Week 8 Fantasy Football Defensive Matchup Exploitation: TE

Kyle Rudolph
Kyle Rudolph
Oct 13 2013 Minneapolis MN USA Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph 82 catches a pass as Carolina Panthers safety Quintin Mikell 27 tackles him in the second quarter at Mall of America Field at HHH Metrodome Panthers win 35 10 Bruce Kluckhohn USA TODAY Sports

In a tough six-team bye week, fantasy teams will have to go without tight ends like Antonio Gates, Martellus Bennett, Coby Fleener, Garrett Graham, and Dallas Clark. Many fantasy owners are streaming their tight ends weekly if they missed out on one of the top guys as well. The best place to start looking for a suitable starting tight end is the defensive matchups.

This week, Tony Gonzalez, Rob Gronkowski, Vernon Davis, Jordan Reed, Greg Olsen, and Julius Thomas are all likely to go off against their favorable matchups but, if you have those guys, you’re starting them either way.

On the other hand, Kyle Rudolph, Brent Celek, Rob Housler, and Tyler Eifert or Jermaine Gresham are solid plays against favorable matchups and could be good value picks for a bye week replacement or a daily lineup.

Meanwhile, Jordan Cameron and Jason Witten are tough starts. Cameron faces an NFL-best Chiefs defense who, while not having faced an elite tight end yet, have not allowed more than 4.3 fantasy points against the likes of Jason Witten, Delanie Walker, Brandon Myers, and Brent Celek. He’ll almost surely be touchdown dependent to have a strong effort. Witten will face a Lions D that has held Jordan Cameron, Jermichael Finley, Martellus Bennett, Jordan Reed, and Kyle Rudolph to fewer than nine points so he’s a tough start as well.

Jimmy Graham, if healthy, would have to face one of the best tight end defenses in the league but is a must-start if he does play. On the other hand, I wouldn’t start Benjamin Watson against those linebackers if Graham is out.

Let’s take a look at all of the fantasy football tight end matchups for Week 8.

Browse Matchups by Position: QBRBWRTE

 Highly Unfavorable, Unfavorable, Neutral, Slightly Favorable, Favorable

Rank
vs
TE

AVG
TE
FPS
Allowed

Defense

Week 8 Opponents

1

2.77 Chiefs Jordan Cameron

2

4.62 Bills Jimmy Graham (Q), Benjamin Watson

3

5.02 Steelers Mychal Rivera

4

5.67 Seahawks Jared Cook, Lance Kendricks

5

5.97 Saints Scott Chandler

6

6.02 Lions Jason Witten

7

6.15 Eagles Brandon Myers

8

6.22 49ers Marcedes Lewis

9

6.23 Rams Zach Miller

10

6.55 Colts BYE

11

6.58 Panthers Tim Wright

12

7.07 Raiders Heath Miller

13

7.20 Bengals Jeff Cumberland

14

7.42 Chargers BYE

15

7.83 Jets Jermaine Gresham, Tyler Eifert

16

7.9 Patriots Charles Clay

17

8.13 Bears BYE

18

8.15 Texans BYE

19

8.37 Browns Anthony Fasano, Sean McGrath

20

9.36 Redskins Julius Thomas

21

9.44 Buccaneers Greg Olsen

22

9.72 Broncos Jordan Reed

23

9.77 Titans BYE

24

9.95 Ravens BYE

25

10.93 Jaguars Vernon Davis

26

11 Falcons Rob Housler

27

11.8 Giants Brent Celek

28

12.12 Packers Kyle Rudolph

29

12.24 Vikings Andrew Quarless, Brandon Bostick

30

12.77 Cowboys Brandon Pettigrew, Joseph Fauria

31

14.8 Dolphins Rob Gronkowski

32

16.55 Cardinals Tony Gonzalez

*Values based on Yahoo standard scoring.

Browse Matchups by Position: QBRBWRTE

author avatar
Igor Derysh
Igor Derysh is Editor-at-Large at XN Sports and has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Herald, Baltimore Sun, Orlando Sun-Sentinel, and FantasyPros. He has previously covered sports for COED Magazine, Fantasy Alarm, and Manwall.com.