Looking for an edge at tight end in Week 5? With injuries and disappointing early performances thinning out the position, hungry fantasy football managers need to hit the waiver wire for upside and volume. If stability and upside are what’s needed, these are the tight ends who could tip the scales in Week 5 fantasy matchups.
Week 5 Fantasy TE Rankings
1) Trey McBride | Arizona Cardinals (vs. TEN)
2) Brock Bowers | Las Vegas Raiders (at IND)
3) Tyler Warren | Indianapolis Colts (vs. LV)
4) Sam LaPorta | Detroit Lions (at CIN)
5) Jake Ferguson | Dallas Cowboys (at NYJ)
6) Hunter Henry | New England Patriots (at BUF)
7) Juwan Johnson | New Orleans Saints (vs. NYG)
8) Dalton Kincaid | Buffalo Bills (vs. NE)
9) Travis Kelce | Kansas City Chiefs (at JAX)
10) T.J. Hockenson | Minnesota Vikings (vs. CLE (London))
11) Dallas Goedert | Philadelphia Eagles (vs. DEN)
12) Mark Andrews | Baltimore Ravens (vs. HOU)
13) Zach Ertz | Washington Commanders (at LAC)
14) David Njoku | Cleveland Browns (vs. MIN (London))
15) Brenton Strange | Jacksonville Jaguars (vs. KC)
16) Harold Fannin Jr. | Cleveland Browns (vs. MIN (London))
17) AJ Barner | Seattle Seahawks (vs. TB)
18) Chig Okonkwo | Tennessee Titans (at ARI)
19) Dalton Schultz | Houston Texans (at BAL)
20) Darren Waller | Miami Dolphins (at CAR)
21) Cade Otton | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at SEA)
22) Oronde Gadsden II | Los Angeles Chargers (vs. WAS)
23) Theo Johnson | New York Giants (at NO)
24) Jake Tonges | San Francisco 49ers (at LAR)
25) Tommy Tremble | Carolina Panthers (vs. MIA)
Should You Start or Sit Jake Ferguson in Week 5?
Jake Ferguson scored for the first time since lighting the Packers up for a playoff hat trick back in 2023: outside of only scoring against the Green and Gold, this man is doing it all.
His 34 catches are the most in September by a TE during the 2000s (2007 Antonio Gates and 2019 Darren Waller held that mark until Sunday night with 33), and that’s fueled three straight games with at least 16.8 PPR points (tied for the fourth-longest streak by a TE at any point in a season since 2020).
After posting consecutive games with 6+ air yards per target, he’s dipped under 3.5 in consecutive games, and I actually think that’s a good thing. He’s never going to beat defenses too deep downfield, and it would appear that the injury to CeeDee Lamb has him functioning as an extension of the run game.
Ferguson probably isn’t catching the 145 passes in which he is currently pacing, but Zach Ertz’s record of 116 for a tight end is a perfectly reasonable goal, and he’s worked himself into a top tier at the position that now is a group of four (Trey McBride, Brock Bowers, and Tyler Warren being the others).
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Cheat Sheet.
Should You Start or Sit Mark Andrews in Week 5?
Mark Andrews is the personification of the Facebook Relationship status of “it’s complicated” and you can’t sell me on anything different.
In Weeks 1-2, he caught two of four targets and looked lost. Since, he’s pulled in 13 of 14 and looks featured. But should he be?
Andrews averaged a touch over two feet after the catch per reception last weekend against the Chiefs, and it’s clear that he’s on the wrong side of the age curve when it comes to making plays with the ball in his hands.
Pair that with the return, albeit a muted one, of Isaiah Likely, and it’s hard to see this recent volume surge sustaining.
As if a looming tight end committee in a run-centric offense wasn’t enough to consider, what do you say we throw in a hamstring injury to one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the game?
This is a difficult matchup, and had Likely been looked at in the passing game last week, Andrews would be outside of my top 15 at the position this week.
As it is, he’s sitting at TE12, but on awfully thin ice for the remainder of this season.