Fantasy Football: Week 12 TE Rankings
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: Ryan Griffin, New York Jets (vs. OAK)
With Travis Kelce on bye and Evan Engram (foot) out, it’s a thin week at tight end. Several waiver-wire types are ranked firmly in the TE1 range—Dallas Goedert, Jacob Hollister, Ryan Griffin, etc.
Griffin is coming of his best game of the season (5/109/1 at Washington), but he’s had several solid performances lately. The former UConn tight end has reached the 50-yard mark in three of his past four games and has a 16/223/3 line over that span despite a one-catch, minus-2-yard performance as the game with less than 50 yards.
With Chris Herndon placed on season-ending IR, Griffin could have a nice performance this week and down the stretch. Not only do the Jets face the Raiders this week, but the Bengals and Dolphins are next on the schedule. Back to this week, however, the Raiders have allowed the third-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends this season.
TE Sit of the Week: Jimmy Graham, Green Bay Packers (at SF)
Fresh off his bye, Jimmy Graham had 59 yards in his most recent game, but only two catches on three targets in that game. The soon-to-be 33-year-old tight end has failed to exceed 20 receiving yards in three of his past five games.
Graham has only one game with more than five targets (nine in Week 4 against Philadelphia). While Davante Adams was active that week and had a season-high 15 targets, the return of a healthy Adams means that Graham is less likely to see much more than his usual (season average) four targets per week.
If the volume isn’t there, the efficiency may not be either. The 49ers have allowed the fewest fantasy points to opposing tight ends this season.
Week 12 fantasy football tight end rankings (half-PPR scoring):
TE1: Zach Ertz, PHI vs SEA
TE2: George Kittle, SF vs GB
TE3: Darren Waller, OAK @ NYJ
TE4: Mark Andrews, BAL @ LAR
TE5: Jared Cook, NO vs CAR
TE6: Greg Olsen, CAR @ NO
TE7: Dallas Goedert, PHI vs SEA
TE8: Ryan Griffin, NYJ vs OAK
TE9: Jacob Hollister, SEA @ PHI
TE10: Gerald Everett, LAR vs BAL
TE11: Vance McDonald, PIT @ CIN
TE12: Eric Ebron, IND @ HOU
TE13: Noah Fant, DEN @ BUF
TE14: Cameron Brate, TB @ ATL
TE15: Jack Doyle, IND @ HOU
TE16: Mike Gesicki, MIA @ CLE
TE17: Jimmy Graham, GB @ SF
TE18: Jason Witten, DAL @ NE
TE19: Darren Fells, HOU vs IND
TE20: T.J. Hockenson, DET @ WAS
TE21: Tyler Eifert, CIN vs PIT
TE22: Dawson Knox, BUF vs DEN
TE23: Benjamin Watson, NE vs DAL
TE24: Demetrius Harris, CLE vs MIA
TE25: Ross Dwelley, SF vs GB
TE26: Jonnu Smith, TEN vs JAC
TE27: O.J. Howard, TB @ ATL
TE28: Delanie Walker, TEN vs JAC
TE29: Nick Boyle, BAL @ LAR
TE30: Ben Braunecker, CHI vs NYG
Week 12 fantasy football tight end rankings (non-PPR scoring):
TE1: Zach Ertz, PHI vs SEA
TE2: George Kittle, SF vs GB
TE3: Darren Waller, OAK @ NYJ
TE4: Jared Cook, NO vs CAR
TE5: Mark Andrews, BAL @ LAR
TE6: Greg Olsen, CAR @ NO
TE7: Dallas Goedert, PHI vs SEA
TE8: Jacob Hollister, SEA @ PHI
TE9: Ryan Griffin, NYJ vs OAK
TE10: Gerald Everett, LAR vs BAL
TE11: Vance McDonald, PIT @ CIN
TE12: Eric Ebron, IND @ HOU
TE13: Cameron Brate, TB @ ATL
TE14: Noah Fant, DEN @ BUF
TE15: Darren Fells, HOU vs IND
TE16: Jack Doyle, IND @ HOU
TE17: Jimmy Graham, GB @ SF
TE18: Mike Gesicki, MIA @ CLE
TE19: Jason Witten, DAL @ NE
TE20: Tyler Eifert, CIN vs PIT
TE21: T.J. Hockenson, DET @ WAS
TE22: Dawson Knox, BUF vs DEN
TE23: Demetrius Harris, CLE vs MIA
TE24: Benjamin Watson, NE vs DAL
TE25: O.J. Howard, TB @ ATL
TE26: Ross Dwelley, SF vs GB
TE27: Jonnu Smith, TEN vs JAC
TE28: Delanie Walker, TEN vs JAC
TE29: Nick Boyle, BAL @ LAR
TE30: Jordan Akins, HOU vs IND
More Advice From SI Fantasy
—Dr. Roto’s Week 12 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em to help with your toughest lineup decisions
—Frankie Taddeo’s top streaming options for the final week of byes
—Jaime Eisner’s stock watch tells you who’s trending up and down as the playoffs approach
—Jaime Eisner’s waiver wire pickups: Randall Cobb, Jonathan Williams, Jacob Hollister and more
—Frankie Taddeo’s droppables, with some big-name players you shouldn’t feel bad about cutting
—Bill Enright’s injury report takes a look at who is out how long
—Mark Deming’s target and snap report dives into the data to make some fantasy conclusions