Week 10 Fantasy Football Defensive Matchup Exploitation: TE

Tim Wright
Tim Wright
Sep 29 2013 Tampa FL USA Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Timothy Wright 81 runs with the ball against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half at Raymond James Stadium Kim Klement USA TODAY Sports

There aren’t many defenses that are truly good at stopping tight ends but the few there are should definitely be stayed away from. Coby Fleener has seen an increasing role but the Rams have held the likes of Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Vernon Davis, and Greg Olsen to fewer than 7.8 fantasy points so he should be stayed away from. On the other hand, the Seahawks have been stingy but Tony Gonzalez remains a must-start, especially now that he’s seeing increased targets again.

The 49ers haven’t faced many good tight ends so Greg Olsen remains a solid start as usual. The same goes for Jason Witten who goes up against a Saints defense that is not exactly impenetrable to tight ends, though he’ll likely need to score a touchdown since New Orleans doesn’t give up a lot of tight end yards. Julius Thomas and Vernon Davis remain must-starts, no matter how tough a matchup may look.

I would stay away from Scott Chandler, Andrew Quarless, Brandon Myers, Dallas Clark, Heath Miller, Jared Cook, Rob Housler, and Zach Miller this week but that’s most weeks.

The most promising matchups belong to Garrett Graham, Tim Wright, Jimmy Graham, Antonio Gates, and Jordan Reed. I would stay away from the Philly tight ends, the Lions tight ends, the Bengals tight ends, Mychal Rivera, and Marcedes Lewis since they have all proven unreliable. On the other hand, Delanie Walker may not be the worst play against the Jags and John Carlson could be a sleeper in place of the injured Kyle Rudolph in Minnesota.

Let’s take a look at all of the fantasy football tight end matchups in Week 10.

Browse Matchups by Position: QBRBWRTE

 Highly Unfavorable, Unfavorable, Neutral, Slightly Favorable, Favorable

Rank
vs
TE

AVG
TE
FPS
Allowed

Defense

Week 10 Opponents

1

3.66 Chiefs BYE

2

4.94 Steelers Scott Chandler

3

5.44 Rams Coby Fleener

4

5.69 Seahawks Tony Gonzalez

5

5.74 Eagles Andrew Quarless

6

5.98 49ers Greg Olsen

7

6.14 Saints Jason Witten

8

6.33 Raiders Brandon Myers

9

6.66 Bengals Dallas Clark, Ed Dickson

10

6.8 Chargers Julius Thomas

11

6.96 Lions Martellus Bennett

12

7.01 Panthers Vernon Davis

13

7.04 Bills Heath Miller

14

7.1 Patriots BYE

15

7.16 Colts Jared Cook, Lance Kendricks

16

7.39 Texans Rob Housler

17

8.41 Browns BYE

18

8.47 Falcons Zach Miller

19

8.50 Buccaneers Charles Clay

20

8.51 Jets BYE

21

9.2 Vikings Jordan Reed

22

9.26 Redskins John Carlson

23

9.54 Titans Marcedes Lewis

24

9.59 Ravens Tyler Eifert, Jermaine Gresham

25

9.71 Giants Mychal Rivera

26

9.73 Broncos Antonio Gates

27

9.74 Bears Brandon Pettigrew, Joseph Fauria

28

10.49 Cowboys Jimmy Graham

29

10.55 Jaguars Delanie Walker

30

11.04 Packers Brent Celek, Zach Ertz

31

11.47 Dolphins Tim Wright

32

15.11 Cardinals Garrett Graham

*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.