Week 3 Tight End Preview: Who To Play Over Colston Loveland
Top Fantasy TEs for Week 3
Let's break down the key usage notes and matchups that are driving our Week 3 TE Rankings.
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1. Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals
Last year's TE1 is the TE1 again through the first two weeks. McBride leads all TEs with a 35.4% target share, giving him the highest floor at the position. Even in last week's game, when the Cardinals managed just 95 passing yards, McBride still finished with 18.1 PPR points. McBride projects as a high-end TE1 in Week 3, as usual.
2. Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders
It appears Bowers will make his debut this week. We will see if he’s limited by his injury, but Bowers is a must-start if he is a full go. He was TE2 last season in points from Week 9 through 16, so it's worth chasing the upside with Bowers this week.
3. Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills
Only Trey McBride has more fantasy points among TEs than Kincaid so far. That includes McBride hitting up the Chargers for a 9-95-1 Week 1 line. Kincaid gets hits shot at that struggling squad this week.
4. Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions
Through two weeks, LaPorta leads all TEs in route rate (84%). He's caught 5 and 6 passes and, critically, stayed off the injury report. He's an easy TE1 against a Jets defense that could remain without S Minkah Fitzpatrick.
5. Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens
Andrews figures to benefit from the likely absence of Zay Flowers (hamstring). Last week, with Flowers out, Andrews saw a 26% target share on a 74% route rate. A favorable matchup vs. Dallas only adds to his fantasy appeal.
6. Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts
Warren has only 34 yards receiving so far this season, but he has scored a TD each week. The main issue has been his low 0.8-yard average target depth, which ranks 73rd among 82 TEs so far this season. 41.7% of his targets have been at or behind the line of scrimmage. With Alec Pierce missing multiple weeks, Warren could be in line for deeper targets. That, combined with his TD ability, makes Warren a must-start TE.
7. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
Kelce's off to a strong start with 12 catches, 172 yards, and 1 score thus far. He's again in a nice spot to produce against a Miami pass defense sitting 27th in Pro Football Focus' grades.
8. George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
Kittle is coming off his first TE1 week since he tore his Achilles in January. The veteran TE caught all four of his targets for 80 yards and a TD en route to a TE7 finish. Kittle is accounting for a 16.1% target share in an offense where Brock Purdy is passing for the sixth-highest points per game among all QBs. With a favorable matchup against the Cardinals in Week 3, Kittle is projected for another TE1 finish.
9. Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers
Played Thursday night.
10. Isaiah Likely, New York Giants
Likely has produced at least a 25% target share in each of his first two games with the Giants. His 29.5% target share on the season trails only Trey McBride for the highest among all TEs. The team lost its starting QB in Jaxson Dart for the season, but Jameis Winston has achieved at least 300 passing yards in four of his past nine starts, helping give Likely a TE1 projection for Week 3.
11. Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans
Schultz was the main beneficiary of Nico Collins missing last week, catching 12 of 14 targets for 140 yards. But 72 of those yards came in the fourth quarter with the Texans playing from behind, when he also got 50% of the team targets. The volume makes Schultz a low-end TE1 this week, though he is unlikely to repeat last week’s numbers.
12. Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns
After a quiet opener, Fannin delivered a solid 5-54 line in Week 2. He ranks eighth among TEs in route rate and 12th in target share. Rookie WRs Denzel Boston and K.C. Concepcion have taken a bite out of the huge role Fannin played late last season, but he still looks like a low-end TE1 in fantasy lineups.
13. Terrance Ferguson, Los Angeles Rams
Ferguson led the Rams TEs in routes run last week, in what resulted in a 17.4 PPR-point career-high Week 2. He's one of just six TEs with at least 30 routes run who are posting at least a 25% target rate per route and 1.40 yards per route run this season. Ferguson follows up a career-best Week 2 with a fringe TE1 projection for Week 3.
14. Hunter Henry, New England Patriots
Henry was the biggest winner with A.J. Brown out last week. He climbed from a 52% route rate and 9% target share in the opener to 78% and 18% in Week 2. That puts Henry in play as a Week 3 spot starter in a neutral matchup against the Jaguars.
15. Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints
Johnson has 104 yards and a TD through two weeks as a central part of the Saints' passing game. The Saints being down in both games helped prop up their passing game and Johnson, and they're favorites against the Raiders. That makes Johnson more of a TE2 this week.
16. Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears
Loveland ranks as the TE77 at 0.7 PPR points per game entering a matchup against an Eagles defense that has given up the fewest points to TEs this season. If that wasn’t risky enough, the Bears are slated to start third-string QB Case Keenum, who last started a game in 2023. Loveland projects as just a TE2 in Week 3.
17. Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
Played Thursday night.
18. Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys
Ferguson’s coming off a 2-TD game, but don’t let that mask the poor usage. He enters Week 3 with a low 10% target share, a figure that’ll need to rise for him to become a more reliable fantasy option. For now, treat Ferguson as a TE2 against a talented Ravens secondary.
19. Oronde Gadsden II, Los Angeles Chargers
Gadsden opened the year needing two injuries at the position to push him to the top of the depth chart. He got them in Week 2, with both David Njoku and Charlie Kolar going down. Gadsden's lack of blocking skills will continue to limit his playing time, but the Chargers could use his receiving skills in a struggling offense. There's some upside if trailing game script at Buffalo drives the passing volume up. But beware of over-trusting Gadsden or his offense this week. OC Mike McDaniel's scheme proved unfriendly to TE scoring for most of his time in Miami.
20. T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings
Hockenson's mere 7 catches and 9.3 yards per reception through two weeks keep him from being an option to chase. There's modest upside, though, against a Bucs D with struggling coverage over the middle of the field. Aaron Jones playing through a knee issue adds a slight boost as well. If he's limited at all on Sunday, Minnesota could grow its passing volume.
21. Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Otton enters the week a strong 10th among TEs in target share. But he has turned 8 catches (12th) into just 64 yards (19th). Now comes a Minnesota defense that ranked seventh-toughest on TE scoring last year. The Vikings allowed just 7 catches to the position over the first two weeks of this year, despite facing Tucker Kraft and Colston Loveland.
22. Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers
Freiermuth has seen 5 targets in each of the first two games as a central part of the offense. He has been on the field for 68% of Steelers' dropbacks and helped replace Michael Pittman Jr., who missed last week. More snaps would help, but Freiermuth was the first read multiple times in each game. Dalton Schultz just had a huge game against the Bengals, catching 12 passes for 140 yards, so they should still be susceptible to the TE. Trust Freiermuth as a TE2 this week.
23. Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars
Strange has drawn just 5 targets on a 9.6% target share through 2 games. That target share ranks 26th among TEs. He’s looking like a TD-dependent fantasy start. The Jaguars at least have a solid 24.75-point implied total for Sunday’s home game vs. the Patriots.
24. Kenyon Sadiq, New York Jets
Mason Taylor missed practice this week and won’t play against the Lions. That’ll likely boost Sadiq’s role after he posted a 45% route rate and a 9% target share over the first two weeks. Geno Smith’s solid start to the year, plus a friendly matchup vs. Detroit’s thin secondary, give the rookie some deep-league streaming appeal.
25. Darren Waller, Carolina Panthers
Waller popped up for 2 TDs last week but still drew just 3 targets on a 55% route rate. We’ll see if that playing time grows, but Waller isn’t a reliable fantasy play until it does.
