Fantasy Football: Week 9 TE Rankings

Check out Kevin Hanson's top 35 tight ends for Week 9 of the 2019 season.

Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Hanson joins SI for the 2019 season. His fantasy rankings have placed him in the Top 20 in each of the past two seasons among all the industry experts tracked by FantasyPros.com, and he has been in the Top 25 in six of the past eight years.

Check out more of Kevin’s rankings: QB, RB, WR, DST, flex and kicker.

TE Start of the Week: Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles (vs. CHI)

I considered writing about Jonnu Smith, who I wrote about in my Early Fantasy Football Waiver Wire for Week 9. Smith is still owned in just 31% of Yahoo! leagues (as of Wednesday night) and a viable streamer as a top-10 option this week.

Only one spot lower in my rankings this week, Dallas Goedert has an even lower ownership (24%) and is another viable streaming option. Goedert would become an every-week starter if Zach Ertz were to miss time, but Goedert has been nearly as involved in the passing attack as Ertz over the past three weeks.

In fact, he has been even more productive than Ertz.

Over the past three games, the second-year tight end has 12 catches for 139 yards and two touchdowns on 17 targets. Among tight ends, Goedert is seventh or better in all four categories over that stretch. In addition, he’s a top-eight fantasy tight end in any format from Weeks 6 to 8 while Ertz is outside the top 20 fantasy tight ends over that same period.

The Bears have allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points to opposing wide receivers, but they have been a little more generous—15-most fantasy points—to opposing tight ends. Perhaps the game plan will feature an uptick in volume, but either way, Goedert is worth starting in 12-team leagues in Week 9.

TE Sit of the Week: Kyle Rudolph, Minnesota Vikings (at KC)

A couple of weeks ago when Adam Thielen was sidelined, Rudolph had a 5/58/1 performance on six targets. That was by far his best performance of the season, even though he now has three catches in three consecutive games.

That said, he’s been targeted more than three times only twice—four in Week 2 and six in Week 7—and he’s averaging just 2.5 targets per game this season. Through the season’s halfway point, Rudolph is on pace for less than 300 yards.

Like many of the tight ends outside the top eight or so, Rudolph is only a TD-dependent option. As noted above, Smith and Goedert would make for much better streaming options than Rudolph this week.

Week 9 fantasy football tight end rankings (half-PPR scoring):

TE1: George Kittle, SF @ ARI

TE2: Travis Kelce, KC vs MIN

TE3: Darren Waller, OAK vs DET

TE4: Hunter Henry, LAC vs GB

TE5: Evan Engram, NYG vs DAL

TE6: Mark Andrews, BAL vs NE

TE7: Zach Ertz, PHI vs CHI

TE8: Greg Olsen, CAR vs TEN

TE9: T.J. Hockenson, DET @ OAK

TE10: Jonnu Smith, TEN @ CAR

TE11: Dallas Goedert, PHI vs CHI

TE12: Jimmy Graham, GB @ LAC

TE13: Eric Ebron, IND @ PIT

TE14: Jason Witten, DAL @ NYG

TE15: Darren Fells, HOU @ JAC

TE16: Cameron Brate, TB @ SEA

TE17: Noah Fant, DEN vs CLE

TE18: Jack Doyle, IND @ PIT

TE19: Vance McDonald, PIT vs IND

TE20: Kyle Rudolph, MIN @ KC

TE21: Jordan Akins, HOU @ JAC

TE22: Irv Smith Jr., MIN @ KC

TE23: Mike Gesicki, MIA vs NYJ

TE24: Benjamin Watson, NE @ BAL

TE25: Foster Moreau, OAK vs DET

TE26: Ryan Griffin, NYJ @ MIA

TE27: Jacob Hollister, SEA vs TB

TE28: Trey Burton, CHI @ PHI

TE29: Dawson Knox, BUF vs WAS

TE30: Ricky Seals-Jones, CLE @ DEN

TE31: Jeremy Sprinkle, WAS @ BUF

TE32: Josh Oliver, JAC vs HOU

TE33: Hayden Hurst, BAL vs NE

TE34: Luke Willson, SEA vs TB

TE35: Tyler Kroft, BUF vs WAS

Week 9 fantasy football tight end rankings (non-PPR scoring):

TE1: George Kittle, SF @ ARI

TE2: Travis Kelce, KC vs MIN

TE3: Darren Waller, OAK vs DET

TE4: Hunter Henry, LAC vs GB

TE5: Mark Andrews, BAL vs NE

TE6: Evan Engram, NYG vs DAL

TE7: Zach Ertz, PHI vs CHI

TE8: Greg Olsen, CAR vs TEN

TE9: Jonnu Smith, TEN @ CAR

TE10: T.J. Hockenson, DET @ OAK

TE11: Dallas Goedert, PHI vs CHI

TE12: Eric Ebron, IND @ PIT

TE13: Darren Fells, HOU @ JAC

TE14: Jimmy Graham, GB @ LAC

TE15: Cameron Brate, TB @ SEA

TE16: Jason Witten, DAL @ NYG

TE17: Noah Fant, DEN vs CLE

TE18: Vance McDonald, PIT vs IND

TE19: Jacob Hollister, SEA vs TB

TE20: Jack Doyle, IND @ PIT

TE21: Jordan Akins, HOU @ JAC

TE22: Kyle Rudolph, MIN @ KC

TE23: Irv Smith Jr., MIN @ KC

TE24: Benjamin Watson, NE @ BAL

TE25: Mike Gesicki, MIA vs NYJ

TE26: Foster Moreau, OAK vs DET

TE27: Ryan Griffin, NYJ @ MIA

TE28: Trey Burton, CHI @ PHI

TE29: Dawson Knox, BUF vs WAS

TE30: Jeremy Sprinkle, WAS @ BUF

TE31: Ricky Seals-Jones, CLE @ DEN

TE32: Hayden Hurst, BAL vs NE

TE33: Josh Oliver, JAC vs HOU

TE34: Tyler Kroft, BUF vs WAS

TE35: Chris Herndon IV, NYJ @ MIA

Looking for an edge? Check out the Fantasy Assistant from FullTime Fantasy. Sync with your league, and this premium tool offers personalized waiver advice, team analysis, projections, optimal lineups and trade suggestions. Lose Saquon Barkley this week? Fantasy Assistant can automatically help you pick the best replacement. Join now for a free seven-day trial. Use promo code sifantasy for 30% off your first month or year.