Last week when I said Jack Doyle put the nail in Dwayne Allen's fantasy coffin, I was mostly noting how lackluster Allen had performed in comparison to Doyle. In Week 7, they all failed to live up to the Mighty Doyle as the Indianapolis tight end finished with nine receptions, 78 yards receiving and one touchdown. Doyle was certainly the biggest surprise of the week, finishing as TE1. However, other notable players like Rob Gronkowski, Gary Barnidge, and Delanie Walker also turned in quality performances.
The biggest question this week is the status of Jordan Reed. Two of our rankers went with Vernon Davis as their Washington tight end, while three went with Reed. Reed has been cleared to practice, but he still has to get final clearance from the concussion protocol. If Reed plays, he is a must start. If Davis plays, he is a solid back-end TE1 option.
Week 8 brings one of the heavier bye weeks of the season, but the only top 10 fantasy tight end out of action is Dennis Pitta. Daily fantasy matchup plays like Jesse James and Lance Kendricks are also off this week, but there are still a few quality plays out there this week:
C.J. Fiedorowicz – If you are ever confused about who to start at tight end this season just look for whichever team is playing the Detroit Lions. Fiedorowicz not only has a juicy matchup, but he has been targeted at least seven times in each of the last three games with yardage totals of 35, 61, and 85. He does have two touchdowns on the season, making Fiedorowicz a solid streamer this week.
Vernon Davis – This is strictly a recommendation if Jordan Reed sits another game, but Davis has been more than serviceable in relief. He’s totaled eight receptions for 129 yards receiving and one touchdown over the last two weeks. He gets the early game in London and if the Bengals can’t improve their tight end coverage they could be in for a long day.
Julius Thomas – There were hints he would be more involved in Week 7 and while that wasn’t necessarily the case (he tied a season high with seven targets), he did pull in the Jaguars’ lone touchdown reception. It’s hard to trust Blake Bortles, but Thomas did get score in both games against the Titans in 2015.
Tight Ends, Week 8
(ZS: Zach Senvisky, JM: Jason Marcum, SK: Scott Kaliska, JG: Jeff Goldberg, KB: Kyle Bennett, DG: Derek Gordon)
| Rk | Consensus | Tm | Opp. | ZS | JM | SK | JG | KB | DG |
| 1 | Rob Gronkowski | NE | @ BUF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Greg Olsen | CAR | vs. ARI | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Jimmy Graham | SEA | @ NO | 2 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| 4 | Delanie Walker | TEN | vs. JAC | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | Travis Kelce | KC | @ IND | 5 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| 6 | Jack Doyle | IND | vs. KC | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 |
| 7 | Coby Fleener | NO | vs. SEA | 13 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| 8 | Kyle Rudolph | MIN | @ CHI | 6 | 14 | 6 | 15 | 6 | 14 |
| 9 | Martellus Bennett | NE | @ BUF | 7 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 13 |
| 10 | Tyler Eifert | CIN | vs. WAS | 9 | 10 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 12 |
| 11 | Jordan Reed | WAS | @ CIN | -- | 7 | -- | 3 | 8 | 4 |
| 12 | Zach Ertz | PHI | @ DAL | 16 | 5 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 7 |
| 13 | Jason Witten | DAL | vs. PHI | 22 | 11 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 14 | Julius Thomas | JAC | @ TEN | 12 | 15 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 16 |
| 15 | Gary Barnidge | CLE | vs. NYJ | 10 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 16 | 17 |
| 16 | Hunter Henry | SD | @ DEN | 14 | 16 | 22 | 9 | 15 | 15 |
| 17 | Zach Miller | CHI | vs. MIN | -- | 12 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 11 |
| 18 | Antonio Gates | SD | @ DEN | 18 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 21 | 18 |
| 19 | C.J. Fiedorowicz | HOU | vs. DET | 11 | 25 | 10 | 23 | 20 | -- |
| 20 | Cameron Brate | TB | vs. OAK | 15 | 21 | 15 | 22 | 22 | 21 |
| 21 | Eric Ebron | DET | @ HOU | 21 | 20 | -- | 19 | 19 | 20 |
| 22 | Charles Clay | BUF | vs. NE | 25 | 23 | 17 | 20 | 18 | 24 |
| 23 | Clive Walford | OAK | @ TB | 17 | 22 | 24 | 21 | 23 | 22 |
| 24 | Jacob Tamme | ATL | vs. GB | 24 | 18 | 21 | 25 | 25 | 19 |
| 25 | Vernon Davis | WAS | @ CIN | 19 | -- | 13 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Virgil Green | DEN | vs. SD | 23 | 24 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 23 |
| -- | Erik Swoope | IND | vs. KC | 20 | -- | 25 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Richard Rodgers | GB | @ ATL | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 25 |