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Week 16 Fantasy Football Tight End Preview

Top Fantasy TEs for Week 16

Let's dig into the reasons you should -- or shouldn't -- play these TEs in Week 16 ...

Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs – 1 p.m. ET Saturday

Travis Kelce, Chiefs

Perhaps the biggest surprise of Kelce's 2024 is his TD count. He's been stuck on two scores since Week 11, despite ranking third league-wide in red zone targets. There’s added risk this week with Patrick Mahomes battling a high-ankle sprain. Still, it’s tough to keep Kelce out of fantasy lineups.

Dalton Schultz, Texans

Schultz draws a Chiefs pass D that's allowed the most yards to opposing TEs (75 per game). Volume is an issue, though, as he's been held to four or fewer targets in three of his past five outings.

Noah Gray, Chiefs

Gray’s quietly compiled 4+ catches in four of his past five matchups. That stretch includes all five of his season-long TDs. He remains a deep-league fantasy option vs. Houston.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens – 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday

Mark Andrews, Ravens

Andrews found the end zone again last week, but only caught two passes total. He has scored in three straight games now. He is TD dependent, but the Ravens are trending more to the air when they get close to the end zone.

Pat Freiermuth, Steelers

Freiermuth now has a TD in three straight games and has been the go to near the end zone with George Pickens out. He is very TD dependent, but if the Steelers score through the air, Freiermuth is the best bet. Low-end TE1 this week.

New York Giants at Atlanta Falcons

Kyle Pitts, Falcons

If Michael Penix Jr. can prove to be an instant upgrade over Kirk Cousins, then the switch should obviously help everyone in the passing game. But Pitts’ biggest issue has been opportunities. His 4-catch game last week marked just the fifth time all season he has reached that level. And it still delivered his fourth straight week of less than 30 receiving yards. Pitts totaled 2 receptions across the previous three games. So we’ll need to see both his role improve and Penix prove to be an upgrade before looking Pitts’ way any higher than mid-TE2 territory. Atlanta’s dip to being the league’s most run-heavy team vs. expectation over the past month certainly hasn’t helped the receiving “TE.”

Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers

Trey McBride, Cardinals

McBride is somehow still looking for his first receiving TD of the season. Perhaps it comes this week against the Panthers, who have allowed a league-high 10 TE TDs this season. Even if it doesn't, McBride will remain a strong producer. He's caught 7+ balls for 70+ yards in four straight.

Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears

Sam LaPorta, Lions

LaPorta set season highs in catches (7) and yards (111) in Week 15. Now, it took 59 Jared Goff attempts to get there. But as a general trend, his target share has headed upward over the past several weeks. He settles in as a clear TE1 in a plus matchup vs. Chicago.

Cole Kmet, Bears

Kmet has just one TE1 finish since Week 8. He shouldn’t be counted on in any fantasy format.

Tennessee Titans at Indianapolis Colts

Chig Okonkwo, Titans

Be careful not to overrate Okonkwo’s nice receiving line from last week. That 8-59 marked just the second time all year he has caught more than three passes in a game – and the first since Week 7. That previous occasion happened to come in one of QB Mason Rudolph’s three prior starts. And Rudolph has targeted TEs with 28% of his attempts on the season, higher than Tennessee’s 22% overall target share for the position this year. So there’s upside to Okonkwo this week, especially against a Colts team that arrives as the friendliest to TE scoring by our adjusted fantasy points allowed. Okonkwo would sit higher in our rankings this week if not for his limited role. Even last week found him running a route on just 52.5% of Titans dropbacks – a mere 3 routes ahead of TE Josh Whyle.

Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Commanders

Grant Calcaterra, Eagles

The strength of Calcaterra’s offense is the biggest thing working in his favor, allowing for the chance he adds a TD at any point. But he has just one of those all season – despite two injury stints for Dallas Goedert – and a mere 4 targets over the two games since Goedert went down again.

Minnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks

T.J. Hockenson, Vikings

Hockenson's finished as a TE1 in three of his past four games. His role looks to be stabilizing as he settles into the offense, both in terms of route rate and target share. Now he gets a Chicago pass D that’s given up the fifth-most yards to TEs.

Noah Fant, Seahawks

Fant remains without a TD since 2022, while he hasn't hit 30 yards in any of his past four games. He's a safe pass vs. the Vikings.

New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills

Hunter Henry, Patriots

Henry has been the one consistent target for the Patriots, catching all four of his targets for 25 yards last week. He has the highest target share on the team and a solid floor. If the Patriots get down in Buffalo, it could be a spike week for Henry.

Dalton Kincaid, Bills

Kincaid came back from his knee injury last week and earned seven targets, catching four for 53 yards. He’s seen solid volume all season, but it hasn’t translated to big fantasy points. The Patriots are middle of the pack against TEs.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Las Vegas Raiders

Brock Bowers, Raiders

Aidan O'Connell's return should be good news for Bowers, who's totaled 24 targets, 19 catches, and 211 yards in O'Connell's two full games this season. More good news: Bowers gets the Jaguars' 26th-ranked TE defense on Sunday.

Brenton Strange, Jaguars

Strange did his best Evan Engram impersonation last week, turning 12 targets into 11 catches and 73 yards. He benefitted from the Jaguars running 77 plays and throwing 46 times. But Strange ran a route on 84% of pass plays and drew a 26% target share. He's firmly in play as a Week 16 spot starter against the Raiders' 29th-ranked TE defense.

San Francisco 49ers at Miami Dolphins

George Kittle, 49ers

The Dolphins have allowed only three TE scores all season. Of course, Kittle remains a no-doubt TE1. Aside from a snowy blowout in Buffalo, Kittle's hit 10 PPR points in ten straight.

Jonnu Smith, Dolphins

After a down game in Week 14, Smith rebounded to post 9-48-1 on Sunday. He's now hit 8+ targets in four of his past five. Despite a negative matchup, Smith will have a shot to deliver for the pass-tilted Dolphins.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Dallas Cowboys – Sunday night

Jake Ferguson, Cowboys

Ferguson only caught two of four targets for 23 yards last week. He lacks TE1 upside as Cooper Rush seems to favor CeeDee Lamb in the passing game. But the Bucs are on the bottom end of the league against TEs, so this could be a TD opportunity spot. Ferguson is a TE2 this week.

Cade Otton, Buccaneers

Otton has fallen off with Mike Evans back. He only has 10 catches since the Bucs bye week. The Cowboys do have the second highest TE TD rate in the league, so Otton has a shot at being a low-end TE1 if he scores a TD. But that’s tough to count on. He settles as a TE2, especially with the knee injury that’s kept him out of practice on Wednesday and Thursday.

New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers – Monday night

Tucker Kraft, Packers

The Packers might get Luke Musgrave back for the first time since Week 4. Perhaps that would hurt Kraft’s opportunities. But Kraft played at least 80% of the offensive snaps in three of this season’s first four games, with Musgrave around and despite starting camp late because of a pectoral injury. Kraft’s bigger issue is Green Bay’s recent dip in passing volume: just 23 attempts per game over the past five contests. He has remained a good bet for efficiency when the ball does come his way, though, including TDs in two of the past four games.

Jared Smola, Lead Analyst

Jared has been with Draft Sharks since 2007. He’s now Lead Analyst, heading up the preseason and weekly projections that fuel your Draft War Room and My Team tools. He currently ranks 1st among 133 analysts in draft rankings accuracy.