3 Fantasy Football Tight End Streaming Options for Week 3
The story of the tight end position is a tale similar to every sports offseason. There's annual optimism in advance of the season. Yet, optimism turns into reality without fail, and every team isn't playing for a championship. Or, in the case of tight ends, the many mid- and late-round breakout candidates fail to materialize into weekly contributors.
Some gamers understand this reality and pounce on an early-round stud. Others recognize it and intend on streaming out of the chute. Still, others arrive in the streaming group unwittingly after their middle-tier or late-round dart throw flops.
Regardless of how you got here, this is your weekly home for streaming options. Below you'll find three widely available options for Week 3.
Jared Cook, Los Angeles Chargers
Yahoo! Roster Percentage: 43%
Jared Cook has been an integral part of the Los Angeles Chargers' passing attack. The veteran tight end ranks third in targets (13) and receiving yards (84), and fourth in receptions (eight). However, a look beyond the boxscore numbers is intriguing, too.
According to Pro Football Focus, he ranks fourth on the team in routes (60), playing 73 passing snaps. Donald Parham Jr. and Stephen Anderson are significantly behind him in the pecking order, running 24 routes and 15 routes, respectively. Further, Cook is moved all over the formation, playing 11 snaps wide, 31 inline, and 31 in the slot thus far.
He's served as an intermediate threat, sporting an average depth of target of 8.2 yards downfield. He also owns a rock-solid 1.40 yards per route run. Overall, it's been a promising first year with the Chargers. He's tied to a pass-happy offense, with the Chargers attempting the second-most passes thus far in 2021, and he profiles as a weekly fringe TE1 or better, making him under rostered presently.
Dawson Knox, Buffalo Bills
Yahoo! Roster Percentage: 6%
The Buffalo Bills are a pass-happy team again in 2021, tying for the fifth-most attempts. Impressively, they rank there despite blowing out the Miami Dolphins. Therefore, I expect them to keep their foot on the accelerator even when leading -- notable since NFL odds lists them as 8.5-point favorites.
Unfortunately for Dawson Knox, the Bills frequently utilize four receivers. Nonetheless, he's quietly tied for third on the team in receptions (six), fourth in receiving yards (58), and caught a touchdown in Week 2. In addition, despite Buffalo's proclivity for four-receiver personnel groupings, Knox's 28 routes tie for the eighth-most among tight ends.
The Bills are making the most of him as a pass-catching option rather than wasting his snaps as a pass blocker, evidenced by only two pass-blocking snaps. They also vary where he lines up, playing him inline on 12 snaps, wide for eight, and in the slot for five.
Knox's floor remains low as an ancillary option in Buffalo's offense. However, the Bills' implied total of 27.5 points provides him touchdown potential to help offset his modest target volume.
Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts
Yahoo! Roster Percentage: 1%
Indianapolis Colts' starting quarterback Carson Wentz sprained both of his ankles in Week 2, and he might be out this week as a result. So, unfortunately, inserting rookie Jacob Eason is probably suboptimal. Still, he did target Jack Doyle on one of his five targets. Overall, Doyle was heavily used in the passing game in Week 2, ranking second in targets (eight) and receiving yards (64) and tied for second in receptions (five).
For the year, Doyle has benefitted from Indianapolis' lackluster receiving corps. As a result, he's eighth in routes (56) among tight ends. Further, he's played a whopping 44.4 percent of passing snaps lined up in the slot, adding 14.3 percent lined up wide.
He's parlayed his usage into a respectable 1.52 yards per route run, tying for 18th out of 36 tight ends targeted at least five times this year. That's not an eye-catching rank, but mid-pack efficiency plays well on Doyle's level of volume. To that point, his 12 targets this year tie for the 6th-most among tight ends. Doyle isn't a flashy option who elicits excitement, but he's a steady-Eddie type in an offense sorely lacking high-end receiving talent. You can do far worse when rummaging through the streaming options.
Joshua Shepardson is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Joshua Shepardson also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username bchad50. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
