Week 8 TE Waiver Pickups & Adds: Richard Rodgers A Go-To Option For Wentz

We get a few tight ends back off a bye this week, which is a positive, and Week 8 isn’t a strong bye week for tight ends with Houston, Jacksonville, Arizona, and Washington being the teams off. However, the Eagles have two tight ends currently on IR, and Austin Hooper is doubtful to play this week. Tyler Higbee also missed this past game against the Bears. While he won’t be mentioned below to pick up, Dallas Goedert should be returning after the bye week, which for the Eagles is this upcoming week. Zach Ertz is still expected to miss some time. The position is thin right now, and streaming tight ends is going to be about matchups and the potential for volume.

Week 8 TE Waiver Wire Pickups

Richard Rodgers – Philadelphia Eagles

With Dallas Goedert and Zach Ertz out, Richard Rodgers has stepped in as a fill-in option. The Eagles also just lost DeSean Jackson for essentially the rest of the season. Carson Wentz continues to churn out passing yards despite limited options, and Richard Rodgers was one of the last game against the Giants. He had six receptions for 85 yards and eight targets. While he is running a lot of shorter routes as you’d expect, he stands a good chance to rack up PPR numbers. Wentz did look his way twice on deep balls, so that is in the works as well. Rodgers gets a favorable matchup this week as well, facing the Dallas Cowboys. Their defense has struggled, and tight ends have been able to average 14.2 fantasy points per game against them this season.

Irv Smith Jr. – Minnesota Vikings

As mentioned before, the bye week, Irv Smith was trending up over the prior two games. He is second on the team in red zone targets this season (4) and has five targets in each of the last two games and 5+ in three of the last four. Smith is going to be worth a look moving forward, and with the Vikings defense not getting any better, Smith will find himself in some favorable game scripts. He has 19.9 PPR points over the last two games and is certainly the more talented tight end at this point in his career compared to Kyle Rudolph. Smith will see the Lions and the Bears after this week, which are two favorable matchups as well. You aren’t spending any crazy FAAB money on any of these names, but Smith stands the best chance to be relevant and not rely on injuries. However, that means putting trust in Mike Zimmer to get him the ball more.

Trey Burton – Indianapolis Colts

Mo Allie-Cox is banged up, and his status is up in the air moving forward. While Jack Doyle has still seen snaps, Trey Burton has been the better weapon for Frank Reich and Philip Rivers. The Colts get the Lions this week, and while the Lions haven’t allowed a ton of fantasy points, they have played, but Arizona, New Orleans without Jared Cook, and Jacksonville are three games with no receiving threats at tight end. Hayden Hurst, Jimmy Graham, and Robert Tonyan all crossed the ten fantasy point mark. Burton has 17 targets over his last three games and two red zone targets in that span as well. These colts tight ends are not going to stretch the field like Allie-Cox but will be able to pick up YAC and some cheap receptions.

Gerald Everett – Los Angeles Rams

The Tyler Higbee injury opened up Gerald Everett last night, as he posted 13 PPR points. The Rams are just an offensive timeshare across multiple positions. Higbee had the one big week but has been quiet since. Everett had a big 4-90-0 line against Washington and then the touchdown last week. Higbee’s status moving forward is unclear, but there is potential to have some fantasy value over the next few weeks. Everett is certainly more of a desperation grab in deep leagues if you are hurting at the position. He does have some favorable matchups coming up if Higbee was to miss extended time. He gest the Dolphins and Seahawks over the next two games.

Harrison Bryant – Cleveland Browns

With Austin Hooper doubtful for this week, Harrison Bryant is a solid streaming option to consider. He had five targets last week, and two of them were in the red zone. He also had two deep targets, and that upside is there for the Browns playmakers now that OBJ is done for the season. It is a great matchup against the Raiders, who have allowed 11.9 fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends this season. Bryant is seeing more targets and snaps than David Njoku, although he will still get some work regardless. While Hooper should be back relatively soon after next week, this is nothing more than a quick rental. However, if people do drop Austin Hooper, you need to scoop him up for the rest of the season. This is an illness and not an injury that will be lingering. With OBJ out, I would expect Hooper to see a few extra targets, and he already was getting more involved in the offense.

Albert Owuegbunam – Denver Broncos

Albert Okwuegbunam is a talented rookie tight end out of Missouri and has been emerging as an option for Drew Lock in the last two weeks. Even with Noah Fant returning, Okwuegbunam had a red zone target and seven targets in general. He caught all seven of them for 60 yards. He now has 105 yards on nine catches over the last two weeks and 13 targets. It is not a bad stretch for him with the Chargers, Falcons, Raiders, and Dolphins over the next four weeks. With Courtland Sutton out, Denver has had to vary in options, and Jerry Jeudy seeing top-end coverage has pushed a lot of targets elsewhere. The same goes for a thriving Tim Patrick. If Okwuegbunam is a secondary option for defenses to cover, he is going to eat moving forward. I would look at him more in deeper leagues.