FANTASY FOOTBALL NEWS

Zach Ertz Sees Rebound in Playing Time, Delivers

By Matt Schauf | Updated on Tue, Oct 14 2025 1:53 PM UTC

TE Zach Ertz led the Commanders in targets (six) and receptions (6) for Monday night's loss to the Bears. He tallied 43 yards and scored a 6-yard TD early in the fourth quarter. Ertz's 30 routes ranked second on the team, trailing WR Deebo Samuel by just one and constituting an 83.3% rate among Jayden Daniels' 36 dropbacks. The usage marked a rebound for Ertz.

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You could say, "Of course, Ertz's role grew with all the injuries at wide receiver." But the Commanders were missing Terry McLaurin and Noah Brown last week as well, and Ertz ran a season-low route rate.

That participation against the Chargers now looks like an outlier for the season. Check out his route rates by week:

I have to admit, I was alarmed by Ertz's Week 5 dip, especially coming off just 5 total catches over the previous two weeks. And second-year TE Ben Sinnott -- a second-round pick -- had quietly seen his playing time grow.

But Sinnott's trending back down from a Week 3 peak. Here are his shares of total offensive snaps by week:

Maybe Washington wanted more Sinnott to help the blocking when Daniels missed two games?

Whatever the case, it doesn't appear Ertz's role is in danger. And you can thank Jared and Shane for not letting me knock Ertz down the Week 6 TE rankings.

Washington gets a high-upside matchup with the Cowboys in Week 7 that should again put Ertz on the fringe of TE1 territory. Tougher spots against the Chiefs, Seahawks, and Lions follow that.

Matt Schauf, Editor

Matt has earned two Fantasy Pros accuracy awards for IDP rankings and won thousands of dollars as a player across best ball, dynasty, and high-stakes fantasy formats. He has been creating fantasy football content for more than 20 years, with work featured by Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon, Sirius XM, and others. He's been with Draft Sharks since 2011.