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Week 5 Tight End Preview: Will Jake Ferguson Keep Piling Up Catches?

Top Fantasy TEs for Week 5

Let's break down the key usage notes and matchups that are driving our Week 5 TE Rankings.

Minnesota Vikings vs. Cleveland Browns

In London

T.J. Hockenson, Vikings

Hockenson's production has spiked with Carson Wentz under center. After averaging 3.5 targets and 13.5 receiving yards in Minnesota's first two games started by J.J. McCarthy, Hockenson has averaged 5.5 targets and 44 yards (with 1 TD) in two games with Wentz. This week, Wentz will start against the Browns. View Hockenson as a TE2 in a tough matchup. 

Harold Fannin Jr., Browns

Cleveland utilizes two TEs on a league-high 47.2% of their snaps. That's encouraging usage for Harold Fannin Jr., but it also leads to split targets for the rookie and David Njoku. Fannin has seen 4+ targets and caught multiple balls in every game, but the QB change to rookie Dillon Gabriel complicates the Browns' Week 5 outlook. Fannin remains a TE2 due to his consistent volume, but his upside is capped against the Vikings. 

David Njoku, Browns

Njoku has run more routes than Harold Fannin Jr., but lags behind the rookie in fantasy production. Njoku has 2+ catches in all four games but hasn't topped 40 yards in any contest. The Browns are also starting a third-round rookie QB, which complicates this week's outlook. Njoku should be viewed as a TE2 with modest upside in Week 5. 

Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens

Dalton Schultz, Texans

Schultz has 5 catches in each of his last two games. He is getting the snaps as the lead TE, but the Texans just aren’t passing enough for him to find the end zone or get even more volume. He is a high-floor TE2 option.

Mark Andrews, Ravens

Andrews came back to earth last week with 7 catches for 30 scoreless yards. Isaiah Likely cut into Andrews' routes and snaps. He'll need a TD to pay off this week, and with Cooper Rush at the helm, those odds decrease. He is a TE2 at best. 

Miami Dolphins at Carolina Panthers

Darren Waller, Dolphins

Waller scored a pair of TDs on Monday night, but consider that he ran only 36% of the routes. (We typically like to see that number pushing 80% or more for a TE.) His snap number will rise against Carolina, but a full-time role would be surprising for the veteran. Waller ultimately projects as a mid-tier TE2.

Tommy Tremble, Panthers

Tremble garnered a surprising 23% target share last week at New England. It’s the upper range of what we can realistically expect, although his route participation (68%) predictably ticked up with Ja'Tavion Sanders out. Sanders’ continued absence supplies more value to Tremble as a deep-league streamer. 

Las Vegas at Indianapolis Colts

Tyler Warren, Colts

Warren comes off his third game of 70+ yards this season to face a Raiders defense that ranks just 18th in TE-coverage DVOA. He’ll probably even start scoring receiving TDs at some point.

Brock Bowers, Raiders

Bowers’ practice participation got worse this week, including a missed Thursday workout. The second-year TE put in full practices each day ahead of last week’s Bears game, but the knee clearly remains an issue. Fortunately, Bowers has still managed 5 catches in three of four games. So he’s merely disappointing rather than lineup-crushing. But we’ll have to watch this week for any signals that the Week 5 playing time might suffer.

New York Giants at New Orleans Saints

Juwan Johnson, Saints

Johnson posted season lows with three targets and three catches last week in a run-heavy game plan from the Saints. We're expecting another run-centric game plan this weekend against a bad Giants run defense. But Johnson and his 21% target share remains a fine low-end TE1 play.

Theo Johnson, Giants

Johnson posted season lows with three targets and three catches last week in a run-heavy game plan from the Saints. We're expecting another run-centric game plan this weekend against a bad Giants run defense. But Johnson and his 21% target share remains a fine low-end TE1 play.

Dallas Cowboys at New York Jets

Jake Ferguson, Cowboys

Ferguson's 34 catches rank second, not among TEs, but all players league-wide. He should be busy again this Sunday with WR CeeDee Lamb still out. He gets a Jets defense that just coughed up two TDs to TE Darren Waller last week.

Mason Taylor, Jets

This rookie is trending up. Taylor's target share has climbed in each of the first four games of the season, culminating with a 26% last week. He turned his 7 targets in that one into 5 catches and 65 yards. Next up for Taylor is Dallas' 30th-ranked TE defense.

Denver Broncos at Philadelphia Eagles

Dallas Goedert, Eagles

Goedert’s 2-TD week was fun, but don’t overlook that both came on gadgety goal-line shovel passes in a game that saw him catch just four balls in total. Goedert remains a solid play in a pass offense that needs to get going and faces challenging Broncos DBs (but much weaker LBs, for Goedert’s sake). Keep an eye on the injury reports, though. Goedert opened this week missing practice for a knee issue. He returned to practice on Thursday and appears likely to play, but we’ll watch for any updates pertinent to his outlook.

Evan Engram, Broncos

Week 4 presented season highs in targets and route rate for Engram. But his 59% route share still ranked just 25th among TEs. And he caught just 57% of those targets. Mix in the continued short-range role, and there’s just not much upside to chase here. If the exposure continues trending upward, maybe he’ll carry some PPR appeal soon.

Tennessee Titans at Arizona Cardinals

Trey McBride, Cardinals

His numbers have fallen a bit, but Trey McBride leads all TEs in route rate (95%), target share (27%), and ranks second in catches (35) and receiving yards (234). Arizona has the fifth-highest implied total (25.5) for Week 5, which sets up McBride to continue to play a massive role in the Cardinals' passing attack. 

Chigoziem Okonkwo, Titans

No team has scored fewer points than the Titans. Those struggles to score cap Tennessee's fantasy appeal, but Okonkwo ranks third on the team with an 18% target share. He's caught 3+ balls in every game. Okonkwo has only scored 6 TDs in 55 career games, so the ceiling is very low, but he can be a safe source of a handful of targets and catches as a bye-week streamer. 

Detroit Lions at Cincinnati Bengals

Sam LaPorta, Lions

We’re still waiting on the LaPorta breakout; through one month, he’s the TE16 in PPR scoring. LaPorta’s underlying metrics – target share, route rate, and yards per route run – mirror 2024, so we’re not panicking. A matchup with the Bengals also supplies plenty of scoring appeal. Detroit is implied for a slate-high 30 points.

Washington Commanders at Los Angeles Chargers

Zach Ertz, Commanders

The return of Jayden Daniels to the lineup should be good for Ertz's usage. Ertz scored a TD and topped double-digit PPR points in his two games with Daniels under center, but fell off to 5.5 PPR points per game in Marcus Mariota's two starts. Look for Ertz to get back on track this week for a Washington offense that will be without WR Terry McLaurin. 

Oronde Gadsden II, Chargers

Since Week 3, Gadsden leads LA's TE rotation in route rate (38%) and target share (11%). While his usage is trending up, the fantasy production lags. Gadsen followed up a solid Week 3 (5 catches, 46 yards) with a 3.6-point outing last week. This week, the Chargers host a Washington defense that allows the seventh-most fantasy points to the position. Gadsden has some modest streaming appeal. 

New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills

Hunter Henry, Patriots

Henry’s 8-90-2 game two weeks ago was phenomenal. And then he only had 2 targets last week, though he did catch a TD. Like most TEs, Henry’s consistency is questionable, but he is running enough routes to have a shot at the end zone, making him a solid start this week.

Dalton Kincaid, Bills

Kincaid went 1-28-1 last week and has 3 TDs on the year so far. His route rate is poor compared to other TEs, so there likely won’t be a ton of targets his way. But, the Bills love using him in the red zone this year. Trust Kincaid as a low-end TE1 this week.

Kansas City Chiefs at Jacksonville Jaguars

Travis Kelce, Chiefs

Kelce hasn't scored since the opener, but he has delivered 4+ catches in three straight. That includes a 5-catch outing in Xavier Worthy's Week 4 return. The veteran remains a viable fantasy starter against a Jags team that’s mid-pack in fantasy vs. TEs.

Brenton Strange, Jaguars

Strange is quietly off to a solid start, garnering a 17% target share on a 76% route rate. He’s the TE15 in PPR scoring. In his current role, Strange carries top-10 appeal for a game that could easily find the Jags in a trailing script.

Next Up

Week 5 Matchups That Matter: Fireworks From The Jets Offense?!

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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 in-season tools. He currently ranks ninth among 173 analysts in draft rankings accuracy.