Fantasy Football Week 8 Tight End Preview: Projections, numbers to know, and more

I told you last week that every time we say the tight end position is deep, the position lets us down. Then George Kittle scored zero, Michael Mayer scored two, Sam LaPorta scored 4.5, Dallas Goedert scored 4.8, Mason Taylor scored 6.1, Harold Fannin scored 7.6, and Travis Kelce scored 8.4. That's in full PPR, where they were all ranked in the top 12 by at least once of our analysts. For now, we aren't all that concerned about Kittle, LaPorta, or Goedert. They have a long enough history that we don't panic over a bad week. And Fannin was impacted by weather and an unusual game script than anything. Mayer is a drop as he's on bye, and Brock Bowers is expected back. That leaves us with Kelce and Taylor.

I don't imagine anyone will drop Kelce, but I can't say I am not concerned. He had three targets in Rashee Rice's first game back. He averaged four targets per game with Rice in 2024. With Rice, Xavier Worthy, and Marquise Brown all healthy, we may not see more than five targets in a game very often. This offense may be good enough that Kelce is still a top 12 tight end, but not by much. With six teams on a bye in Week 8, you're probably starting him anyway.

Taylor is more difficult. He is a rookie who has only had two good games. He plays on an offense that is averaging one passing touchdown per game. But when Garrett Wilson is back, and that could be this week, he may also be the second-best option in the passing game. If Tyrod Taylor is named the starter, there may be more passing production moving forward. I would drop Taylor for the top two waiver options below, but I wouldn't go scrambling much past that.

Here's everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 8:

Week 8 TE Preview

• 27.8% -- Harold Fannin led the Browns with a 27.8% target share in Week 7. The weather and the game script were the only reasons he was disappointing. 
• 164 -- Oronde Gadsden's 164 receiving yards in Week 7 were the most for a rookie tight end since Mark Bavaro in 1985.
• 19.4% -- Dalton Schultz has a 19.4% target share for the season, good enough for fifth amongst tight ends.
• 4 -- Trey McBride has already set a career high with four receiving touchdowns this year. Three of them have come from Jacoby Brissett.
• 9.4 -- Travis Kelce's 9.4 yards per target would be his best since 2016. Increased efficiency may be his only path to remaining a low-end starter.
• 9.0 -- Tucker Kraft once again leads all tight ends with nine yards after the catch per reception.
• 2.63 -- Dalton Kincaid leads all tight ends with 2.63 yards per route run. Hopefully, he's back in Week 8.

Week 8 Streamers (TE Preview)

Oronde Gadsden II TE LAC L.A. Chargers • #86 Age: 22 • Experience: Rookie Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs MIN LAC -3 O/U 44.5 OPP VS TE 11th TE RNK 9th ROSTERED 12% YTD Stats REC 22 TAR 28 REYDS 308 TD 1 FPTS/G 11.4 Gadsden has played at least 75% of the Chargers' snaps each of the last two weeks. He has also scored at least 13.8 PPR Fantasy points in both games. No matter how many times we get fooled this year, we are always going to add and start a rookie tight end who pops like this. Just don't be surprised by one bad game; you should be in on Gadsden for the long haul.

Dalton Schultz TE HOU Houston • #86 Age: 29 • Experience: 8 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs SF HOU -1.5 O/U 41.5 OPP VS TE 14th TE RNK 10th ROSTERED 23% YTD Stats REC 30 TAR 37 REYDS 284 TD 0 FPTS/G 9.7 Schultz may actually be better than Gadsden in Week 8, but we would only expect that to last as long as Nico Collins is out. Monday night was his first 10-target game since December of 2024, but he did have six targets in three straight games before Monday.

Top DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

Cade Otton TE TB Tampa Bay • #88 Age: 26 • Experience: 4 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ NO TB -4.5 O/U 46.5 OPP VS TE 19th PROJ PTS 10 TE RNK 7th YTD Stats REC 22 TAR 31 REYDS 231 TD 0 FPTS/G 6.4 Otton has 15 targets in his last two games and has scored double-digit Fantasy points in three straight. He's only $5,500 on FanDuel. He could return value without a touchdown, and he could be an elite play if he reaches the end zone for the first time this year. He's a start in your regular league at least until Chris Godwin gets back.

Contrarian DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

Harold Fannin Jr. TE CLE Cleveland • #44 Age: 21 • Experience: Rookie Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ NE NE -7 O/U 40.5 OPP VS TE 20th PROJ PTS 9.7 TE RNK 8th YTD Stats REC 32 TAR 43 REYDS 290 TD 1 FPTS/G 9.6 Dillon Gabriel has thrown 85 passes in the Browns' two losses. He threw 18 last week in a bad-weather win. In Week 8, the Browns are touchdown underdogs and facing a defense that is much better against the run than they are against the pass. Fannin could legitimately see double-digit targets and should have his ownership held down by last week's disappointment.

My full set of Week 8 Fantasy football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. You can find them here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 8. Projected stats for all starting tight ends are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.