Week 2 fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em TE picks from FlurrySports include the Cleveland Browns’ Harold Fannin Jr.
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Just a few seasons ago, the complaint in the fantasy community was that the tight end position had no depth. If you didn’t get one of the top couple studs, you were throwing darts. We have seen the TE become a featured position since then, and they really showed up in Week 1. We saw three TEs score 20+, there were 10 who scored 12+ and a whopping 16 TEs scored double-digit fantasy points in PPR scoring.
If you had a tight end who struggled, well, you may have some tough fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em questions to ask. Luckily, I’m here to help.
Look, I am not here to tell you that Trey McBride or Tyler Warren are worthy of starts. Hell, we’ll leave that type of analysis to the Fantasy Football Counselor or some other hack. Instead, we will look at the players who potentially may or may not be a TE1, depending on their weekly matchup.
Now, labeling a player as a “sit” does not mean they are a must-sit player. As always, check out our weekly fantasy football rankings here. You can also become a member to join a group chat with Zach Brunner and other members where all fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em questions are welcome!
Quarterbacks — Week 2 Fantasy Football Start/Sit
Running Backs — Week 2 Fantasy Football Start/Sit
Wide Receivers — Week 2 Fantasy Football Start/Sit
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Fantasy Football Start ’em, Sit ’em: Week 2 TEs
Start: Michael Mayer Fantasy Outlook at Chargers
While his fantasy point total from Week 1 won’t blow you away, Michael Mayer’s usage proves he should be featured in our Week 2 Fantasy Football Start ’em, Sit ’em for TEs. Per our Fantasy Football Playbook, Mayer played 81% of the snaps and saw a team-high seven targets. Brock Bowers is expected to miss another week, leading to Mayer being a fringe TE1 play. However, when Bowers is back, Mayer should still serve as the Raiders’ in-line tight end while they move Bowers around the formation.
Obviously, if you look at the Chargers’ defensive stats for Week 1, they are terrible since they faced Trey McBride. While they may not be as poor against TEs as their stats say, they did prove that they couldn’t stop a team’s leading receiver at TE when they knew he would be the featured option. So, even though Mayer led the Raiders in targets last week, the Chargers may not have the ability to take him out of the game.
In a matchup where the Raiders are expected to be trailing, they will have to pass at a higher rate this week, meaning Michael Mayer should be ranked among the target leaders at the position once again.
Start: TJ Hockenson Fantasy Outlook at Bears
The Minnesota Vikings’ offense faces an outstanding matchup against the Bears in Chicago. Last week, the Bears allowed the Carolina Panthers to rack up five trips to the red zone and the fourth-most yards per play (7.7). While Darren Waller had just two receptions for 28 yards, he had a touchdown taken off the board. And frankly, Minnesota’s offense is better than Carolina’s.
As a result, TJ Hockenson is looking like a solid start this week, and his overall performance playing with Carson Wentz is great. While playing with Wentz, Hockenson has averaged 28% more targets, 31% more receptions, 30% more yards and 31% more fantasy points than his baseline, per our new Field General tool. We saw how willing Wentz was to look Hockenson’s way last week, totaling five targets and a touchdown in the game.
Due to the struggles from Hockenson and the Minnesota offense last season, the tight end was overlooked in many fantasy drafts. So, take a look to see if he is on waivers in your league, as he could be a great fantasy football TE streamer, given his usage and a fantastic matchup.
Sit: Harold Fannin Jr. Fantasy Outlook at Buccaneers
No, I don’t think Harold Fannin Jr. will be as bad as he was in Week 1. However, there is no reason to play any member of the Cleveland Browns this week, unless you have to.
The Cleveland offense under Deshaun Watson last week was putrid, completing just 16 passes and not finding the end zone until fourth-quarter garbage time. It resulted in just three targets for Fannin, totaling two receptions for 21 yards. While it was believed the Browns’ offense would feature the second-year tight end, it couldn’t have been further from the truth in Week 1.
Yes, Mike Gesicki had a terrific performance against Tampa last week, but the Buccaneers proved they could take away the offense’s best option. In Cleveland, I would argue that best option is Harold Fannin Jr. Expectations have to be lowered for Fannin, and sit him if you have a better option (you likely do).
Sit: Jake Ferguson Fantasy Outlook vs Commanders
After seeing Dallas Goedert explode for 77 yards and two touchdowns last week, it may be tempting to chase that performance with Jake Ferguson, who is a talented tight end in his own right. However, this will be the second time Ferguson is featured in this section of the Fantasy Football Start ’em, Sit ’em in just as many weeks.
Last week, we noted how Ferguson has really struggled while playing alongside both CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, averaging just 4.0 receptions, 5.3 targets, 30.5 yards and 0.3 touchdowns per game. Not great. In essentially four full games without Lamb, Ferguson averaged 7.5 receptions, 8.3 targets, 51 yards and one touchdown per game.
As expected, it was a quiet outing from Jake Ferguson, who totaled just two catches for six yards. He absolutely should not be in your starting lineup while both top receivers are playing. Make other plans.
