The fifth week of the 2016 regular season is just about coming to a close with only the Monday Night Football game remaining. Most fantasy football leagues will run their waiver wires late Tuesday or early Wednesday, but we are here to help you get a jump on the best options to consider.
We will be ranking the top five players likely to be available in your league at each of the four major positions. Some weeks there might not be five good options available, but we’ll scour for the best we can find. Additionally, throughout the week, we will update each of these articles as ownership percentages change (via Yahoo!) and news arrives.
Waiver wire tight end rankings, Week 6
1. Hunter Henry, San Diego Chargers (28 percent owned)
The return of Antonio Gates did not impact Henry’s value as significantly as initially expected. Gates looked slow and was mostly brought in on third down and red zone situations. Henry has proven his effectiveness in Gates’ absence, and it looks as if a situation similar to previous years, in which Ladarius Green and Gates would both prove to be significant fantasy options, is forming once again. Henry caught three passes for 74 yards and a touchdown in the Chargers’ loss to the Raiders. Between the willingness of Philip Rivers to push the ball downfield and the Chargers’ propensity for needing to catch up in games, there should be enough targets/yards for both Henry and Gates to be fairly productive.
2. Jesse James, Pittsburgh Steelers (23 percent owned)
The Pittsburgh tight end has been an effective red zone target for Ben Roethlisberger thus far in 2016, scoring in three of the first five games. James caught six passes for 43 yards and a touchdown in Week 5. He was targeted eight times and has been on the field for almost every offensive snap. Look for the Steelers tight end to continue his involvement on the very explosive Pittsburgh offense.
3. Charles Clay, Buffalo Bills (12 percent owned)
Clay is one of Buffalo’s primary receiving targets as Sammy Watkins continues his stint on the Bills’ injured reserve. The tight end caught five passes for 73 yards in the Bills’ win over the Rams. The Buffalo tight end is somewhat limited by the lack of a passing attack, catching over half of the Bills’ 124 passing yards. Clay has a very advantageous matchup against a susceptible San Francisco secondary in Week 6, which hopefully spurs the Bills to increase their volume of passes.
4. Austin Seferian-Jenkins, New York Jets (three percent owned)
The Jets were the winners of ASJ sweepstakes, picking him up off of waivers after he was released by the Buccaneers. In his Jets debut, Seferian-Jenkins caught two passes for 17 yards, marking the first time this year a Jets tight end made a reception. Although the reception and yardage totals for the New York tight end were low in Week 5, it is likely he will get more involved in the offense as other Jets receivers, including Eric Decker, deal with injuries.
5. C.J. Fiedorowicz, Houston Texans (zero percent owned)
The Texans’ tight end situation has been muddled as both Fiedorowicz and Ryan Griffin split targets and receptions. In Week 5, Griffin exited the game with a neck injury, which left Fiedorowicz as the primary receiver from the tight end position. Fiedorowicz caught four passes for 61 yards in the Texans’ loss to the Vikings. If Griffin misses time with his neck injury, expect Fiedorowicz to be the primary check down target for Brock Osweiler, who has often turned to shorter passing routes as a safety valve this season.