Week 9 Tight End Rankings for Fantasy Football

We made it, at least for one week, that is. After dealing with six teams on bye last week, that number goes down to four for Week 9. Dallas Goedert continues to score touchdowns, Tucker Kraft was a beast, and Travis Kelce is turning back the clock. We also have Oronde Gadsden putting his name in the mix for the best waiver wire addition of the season.

Now, it’s time to apply everything we’ve seen to this point and look forward. Let’s jump right into our Week 9 NFL Tight Rankings. But first, we’ll take a look at the top performers from Week 8 and then set the stage for the landscape of the upcoming week.

Week 8 Top-Five Performances

Tucker Kraft – 7 catches, 143 yards, 2 TD
Travis Kelce – 6 catches, 99 yards, TD
Oronde Gadsden – 5 catches, 77 yards, TD
Harold Fannin – 6 catches, 62 yards, TD
Dallas Goedert – 3 catches, 28 yards, 2 TD

Week 9 Bye Weeks

Cleveland Browns – Harold Fannin and David Njoku
Philadelphia Eagles – Dallas Goedert
New York Jets – Mason Taylor
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Cade Otton

Injury Notes for Week 9

This is the section I don’t want to write each week. The hope is that we have a clean slate with everyone available on a weekly basis. At least at the time of publishing, heading into Week 9, things are relatively stable. Now, let’s hope I didn’t jinx us.

Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders

After injuring his knee, we haven’t seen Brock Bowers on the field since Week 4. Bowers is still looking for his first touchdown of the season, but he does have 19 catches for 225 yards. It’s not the production fantasy managers were looking for when they drafted Bowers in the second round, but he has a clean start for Week 9.

Following the Raiders’ bye week, Bowers is slated to return to action this week. And when he does, Bowers should go right back into your starting lineup.

Daniel Bellinger, New York Giants

As Jaxson Dart continues to get more comfortable, it’s only natural that more New York Giants receivers will see an uptick in their production. While Theo Johnson is the tight end we have our eye on, Daniel Bellinger carved out a role.

Prior to last week, Bellinger had seven catches for 140 yards and a touchdown. Last week, he caught one pass for 21 yards before exiting with a neck injury. At this point, it doesn’t look like we’ll have Bellinger for Week 9, which means Johnson will take on a larger role.

Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears

Last week, Cole Kmet missed the first game of his career with a back injury. While he’s not headed to Injured Reserve, I’m not sure that Kmet will return to the lineup for Week 9. That means rookie Colston Loveland will get another chance at starting.

Tight End Notes

George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers

After being sidelined since Week 1, George Kittle returned to action in Week 7. The tight end finished without a catch, but things went much better last week. We saw Kittle get back to form as he caught four passes for 43 yards and a touchdown.

It was a rough week for the San Francisco 49ers’ offense, but it was a good sign for Kittle to carve out a solid performance. This week, Brock Purdy returns to action, and that should be even better for Kittle. He has a solid matchup against the New York Giants. And as the 49ers are still shorthanded at the receiver position, Kittle should be busy.

Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears

After the Chicago Bears drafted Colston Loveland in the first round this season, expectations followed suit. Instead, it’s been a slow start to the season for the rookie. Now, with Cole Kmet sidelined, it looks like we’ll have another week of Loveland.

Last week, Loveland was targeted five times. He finished with three catches for 38 yards as he brought his totals for the season to 11 catches for 116 yards. Perhaps he gets his first career touchdown this week in a favorable matchup against a weak Cincinnati Bengals defense?

T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings

With the return of J.J. McCarthy for the Minnesota Vikings, will it jump-start things for T.J. Hockenson? So far this season, things haven’t gone according to plan for both Hockenson and the Vikings’ offense. However, after the tight end went out for a route on 30 of 40 snaps last week, it wasn’t exactly for a lack of trying.

Last week, that translated to just two catches for 26 yards for Hockenson. So far this season, he has just 27 catches for 222 yards and a touchdown, but we know he’s capable of more. Given the state of the tight end position, he might have to appear on your radar in deeper leagues. The good news is that you can do worse.

Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons

While he’s only gotten into the end zone once this season, it’s still been a productive season for Kyle Pitts. It did help that Drake London was out this past week, but Pitts did catch nine passes for 59 yards while the Atlanta Falcons were playing from behind.

So far this year, Pitts has been targeted 47 times while catching 39 passes for 344 yards. It’s possible that London does return this week, but if not, it will be Pitts who gets the benefit. And even if London is on the field, Pitts has carved out enough of a role to be worthy of a starting spot in most leagues.

Check out all of our Week 9 Rankings: Flex Rankings | QB Rankings | RB Rankings | WR Rankings | TE Rankings