snatch a top-ten fantasy TE going into the season for free, now.
Deep Dive Week 12 Tight End Sleeper:
Tyler Eifert versus Pittsburgh (10% Owned)
Tyler Eifert didn’t do it last weekend at Oakland, but the Bengals mostly vomited all over themselves (except Joe Mixon). Don’t forget, however, that Eifert had 19.4 half-PPR points in his prior two games combined. The Steelers allow the sixth-most fantasy points to tight ends, and given the strong secondary, that’s likely to be where Ryan Finley goes.
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You can find the rest of our Week 12 advice here (be sure to check back as the week develops!)
(Header Image Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/dumpster-trash-downtown-outside-1517830/ under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)
(no, I didn’t forget to change it from last week’s article)
