Fantasy Football Week 15 Tight End Rankings

The 2021-22 NFL season has only four weeks left. Bye weeks are over which means the fantasy playoffs have begun in most standard leagues. This time of year COVID-19 is running rampant which makes it important to have backup options on your fantasy roster. On top of that injuries are continuing to mount up. It is always a great idea to evaluate backup options so that way fantasy managers are prepared if star players miss time. Here are the Fantasy Football Week 15 tight end rankings.

*Ratings are subject to change due to injury reports or possible move to reserve/COVID-19 list*

(Check out the section below for details on players already rumored to possibly miss this week and how their replacement options rank for the week)

Key:

Must Start- a player who is in your lineup regardless of the matchup or most circumstances. They Will likely finish near the top of the league in points that week and in most weeks.

Starting TE1- a player who makes fantasy owners comfortable starting week after week. Regardless of the matchup, this player has a solid floor.

TD Dependent Starter- a player who may not be a lock to start for a team every week, but will start more times than not because of depth at the position. Their production is based on whether they can get in the end zone or not. It can be the difference between a top 10 performance or top 25 performance

Deep League Starter- a player whose ceiling isn’t high but should put up enough production to be started in deep leagues. When a player like this is started it is because their production though it will likely be low, will be better than a few options.

Leave on the Bench- a player who should be avoided in all lineups that week. Many times this player could even be left on waivers.

Category	Name	Opponent	Ranking
Must Start	George Kittle*	vs Atlanta Falcons	TE1
Must Start	Mark Andrews	vs Green Bay Packers	TE2
Must Start	Travis Kelce	vs Los Angeles Chargers	TE3
Must Start	Rob Gronkowski	vs New Orleans Saints	TE4
Starting TE1	Mike Gesicki	vs New York Jets	TE5
Starting TE1	Dawson Knox	vs Carolina Panthers	TE6
Starting TE1	Zach Ertz	vs Detroit Lions	TE7
Starting TE1	Kyle Pitts	vs San Francisco 49ers	TE8
Starting TE1	Tyler Higbee	vs Seattle Seahawks	TE9
Starting TE1	Dallas Goedert	vs Washington Football Team	TE10
TD Dependent Starter	Hunter Henry	vs Indianapolis Colts	TE11
TD Dependent Starter	Pat Freiermuth	vs Tennessee Titans	TE12
TD Dependent Starter	Jared Cook	vs Kansas City Chiefs	TE13
TD Dependent Starter	Noah Fant	vs Cincinnati Bengals	TE14
TD Dependent Starter	David Njoku*	vs Las Vegas Raiders	TE15
TD Dependent Starter	Ricky Seals-Jones	vs Philadelphia Eagles	TE16
TD Dependent Starter	Dalton Schultz	vs New York Giants	TE17
TD Dependent Starter	Gerald Everett	vs Los Angeles Rams	TE18
TD Dependent Starter	Foster Moreau	vs Cleveland Browns	TE19
Deep League Starter	Austin Hooper*	vs Las Vegas Raiders	TE20
Deep League Starter	Tyler Conklin	vs Chicago Bears	TE21
Deep League Starter	Brevin Jordan*	vs Jacksonville Jaguars	TE22
Deep League Starter	C.J. Uzomah	vs Denver Broncos	TE23
Deep League Starter	Cole Kmet	vs Minnesota Vikings	TE24
Leave on the Bench	Nick Vannett	vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers	TE25
Leave on the Bench	Evan Engram	vs Dallas Cowboys	TE26
Leave on the Bench	James O’Shaughnessy	vs Houston Texans	TE27
Leave on the Bench	Albert Okwuegbunam	vs Cincinnati Bengals	TE28
Leave on the Bench	Marcedes Lewis	vs Baltimore Ravens	TE29
Leave on the Bench	Jack Doyle*	vs New England Patriots	TE30
Leave on the Bench	Jonnu Smith	vs Indianapolis Colts	TE31
Leave on the Bench	Ryan Griffin	vs Miami Dolphins	TE32
Leave on the Bench	John Bates	vs Philadelphia Eagles	TE33
Leave on the Bench	Geoff Swaim	vs Pittsburgh Steelers	TE34
Leave on the Bench	Brock Wright	vs Arizona Cardinals	TE35
Leave on the Bench	Mo Alie-Cox	vs New England Patriots	TE36

Changes that already occurred

T.J. Hockenson, Detroit Lions

T.J. Hockenson missed last week with a hand injury. On Thursday Hockenson had thumb surgery that ended his 2021-22 season. Brock Wright will now step up as the Lions starting tight end the rest of the year. It would be advised to void Wright in standard fantasy formats.

Darren Waller, Las Vegas Raiders

Darren Waller has been considered week-to-week with a knee injury. He missed the past two games and will miss this week’s game against the Cleveland Browns. So Foster Moreau becomes a fringe TE2 play with upside this week.

Possible Changes that can occur before Sunday

TE1 George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers

George Kittle was held out of practice Wednesday with knee soreness. It is unclear when or if he will return to practice this week. If Kittle is out this week against the Atlanta Falcons that means Ross Dwelley would join the list at TE26 between Nick Vannett and Evan Engram.

Cleveland Browns Tight Ends: TE16 David Njoku & TE20 Austin Hooper

David Njoku was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list last week. Austin Hooper was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list this week. It is unclear if Njoku can return before this week’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders. While it is unlikely that Hooper can return before the game. If only one of them is active this week then they will slot at TE13 between Hunter Henry and Pat Freiermuth. If neither is active and Harrison Bryant is the starter then he will slot in at TE18 between Ricky Seals-Jones and Dalton Schultz. If none of the three are active then Miller Forristall is an interesting DFS play.

TE22 Brevin Jordan, Houston Texans

Brevin Jordan was limited in practice Wednesday with a hand injury. If he is inactive against Jacksonville this week then Pharaoh Brown will slot in at TE30 between Marcedes Lewis and Jack Doyle.

TE30 Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts