Fantasy Football Week 9 Tight End Preview: Projections, numbers to know, and more

The tight ends did not disappoint on National Tight End Day. Tucker Kraft led the way with 33.3 Fantasy points, and Travis Kelce turned back the clock with 21.9 himself. Four rookies scored double digits in full PPR, and of course, the founder, George Kittle, had his best game of the season. Unfortunately, an early look at the Week 9 projections does not imply that the momentum will carry over to Week 9.

Part of the problem is that a third of the guys who did well in Week 8 are on bye in Week 9. We are hopeful Brock Bowers returns to make up for some of that, but the real pain point is around TE10, particularly with two tight ends who are facing each other: Kelce and Dalton Kincaid.

While the Chiefs and Bills are projected for a shootout, with an over/under of 52.5, it is hard to project much production for the tight ends. Kincaid faces a Chiefs defense that has only allowed one tight end (Sam LaPorta) to score more than 10 PPR Fantasy points. Kelce faces a Bills defense that hasn't allowed any tight ends to reach that mark. The bigger problem is that if you wanted to pick up a tight end off the waiver wire, there isn't one available who I project to score more points. But it should go without saying that if you recently picked up Oronde Gadsden, he is a start over both.

Here's everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 9:

Week 9 TE Preview

• 3.85 -- The Atlanta Falcons are only giving up 3.85 PPR FPPG to tight ends this year. Dawson Knox has the only tight end touchdown against them. Hunter Henry is not a good option this week.
• 309 -- Oronde Gadsden leads all tight ends with 309 receiving yards over the last three weeks. He is a must-start option.
• 11.2 -- Tucker Kraft is now averaging 11.2 yards after catch per reception. Outlandish.
• 4 -- George Kittle's four catches last week tied his season high in three games. If he doesn't break out against the Giants, I will get a little concerned about his lack of volume.
• 29.6% -- Brock Bowers had a 29.6% target share in the first three quarters of the season, before his knee injury. If he is 100% coming out of the bye, he could still be a league winner.
• 18.8% -- Juwan Johnson was targeted on 18.8% of Tyler Shough's throws. Johnson could re-emerge as a low-end starter if Shough keeps that up in his first start.
• 21.25 -- The Bengals have given up a league-high 21.25 Fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends. Maybe this is the Colston Loveland breakout spot?

Week 9 Streamers (TE Preview)

Juwan Johnson TE NO New Orleans • #83 Age: 29 • Experience: 6 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ LAR LAR -14 O/U 44.5 OPP VS TE 11th TE RNK 13th ROSTERED 33% YTD Stats REC 36 TAR 52 REYDS 368 TD 1 FPTS/G 9.6 This is the worst week of the year for streaming tight ends. That is mostly because Harold Fannin and Mason Taylor are the two best waiver adds, and they are both on bye. Johnson should be in a high-volume passing game chasing the score against the Rams, and Tyler Shough looked for him often in Week 8.

Harold Fannin Jr. TE CLE Cleveland • #44 Age: 21 • Experience: Rookie Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ NYJ NYJ -1.5 O/U 38.5 OPP VS TE 19th TE RNK NR ROSTERED 62% YTD Stats REC 38 TAR 51 REYDS 352 TD 2 FPTS/G 10.7 If you have the roster spot, add Fannin and stash him through his bye. David Njoku could be dealt before the deadline, and Fannin could be a top-five tight end rest of the season if that happens. He leads the Browns in catches and yards, and he's only three targets behind Jerry Jeudy for the target lead. He's done that while Njoku has still cut into his target share most weeks.

Colston Loveland TE CHI Chicago • #84 Age: 21 • Experience: Rookie Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ CIN CHI -2.5 O/U 52.5 OPP VS TE 32nd TE RNK 18th ROSTERED 21% YTD Stats REC 11 TAR 18 REYDS 116 TD 0 FPTS/G 3.8 If Cole Kmet remains out, this could be the launching pad for a second-half breakout for Loveland. He has three catches in each of the Bears' last two games, and the Bengals have given up the most points to opposing tight ends. It's a long shot, but he's still a rookie who was drafted in the top 10. A breakout could happen at any moment.

Top DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

Tyler Warren TE IND Indianapolis • #84 Age: 23 • Experience: Rookie Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ PIT IND -3 O/U 50.5 OPP VS TE 31st PROJ PTS 13.5 TE RNK 3rd YTD Stats REC 37 TAR 50 REYDS 492 TD 4 FPTS/G 13.9 The Steelers have given up the second-most Fantasy points to opposing tight ends this year. Warren is coming off of a bad week, but he had at least 14 PPR Fantasy points in four straight games before his Week 8 dud. With Trey McBride off the main slate, Warren is the safest cash game play at the position.

Contrarian DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

Brock Bowers TE LV Las Vegas • #89 Age: 22 • Experience: 2 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs JAC JAC -3 O/U 46 OPP VS TE 21st PROJ PTS 10.9 TE RNK 2nd YTD Stats REC 19 TAR 27 REYDS 225 TD 0 FPTS/G 10.9 Bowers hasn't been himself all year and still carries an injury designation into Week 9. Yet he's also still the most expensive tight end on the slate on FanDuel. I am hoping that the high price tag keeps his roster rate low, and I would expect more people to play Tyler Warren and Oronde Gadsden. I still believe that if Bowers is right, he has the potential to regularly give you 20-point outbursts. Jacksonville has allowed a tight end to score a touchdown in three of their last four games.

My full set of Week 9 Fantasy football projections for every position is 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 9. Projected stats for all starting tight ends are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.