The Fantasy Football Start ’em, Sit ’em articles for the tight end position are back! The NFL kicks off today with the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Baltimore Ravens. Then, we have a game being played in Sao Paolo, Brazil on Friday night. All that will lead up to the Sunday matchups and the real fantasy football season starts.
The obvious starts are players like Travis Kelce, George Kittle and Sam LaPorta. This article is here to help you with the tight ends not so high on the tier list. With this being Week 1, there are some question marks that no one will have the answers to until after this week. To help you through these tough decisions, check out our weekly fantasy football rankings and read on for our Week 1 fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em analysis at TE.
Running Backs — Week 1 Fantasy Football Start/Sit
Wide Receivers — Week 1 Fantasy Football Start/Sit
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Fantasy Football Start ’em, Sit ’em: Week 1 TEs
Start: Johnny Mundt Fantasy Outlook vs. New York Giants
The injury replacement for TJ Hockenson gets placed in the start category for this week. Yes, they are starting Sam Darnold at quarterback, but Darnold will be fine. As for Johnny Mundt, he ended the year with double-digit points in weeks 17 and 18. With backup QB Nick Mullens, Mundt finished with 13.9 points against Green Bay (TE6) and 10.8 against Detroit (TE11).
Combine that with the fact that the Minnesota Vikings are playing against the New York Giants. The Giants have a pretty good defensive line, so the Vikings may have to get rid of the ball quickly. Mundt could be Darnold’s safety valve to save him from getting sacked. That will help Mundt’s value, especially in PPR. Do not be afraid to take a chance on Mundt this week with Hockenson out.
Start: Pat Freiermuth Fantasy Outlook vs. Atlanta Falcons
Another TE that has a new QB throwing to him is Pat Freiermuth. The Pittsburgh Steelers TE will have Russell Wilson (and maybe Justin Fields) throwing to him. Last season, Freiermuth didn’t have a game over eight fantasy points in the last six weeks of the regular season (the highest-ranked week was TE22), but did have 11.8 points in the Wild Card game against the Buffalo Bills.
Freiermuth will play against the Atlanta Falcons, who gave up the sixth-most fantasy points last season. Yes, they added a couple more defensive players, but Justin Simmons will be more preoccupied with George Pickens. Pittsburgh Pat should be in your lineups this week.
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Sit: Brock Bowers Fantasy Outlook vs. Los Angeles Chargers
The Las Vegas Raiders rookie gets the sit designation for our Week 1 Start ’em, Sit ’em article. Many people are looking for him to set the league on fire like he did at the University of Georgia. This week is probably not one of them.
Rookie tight ends usually don’t come in and dominate in the first week. Add in the fact that Brock Bowers has an injured foot that carries a questionable tag at the time of this writing. Bowers’ injured foot should slow him down a bit for this week’s game against the Chargers.
Speaking of the Chargers, they gave up the 14th-fewest fantasy points to TEs last year, just above the league mid. Brock Bowers fantasy football owners may want to take a wait-and-see approach for the first few weeks as he adjusts to the NFL.
Sit: Cade Otton Fantasy Outlook vs Washington Commanders
An interesting fellow when it came to fantasy last year is Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton. The Tampa TE didn’t score over 10 fantasy points after Week 9 against the Houston Texans, where he scored 22. Nine straight weeks of under 10 fantasy points and not ranked higher than TE13 in those weeks. That all changed in the playoffs though, as he helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with his 16.9 points against the Philadelphia Eagles and 17.5 points against the Detroit Lions.
In Week 1, Tampa Bay hosts the Washington Commanders, a team that gave up the 11th-fewest fantasy points last season. Otton should be left on the bench if you have another option.
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