Fantasy football thrives on tough decisions and unpredictable performances, making every weekly lineup a challenging puzzle for managers. Even reliable players sometimes underperform while unexpected names rise to the occasion, adding to the excitement and uncertainty.
Navigating injuries, favorable matchups, and shifting roles is essential to maintaining a competitive edge in fantasy football. With bye weeks and evolving team dynamics, curiosity about which players to trust becomes critical to success.
Start ‘Em: Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans (vs. JAX)
Dalton Schultz is the type of player you never get correct. He’ll have a solid game, much like the 18.8 fantasy points he posted against the Seahawks in Week 7. This leads to fantasy managers adding him for a much-needed spot start. Then, despite Nico Collins and Christian Kirk being absent, he completely duds with 4.4 points.
Of course, fantasy managers then jettison Schultz to the waiver wire. Despite losing C.J. Stroud in the first half, the tight end goes and has another usable week with 13.7 points.
Conventional wisdom would suggest that if Davis Mills has to start this week, we’ll see plenty of checkdowns with him not exactly adept at pushing the ball downfield. In theory, that benefits Schultz. With at least two starting tight ends on bye this week, fantasy managers have no choice but to chase it.
The Jaguars allow the second-most fantasy points per game to the position. This one should be ugly and low scoring. Hopefully, Schultz can PPR-scam his way to TE1 numbers.
Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons (at IND)
Fantasy managers who took a chance on Kyle Pitts have to be pleased with the results. He’s never going to live up to his early Round 1 price tag as a player. But clearly, he’s nowhere near as bad as he looked the past two seasons.
Pitts has been solid, if unspectacular, for fantasy purposes. He’s only had one truly difference-making performance (the week he scored a touchdown), but he has hit double digit fantasy points in half his games. The other half weren’t all disasters, though. It’s fair to classify him as having just one true dud all season.
The Atlanta Falcons are coming off a frustrating loss to the New England Patriots. They need to get back on track. Of course, the Indianapolis Colts feel the same way after dropping one to the Pittsburgh Steelers. That gives us two highly motivated teams.
Atlanta probably won’t win this game, but they should make it a competitive one. Pitts should play a big part in that against a defense allowing the fourth-most fantasy points per game to tight ends.
Darnell Mooney looks like one of the worst players on the field since returning from injury. Drake London will dominate targets, but Pitts is the No. 2 guy in this passing game (well…No. 3 if you count Bijan Robinson). That’s good enough to start against Indy’s pass funnel defense.
Sit ‘Em: Hunter Henry, New England Patriots (at TB)
It has now been five weeks since Hunter Henry cracked double-digit fantasy points. Even with Drake Maye playing at an MVP level, the veteran tight end has been purely touchdown-or-bust…mostly the bust.
Last week, Henry did about as well as he could’ve against the No. 1 fantasy defense versus tight ends, posting 9.1 fantasy points. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers allow the 10th-fewest fantasy points per game to tight ends.
This should be a high-scoring contest, but Maye has been honing in on his wide receivers and pushing the ball downfield a ton. That is not Henry’s game. Unless Henry finds the end zone, he is bound to disappoint fantasy managers.
Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens (at MIN)
Welcome back, Lamar Jackson. That’s certainly how Mark Andrews’ fantasy managers felt last week when he posted 16.6 fantasy points. We take that all day. Unfortunately, his production couldn’t be less sustainable.
Last season, Andrews went on a ridiculous touchdown streak, scoring in all but two games from Week 6 onward. It masked what was otherwise a reduced role in terms of volume.
This season, it’s even worse. Andrews happened to score on both of his receptions last week. He didn’t catch another pass in his second straight game with only three targets.
Andrews sports a 16.7% target share on the season. That would be the lowest of his career if not for his 15.3% target share from last year. This is a player firmly in decline.
The veteran tight end ran a mere 13 routes, which actually lagged behind Isaiah Likely.
The Vikings may be a favorable matchup for tight ends, but it doesn’t matter if a player isn’t given a chance to exploit it. Andrews is not just someone to bench; he’s someone to sell if you can get anything useful for him.