NFL

3 Fantasy Football Tight End Streaming Options for Week 10

The tight end position in 2019 features distinct tiers. It's headlined by the elite trio of Travis Kelce, George Kittle, and Zach Ertz. Behind them is a young trio of promising options who many gamers drafted expecting them to take a leap forward this year in the form of O.J. Howard. Evan Engram, and Hunter Henry.

Things haven't gone according to plan with some breakout candidates, but Darren Waller and Mark Andrews have helped add some talent to the position. Still, tight end continues to leave something to be desired. Whether you entered the year planning to stream or have been disappointed by the option you drafted, I've got you covered. Below, there are three widely available options for streamers for Week 10.

O.J. Howard, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Yahoo Ownership: 35%

Suffice to say, those who invested in O.J. Howard in fantasy drafts this year haven't received the production they expected. I thoroughly hyped him back in July, and it's worth checking out the link to be reminded of why Howard was a popular breakout candidate entering the year. Unfortunately, he's flopped.

Howard's bested 40 receiving yards in only one of six games. He hasn't scored a touchdown, and his season high for receptions is four in the opener. Yikes. There's a reason why he's available in 65 percent of Yahoo! leagues. He's missed the last two games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but head coach Bruce Arians reportedly expects Howard to return for a cushy matchup this week.

The Arizona Cardinals are the most giving defense to tight ends this year. They've coughed up the most receptions (62), receiving yards (785), and touchdown receptions (9) to tight ends this season, per Pro-Football-Reference. This is a get-right matchup for Howard.

Despite the disappointing overall numbers, it's not all doom and gloom. Howard's been on the field for an 84.3 percent snap share and participated in a route 66.8 percent of the time, according to PlayerProfiler. He hasn't parlayed his playing time and routes run into production, but this should be his best opportunity even as a distant third -- at best -- option in the passing game behind the studly duo of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.

This week, the offense will have a chance to sustain more than Evans and Godwin in what projects to be a track meet. The game's over/under total of 52.5 points, per FanDuel Sportsbook, is the highest in Week 10. The Bucs are 4.5-point favorites in that contest, leaving them with a tasty implied total of 28.5 points. Additionally, the pace should be of the breakneck variety. Entering Week 9, the Cardinals played at the fastest overall and fastest situation neutral pace while the Bucs played at the seventh-fastest pace and 15th-fastest situation neutral pace, according to Football Outsiders. Howard's my favorite streaming option among the trio included in this piece.

Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts

Yahoo Ownership: 25%

Jack Doyle is one of two tight ends from this game that I'm suggesting as streamers. He's on the better squad in the Week 10 matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins. The Colts are 10.5-point favorites with an implied total of 27.25 points, despite questions about who will be playing quarterback for them this week.

Jacoby Brissett exited the Week 9 loss early with a knee injury. The MRI results were promising and leave open the door for him playing this week.

Brian Hoyer relieved Brissett and would be in line for a start if Brissett is out this week. In relief, Hoyer completed 17 of 26 passes for 3 touchdowns with 1 interception. One of those touchdown tosses was to Doyle.

Doyle's touchdown reception came on one of his two targets from Hoyer in the red zone on one of the veteran quarterback's six red zone pass attempts. For the year, Doyle's six targets in the red zone are second on the team behind T.Y. Hilton's eight. Reaching pay dirt is Doyle's most likely path to delivering the goods as a streamer, but he's unlikely to be a total stinker in point per reception (PPR) formats even if he doesn't score.

Yes, Doyle's yardage output leaves a lot to be desired. He's bested 25 receiving yards in only two of eight games. However, he's caught at least three passes in six straight contests. He hauled in four passes three times in that six-game stretch. Doyle's a low-ceiling streamer, but gamers in need of help at tight end this week could do worse than turning the veteran's way.

Mike Gesicki, Miami Dolphins

Yahoo Ownership: 4%

Michael Gesicki is coming off of the best game of his young career. The second-year pro hauled in all six of his targets for 95 receiving yards. The breakout performance against the visiting Jets is simply another step forward since beginning to flash out of Miami's Week 5 bye. He caught 3 of 7 targets for 51 receiving yards in Week 6, reeled in all 4 of his targets for 41 receiving yards in Week 7, and struggled hauling in 2 of 3 targets for 10 receiving yards in Week 8.

His steady diet of air yards over the last few weeks puts him in good company of late, as Mike Tagliere of FantasyPros pointed out on Twitter.

That type of consistent usage bodes well for his rest of season outlook. Furthermore, he could be in line for more work with rookie receiver Preston Williams suffering a season-ending injury last week.

Williams was easily the top pass-catching option with Ryan Fitzpatrick throwing passes this year, leading the way in targets (37), receptions (24), receiving yards (322), and tying DeVante Parker for the lead with 3 touchdown receptions. Gesicki's meshed with Fitz, too. The young tight end ranks third in targets (21), receptions (15), and receiving yards (213) on passes from Fitz and could see his role grow with Williams out.

As I noted above, Howard's my favorite streamer for this week at tight end. Although, Gesicki is the most likely to have staying power on rosters beyond this week. Keep that in mind if you're a gamer in a league with a moves limit and have to be cognizant of that limit going forward.