0:00pretty big shakeup for my tight end
0:01rankings this week. Definitely some guys
0:03that I was wrong about to start the year
0:05and also some guys I was very right
0:06about. So, we're going to go ahead and
0:07get into our tight end ranks. Obviously,
0:09Bowowers and McBride, you're starting
0:11these guys. Frankly, you should probably
0:13be trying to trade for these guys in
0:14your league. I mean, you're you're
0:16definitely starting them in week five.
0:17One thing I do want to note is if you go
0:19look at my overall flex rankings on
0:21flockfantasy.com,
0:23there are a lot of tight ends that are
0:24good flex starters. I've noticed that
0:25with wide receiver scoring down, you
0:27know, wide receiver twos are scoring
0:29less than ever, teams are playing more
0:3012 and 13 personnel than ever, even more
0:33so than last year. It's actually one of
0:35the things I thought was most
0:36interesting was, would NFL teams
0:38continue to play two and three tight
0:39ends? And the answer is definitely been
0:42yes. I have a lot of fantasy teams where
0:43I'm like, why would I not play Tyler
0:45Higgby in the Flex? Why would I not play
0:47Dalton Schultz in the flex? Why would I
0:48not play I mean, Kelsey is not playing
0:50this weekend, but why would I not play
0:51Travis Kelce in the Flex on my fantasy
0:53football team? So, that is just
0:55something that I have noticed that I
0:56think we are kind of hesitant to start
0:59tight ends in our flex because we've all
1:00grown up playing fantasy football. We
1:02all think about fantasy football like,
1:03"Oh, tight end, you know, hope I just
1:05get a touchdown out of my tight end."
1:06And and it's not really that way
1:07anymore. A lot of these guys are really
1:09core parts of their team's offenses and
1:11all these guys in the A tier. George KD,
1:14huge part of what the San Francisco
1:1549ers are doing on offense. Gets up to a
1:1891% snap share last week. Six targets,
1:21four receptions, 70 yards. has at least
1:24I mean he's got four touchdowns in his
1:25last three games. George KD is capital
1:28G, capital K. He is all the way back.
1:30You were starting George KD every single
1:32week in fantasy football. Sam Leaporta's
1:35role is not as strong. He is coming off
1:37of an insane game where the Detroit
1:39Lions were trailing the entire time
1:41against the Carolina Panthers. A 13
1:43target game. I talked a little bit about
1:45this in the rest of season rankings
1:47video, but a lot of the way I think
1:48about players is are you an engine of
1:50the offense? Is your team building plays
1:53around you? And the way that I think
1:55about Leaporta is that he is at best the
1:57third option for the Lions. Obviously
1:59Gibbs is one, St. Brown is two, and then
2:01depending on the game plan, it's either
2:03going to be Leaporta or it's going to be
2:04Jameson Williams. Obviously, Leaport is
2:06an absolute smash this week against
2:08Arizona. Arizona is very bad against the
2:09tight end, and the total of that game is
2:1154 and a half. So obviously like
2:12Leaporta is just a great start, but I'm
2:15very high on him this week, but like
2:17rest of season ranking wise, I maybe not
2:19as high on Leaporta as maybe your your
2:21average fantasy football player, your
2:23average fantasy football ranker because
2:24I do not necessarily see him as an
2:27engine of what the Detroit Lions do. So
2:29just I don't know, kind of something
2:30interesting to discuss there. A guy I
2:32was very wrong about in my preseason
2:35rankings was Isaiah Likely. I was very
2:37very low on Isaiah Likely. He's clearly
2:40one of these guys. Talking about engines
2:42of the offense, talking about emphasis
2:44of an offense. Likely is clearly the
2:47second most emphasized player on the New
2:49York Giants. You would have Neighbors
2:51number one. And frankly, after last
2:52week, I mean, you could argue likely was
2:54number one. Malik Neighbors was not
2:55targeted in the second half of that game
2:57against the Arizona Cardinals. 12
2:59targets for Isa Likely. And also the way
3:01that the New York Giants are playing,
3:03the running game is an emphasis, but
3:05they are not emphasizing Cam Scataboo.
3:07They're not emphasizing Naji Harris.
3:09emphasizing Tyrone Tracy. These guys are
3:11just kind of they they exist. They're
3:13they're part of the offense, but they
3:15are not the focus of the offense. I have
3:17Isaiah likely ranked as my tight end
3:18five this week. He was one of my biggest
3:21risers in my overall rest of season
3:23rankings. And and you know, a big part
3:25of fantasy football, at least in my
3:26opinion, is changing your mind and
3:29admitting that you don't know things.
3:30And I was wrong. You know, I I was
3:32clearly very wrong about Isaiah likely.
3:34He was not a good fantasy football
3:36player at the beginning of his career.
3:37you know, he was a tertiary player who
3:40is behind a very good tight end.
3:41Although Likely had big stretches of
3:43being in the lineup and not being ultra
3:44productive without Mark Andrews or Zay
3:47Flowers, but I was wrong and I will be,
3:49you know, ranking Isa Likely uh pretty
3:51pretty high for the rest of the season.
3:53Uh Dalton Concincaid, another guy that
3:55I've been wrong about and then right
3:56about. Just very strange to see him go
3:59from 72% 66% and then 67% and then down
4:03to 59% of the snaps. He only ran a route
4:05on 49% of dropbacks. Starts the season
4:08looking like the best pass catcher on
4:10the Buffalo Bills. 5 for 130, 7 for 95
4:13and one, then down for 238 and 1 for
4:15seven. Now DJ Moore is not going to play
4:17in this game. Joe Brady said after the
4:19game, "Hey man, that's on me. We can't
4:21just be targeting Daltton Concaid twice
4:22in a game." But we've also heard Joe
4:25Brady say this stuff before. Is he
4:27telling the truth? Is it going to lead
4:28to a change in action? Like I don't
4:30know. You don't know. I ranked Daltton
4:32Concincaid pretty aggressively rest of
4:34season and he would still be a guy that
4:36I would be targeting and trading and I
4:37certainly would be starting Daltton
4:39Concaid but again we have seen this from
4:41Concaid before where he looks very good
4:43in a limited sample and because of this
4:45PCL injury that he's basically been
4:46battling his entire football playing
4:48career his playing time is not able to
4:50be every single down and if you were a
4:52tight end that is only running a route
4:54on 60% of dropbacks you are not not even
4:56an A tier starter you know if we get 57%
5:00of routes from concade this in this game
5:02against the Rams. I I probably will not
5:04rank him as a top 10 tight end for the
5:05rest of the season. I don't know what
5:07happened in week one and week two for
5:09the Bills to feature him and use him as
5:11an every down player. It's possible that
5:13it's just a complication from this knee
5:15injury, but I'm I'm worried um about
5:17Dalton Concincaid and and I want to I
5:19frankly I both want to rank him higher
5:21and lower than this for Concage. I I
5:24think this is going to be a really good
5:26game. I I would expect a lot of points
5:27to be scored in this Rams Bills game,
5:29but just sort of sort of curious on on
5:31Daltton Kinc Kate. Next up, we have
5:33Tyler Warren, who I am not as high on as
5:35the market, but there's just no denying
5:37the touchdown stuff. 10 targets against
5:39Houston, five for 41. I think his floor
5:42is pretty high because he I mean, very
5:44unlike Dalton Concaid, Tyler Warren
5:46plays every single snap. I mean, the the
5:48guy barely comes off the field. Now, I
5:50don't think Tyler Warren is very
5:51efficient. I think that Josh DS is
5:53better than him. And I also think that
5:55Keenan Allen probably is going to over
5:57the course of the year in games that
5:58he's healthy likely be a better target
6:01earner. But again, no denying that Tyler
6:03Warren has a very good role on the
6:05Indianapolis Colts. I have Jawan Johnson
6:07all the way up at eight. Chris Ave
6:09coming into this game hampered. No
6:10Jordan Tyson yet. He has a 13%, a 12%, a
6:1420%, and a 17% target share. Seems to be
6:17featured for the offense in the red
6:19zone. Another guy I was pretty compared
6:21to the market. I was lower on Jawan
6:23Johnson coming into the year and I
6:24wouldn't be, you know, trying to trade
6:26for Jawan Johnson and this is a tricky
6:28matchup against the New Orleans against
6:29the Minnesota Vikings. I'll be I'll be
6:31curious, you know, the crazy Brian
6:33Flores blitz schemes. I will be very
6:35curious, you know, how much are they
6:37going to use Jawan Johnson and Noah Fant
6:39and Oscar Delp and CJ Donaldson as
6:41blocking players to keep Tyler Shock up,
6:43right? The the Brian Flores blitzing
6:45stuff has been insane. He really is a
6:47oneofone defensive coordinator, but I I
6:49think you're clearly starting Jawan this
6:50week. And then I have Tucker Craft here
6:53at nine against the Bears. He he was
6:55more featured in the red zone last week.
6:57His target shares have not been really
6:59strong. I've talked about this a lot in
7:01my videos recently, but Matthew Golden
7:03being such a good player has been really
7:07pretty bad for the Tucker Craft thesis.
7:08A really simple way to think about
7:10evaluating tight ends is is this guy the
7:13first or second on his team in target
7:15share? If so, that's a very good fantasy
7:18football tight end. If they're third on
7:19the team, they better score a bunch of
7:21touchdowns because they're not going to
7:22have the raw reception and yardage total
7:24to be awesome in fantasy. And Tucker
7:26Craft right now looks like a clear third
7:28option behind Christian Watson and
7:30Matthew Golden. He gets the touchdown
7:31last week. He is not beneficial. I mean,
7:33this is the big deal was Tucker Craft
7:35led the NFL in yards after catch per
7:37reception, two straight seasons. And if
7:39you watch my channel this off
7:40seasonason, you'll know that I doubted
7:42that was going to continue. Thus far,
7:44coming back from the ACL injury, it does
7:46look like I am right. That is the end of
7:48the A tier. I I am pretty high just on
7:50that Green Bay Chicago game in general.
7:52I think there's going to be a lot of
7:53fantasy points to be had there. Moving
7:55to the B tier, I've got Mike Cassiki all
7:57the way up at tight end 10. I am
7:59expecting one of Jamar Chase or T.
8:01Higgins not to play. I mean, you clearly
8:03need to be subscribed over at
8:04flockfantasy.com. Sign up over there
8:06using code Davis to, you know, stay in
8:08tune with my updated rankings.
8:10Obviously, if both T and Jamar Chase do
8:13play, you're not starting Mike Kaziki.
8:15The routes will not be there. will look
8:16a lot closer to what he did against
8:18Houston or even what he did against
8:19Pittsburgh. You know, only the three
8:20targets, but his route share went all
8:22the way up. He ran 35 routes last week
8:24against Jacksonville with Jamar Chase
8:25banged up and then T. Higgins banged up
8:27to end the game. And any game that one
8:29of those guys are out, I expect him to
8:31project very well and for him to be a
8:33fantasy football starter. I have Coulson
8:35Lovelin at 11. Did see nine targets last
8:37week, a 29% target share. With Kyle
8:40Manungai out, I would expect the Chicago
8:42Bears to tilt a little bit more pass
8:44heavy, you know, to be maybe even
8:45positive pass rate over expectation. I
8:48don't think the coaching staff loves
8:49what Roshan Johnson does on the field. I
8:51think they honestly they kind of view
8:52Roshan is like basically a fullback, a
8:54guy out there to do pass protection.
8:56People forget Roshan a converted
8:58quarterback, so does understand the pass
8:59protection schemes very well. I remain
9:02high on Lovelin's overall potential. I
9:04do think he is a very good player. The
9:06issue has been Lovelin has about a 70%
9:09route rate. So you compare that to
9:10McBride and Bowers who he was in
9:12conversations with this offseason. Those
9:14guys are like 85 95% route share player.
9:17So you have to be so so so efficient on
9:1970% of the routes and Leland has clearly
9:21I mean look at look at the results. He
9:23he clearly has not been that efficient.
9:25Harold Vannon Jr. I have a 12 against
9:27the Jets. The results the results for
9:30Harold Fannon Jr. have actually been
9:32quite good. He's scored three touchdowns
9:34most recent two games. The overall issue
9:36is, as I just talked about with Tucker
9:37Craft, is he's getting target mogged by
9:39Conpsion and by Boston. I've said this a
9:42bunch of my videos, but the best
9:43receiver that Harold Pannon Jr. ever
9:44played within his career before this
9:46year was aged Jerry Judy. It's been it's
9:49been a real issue for his target volume.
9:51I mean, look at his target volume this
9:53year compared to last season. He is
9:56averaging a full target less po per
9:58game. He is averaging almost eight yards
10:00less per game. He's scoring a lot more
10:02touchdowns, but his yards per route run
10:04is worse. His target share is down a and
10:06I think that is clearly because he is
10:08playing with good target earning wide
10:09receivers. I have Kenyan Sadi at 13.
10:12It's not going to take much for me to
10:14move Sadi higher in my rankings. What I
10:16need to see from Sadique is last week he
10:18had a 76% route share after a 55% route
10:21share the week before. If he holds at a
10:2475% route share this week on a normal
10:26play volume, remember the Jets only ran
10:2832 plays on offense last week. If they
10:31run, you know, 58 plays on offense this
10:32week and Sadique Holds at a 75% route
10:35share, he's likely going to be an A tier
10:37tight end for me. I liked what he put on
10:39film at Oregon. As a prospect, it it was
10:42very hard to evaluate Sadique as a
10:44prospect. I mean, one, he actually
10:46played with another NFL caliber tight
10:47end. Jeremiah Johnson is going to be a
10:49first or second round draft pick in the
10:502027 NFL draft. He played with a lot of
10:53other very good receivers. He played
10:55with a quarterback who was in
10:56conversations to be drafted in the first
10:58round. I mean, I don't think Dante Moore
11:00will get drafted in the first round, but
11:01just a weird prospect to evaluate and
11:04then gets the first round draft capital.
11:05I I just have loved what Sadi has put on
11:08tape in the NFL. I I mean, he has looked
11:11honestly even better than advertised
11:13actually as an actual player on the
11:15field in the NFL. And with AD Mitchell
11:17out, I I think that's been huge for
11:19Sadiq. I I'm I know I'm like AD
11:21Mitchell's number one fan amongst
11:22fantasy football analysts, but I I
11:24continue to want to raise Sadique up my
11:25rankings. Dallas Goddard told
11:27Philadelphia Eagles beat Riders that he
11:29is absolutely going to play this week.
11:31No Damont Smith in this game. No Eli
11:33Sters in this game. No Saquon Barkley in
11:35this game. Um Dantavian Wixs actually
11:37injured his hamstring in practice as
11:39well. I I I mean we could see like a 13
11:41target game here from Goddard. I don't
11:43think the Eagles are going to be very
11:44efficient. I I am actually very certain
11:47they're going to struggle with
11:48efficiency. They have a 17point team
11:49total against the Jaguars, but the
11:51volume should be there for Dallas
11:52Goddard. Frier Muth with no Michael
11:54Pitman Jr. You know, I did that YouTube
11:56short that everyone got mad at saying
11:58that I'd prefer Jeremy Bernard over
11:59Roman Wilson. But the real answer to
12:01that question is probably just Pat Fri
12:04who has just been very good for fantasy
12:06this year. Has the two touchdowns has
12:07not actually earned a ton of volume
12:09quite yet, but has had really healthy
12:11route shares and snap shares. I I feel
12:14pretty good about having fire in
12:15fantasy. And then I just want to make a
12:17note on Tyler Higgby who had a really
12:19strong game each of the most recent two
12:20weeks. Has 17 targets the last two
12:22weeks. I actually don't really care if
12:26Kobe Parkinson plays in this game. I
12:28think that this T Ferg role that has
12:30been vacated is just so good for fantasy
12:32that Higgby is kind of a low-end flex
12:34starter regardless. And then when
12:36Ferguson comes back, by the way, I you
12:38know, everyone is so mad at me that that
12:40Ferguson scored 17 and a half points and
12:42then immediately got injured. They're
12:43like, "Oh, Davis said this guy was the
12:44next Travis Kelce and now he's injured
12:46and I have to leave him on my bench." I
12:47mean, look, I was clearly right. I mean,
12:50can we just be honest about I was
12:51clearly right. like Terence Ferguson
12:53when he gets back is going to be awesome
12:54for fantasy and Tyler Higgby is playing
12:56in that role. He's not as good as as
12:57Terrence Ferguson, but he is going to be
12:59really good. So, I think it's a valuable
13:01role that Higgby has. And then the C
13:02tier, these guys are are kind of sitting
13:04here in the drags. Mark Andrews playing
13:06with Tyler Huntley and Z Flowers is
13:08back. Uh no Durham Smite, which has is
13:11going to be good for his overall snaps
13:12because I don't think they want to put
13:14too much on Hibner and Josh Quavvis's
13:16plate yet. Daltton Schultz, who had the
13:18mega game with no Nico Collins, was the
13:20overall tight end, won 14 targets, has
13:22five targets since that game. Uh, you
13:24know, if you thought you picked up a
13:25waiverwire winner, but Daltton Schultz,
13:27I think that is probably no. Gadston
13:29with potentially no lad maki this week,
13:31I I'm giving him one more run out. Eight
13:33targets last week gets to play against
13:35Denver this week. I I you know, I'm not
13:37dropping Aronda Gadston in any of my
13:39leagues yet. TJ Hawinson, you know, I'm
13:41just not really buying it. One, sounds
13:42like Justin Jefferson is going to play
13:44this week. to if you watch that game,
13:46which of course, you know, I watch every
13:48snap of every game, that is that is a s
13:5113 targets for this version of TJ
13:54Hawinson is the symptom of a sick
13:56offense. Not like sick as in
13:59sick, not sick like, yeah, sick, bro.
14:02So, I I I'm just having a really really
14:04hard time buying that performance from
14:06TJ Hawinson. Evan Ingram should get a
14:09chance to increase his routes and his
14:11overall snaps with no Pat Bryant.
14:13Michael Mayer. Frankly, I should maybe
14:15even rank Michael Mayer a little bit
14:16higher. In the games that Bowowers has
14:18played, he's played 87% and 88% of the
14:21snaps. Bowowers is basically just a wide
14:23receiver. Chigga Conqua with potentially
14:25no Terry McLuren and potentially knows
14:27Stevon Bigs this week. You could make an
14:29argument that I should rank him even
14:30higher. It'll you know, we'll see if
14:32Jaden Daniels is able to play in this
14:33game. I think Jaden Daniels is gonna
14:35play in this game with a brace on that
14:36elbow. I I'm actually kind of excited to
14:39see what Chica Conqua could do. He
14:40missed the first couple games of the
14:41season. I've always kind of liked his
14:43game and I'm wondering if there's
14:45something more there with no McLaren. Uh
14:46and then Brenton Strange, I mean, he had
14:48the very good game against the Bengals.
14:50But back to, you know, back to my
14:52emphasis on are you a real part of what
14:54your team is doing? Are you are you a a
14:57structural element of your offense? I
15:00mean, I think the answer for that on
15:01Brenton Strange is no. Brenton Strange
15:03exists, but he's like the fifth option
15:05on that offense, you know? I I mean,
15:07Josh Cameron is is mogging Brenton
15:10Strange right now. that down here at the
15:11drags, we've got Hunter Henry, who did
15:12have a good game last week. Maybe I
15:14should rank him a little bit higher. You
15:16know, 64% of the snaps last week. Raren,
15:18I think, is going to play this week. AJ
15:20Barner, 6.3 points. Jake Ferguson, I
15:23mean, are the Cowboys going to cut him
15:24at this point? Uh, the only player in
15:27the NFL who has a worse EPA per target
15:29than Jake Ferguson is Courtland Sutton,
15:32which I just think is very funny. Kyle
15:33Pittz basically doesn't exist. Gunnar
15:35Helm basically doesn't exist. Kobe
15:36Parkinson basically doesn't exist. Kate
15:38Uton basically doesn't exist. Zack Z no
15:41longer exists. And Greg Goulsuch sadly
15:43really no longer exists for the
15:45Dolphins. Make sure you like the video.
15:46Make sure you comment down below any
15:48questions you have about the tight end
15:49position. Or if you want to guarantee
15:51that I answer one of your questions, you
15:53can head on over to flockfantasy.com.
15:55Sign up over there using code davis and
15:58I will be sure to answer you. And I'll
16:00be back with you guys tomorrow.
