Week 7 TE Waiver Pickups & Adds: Dallas Goedert Is Nearing A Return

Mark Andrews is the big name on bye this week, but you also have the Colts, Dolphins, and Vikings tight ends on bye. This bodes well for being able to pick up their tight ends because nobody will be rushing to get a player not usable this week. Zach Ertz is set to miss the next few weeks, although the replacement you choose certainly can’t do much worse. Over this past waiver wire week, we saw Austin Hooper, Dalton Schultz, and Eric Ebron all make that climb into higher ownership, but if they are out there I would much prefer grabbing them over the names below. Jared Cook was dropped bit in some leagues and both him and Rob Gronkowski are worth picking up or starting this week.

Week 7 TE Waiver Wire Pickups

Dallas Goedert – Philadelphia Eagles

Dallas Goedert hit the IR after the Week 3 injury where he suffered a broken bone in his ankle. It was expected to be a quick stint on the IR and now he is eligible to return this week against the Giants. We still need to see if that is the case and how healthy he will be but the main point is that he is close to returning and needs to be picked up everywhere. As soon as Goedert is healthy he should be slotted right back into those lineups because the Eagles have nothing left at this point. Jackson and Jeffery are nearing a return as well but who knows what they have left to offer, and Zach Ertz is set to miss the next few weeks as well. This is easily the player I am going after the most at the position, even if he can’t play this week. He has TE 1 upside and had 17 targets in his two healthy games, posting 24 and 7 fantasy point games. As mentioned the schedule gets a bit easier for the Eagles offense, who has been struggling with production and injuries.

Irv Smith Jr. – Minnesota Vikings

The young tight end out of Alabama has been stuck in the Vikings depth chart this season as Kyle Rudolph for some reason is taking away snaps and targets at times. This isn’t the most potent offense but Irv Smith Jr has the potential to be the third option behind Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. Over the past two weeks, he has ten total targets and had just six in the prior four games combined. While he hasn’t found the end zone he has back-to-back double-digit fantasy point games. Smith has the bye this week and then opens up against Green Bay, Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Carolina, and Jacksonville. Chicago might look like a tough matchup but tight ends have seen a lot of targets and receptions against them dating back to last season. While we will need to wait to see Smith again after the bye week, this bodes well for trying to sneak in a minimal FAAB bid on what is now the potential TE1 in Minnesota. If you are in a sharper league then you are going to need to spend a few extra bucks.

Trey Burton – Indianapolis Colts

Trey Burton delivered a monster game this past week as he had two touchdowns and 59 yards of total offense. Burton was a name starting to pop up on our radar over the past few weeks because of Jack Doyle being pushed aside and Mo Allie-Cox being banged out. Frank Reich has delivered his promise of how much he loves Trey Burton and his ability to be a part of this offense. While they have a bye week this week, Detroit, Baltimore, Tennessee, Houston, Green Bay, and Las Vegas are all upcoming. These are favorable game scripts and matchups for Burton to put up some strong fantasy numbers in. Burton saw five targets this past week and saw the most snaps and routes run of any tight end for the Colts in the last three weeks. The Colts have been a frustrating fantasy team this season but Burton hopefully can establish himself as someone to get 5-7 touches each week. I don’t mind risking a few extra dollars for Burton in FAAB leagues given he has more upside than the two below.

Logan Thomas – Washington Football Team

The targets have not been as high as the three games where Dwayne Haskins started and/or played most of the game but he is still worth a look moving forward. He is coming off a 3-42-1 line and has Dallas, Giants, Detroit, and Cincinnati over the next few weeks. Certainly not a bad schedule for tight ends. He is going to be a weekly touchdown-dependent option and more of a name if you are in deeper leagues and have little options to work with this week. Thomas currently ranks 10th in red-zone targets and has more than Zach Ertz, Tyler Higbee, and Hunter Henry this season. He has caught five of them for two scores. Washington doesn’t really have much of a red-zone threat like Thomas so this role should still continue to be his. Given the weekly upside, he is only worth a few of your FAAB dollars.

Darren Fells – Houston Texans

For those who didn’t play last year, Darren Fells as a top-ten fantasy tight end because of the touchdown production. He has posted 34 fantasy points over the last two weeks and in a likely come from behind effort this week his targets should remain there. Fells is nothing more than a one week fill in at this point as Jordan Akins had taken over that role and should be back soon. He will definitely be back after the bye week and then both become hardly usable unless Akins truly gets his starting gig back. Fells saw seven targets last week in a game where they needed to put their foot on the pedal and that will be the case most weeks given the Houston defense is in trouble. However, for FAAB you are spending minimal money if any at all on Fells.