Fantasy Football Week 5 Tight End Who Should I Start? Darren Waller, Brock Bowers, and More
Comparing Darren Waller to four tight ends that he has been matched up with often on the FantasySP Who Should I Start? tool.
Darren Waller made a splash in his first game of the season, catching two touchdowns and finishing among the top five tight ends in both standard and PPR scoring.
After a year of retirement, there was intrigue around how he would return; Waller was a former Pro Bowler after all. With a big fantasy score in his first game back, Waller burst into fantasy consciousness.
That has fantasy owners scrambling, wondering if this is a blip on the radar or a sign of things to come. Waller has been showing up all over our FantasySP start/sit tool.
Let's look at Waller and four guys he has been compared to often on the start/sit tool: Brock Bowers, Zach Ertz, Hunter Henry, and Brenton Strange. Most stats are from NFL.com.
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Darren Waller, Miami Dolphins @ Carolina Panthers
We talked about the scores, but Waller had just three receptions for 27 yards. It's reasonable to think that he will become more involved in the offense as he gets more time under his belt, and that process is likely to speed up because Tyreek Hill was lost to an ugly knee injury in Week 4.
Waller played just 16 snaps in Week 4 versus 40 for Julian Hill; he was used measuredly. With more reps, more conditioning, and more familiarity with Tua Tagovailoa, Waller is sure to be a bigger part of things moving forward.
The Panthers have allowed the eighth-most fantasy points to tight ends. They are closer to the middle in efficiency, allowing just the 14th-most yards per pass attempt, but I am holding my belief that Carolina is a below-average pass defense, and they will drop in that statistic over time.
There's enough here to believe that Waller can be a regular contributor. With a good matchup in Week 5, Waller is a decent fantasy option, though we can't count on him to score multiple touchdowns every week.
Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders @ Indianapolis Colts
Bowers is generally a must-start player, but he is hobbled by a knee injury, so is there enough here to make Waller more favorable? Bowers had five receptions for 103 yards before getting hurt in Week 1; here are his numbers in the three weeks since:
- Week 2 vs. Chargers: 5 catches, 38 yards
- Week 3 @ Commanders: 4 catches, 38 yards
- Week 4 vs. Bears: 5 catches, 46 yards
He has still seen enough volume, but Bowers hasn't had any explosion to his game. Bowers said that he felt like he wasn't going full speed right now, so there's a real question as to how effective he can be.
The matchup against the Colts is middling. Indianapolis is right in the middle in terms of yards per pass attempt allowed and fantasy points given up to tight ends. They have given up the 11th-fewest points, generally looking a little better than average on D.
This depends on whether you think Bowers is compromised enough to leave out of the lineup. He is likely to play, and if that's the case, I'm not benching him, though there is risk involved.
Advice: Start Brock Bowers over Darren Waller.
Zach Ertz, Washington Commanders @ Los Angeles Chargers
Ertz surely welcomes the return of his starting quarterback, Jayden Daniels, who has been out the last two weeks. Ertz combined for nine catches, 90 yards, and two touchdowns in two games with Daniels and just five catches, 59 yards, and no scores without the top QB.
It's a bad matchup to come back to, though, as the Chargers have allowed the second-fewest yards per pass attempt and 11th-fewest fantasy points to tight ends. LA has been a little more susceptible to the run than the pass, so Washington might do most of their damage on the ground, leaving Ertz with fewer chances at big plays.
With a middling player and a poor matchup, I'm not looking to start Ertz in any format. Daniels' return is nice, but the outlook here isn't good enough to make Ertz enticing.
Advice: Start Darren Waller over Zach Ertz.
Hunter Henry, New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills
This is about as tough a matchup as you're going to find for a tight end. Buffalo has given up the fewest yards per pass attempt and third-fewest fantasy points to TEs. The Bills have been strong against tight ends for years, finishing within the seven best in stopping the position in fantasy every season from 2021-23 before a blip last year that knocked them to the middle.
With the numbers again stingy to tight ends, every player is a risky fantasy proposition. Henry has had good matchups so far this season, facing the Raiders, Dolphins, Steelers, and Panthers; all those teams are middling or worse against the pass and tight ends.
Henry took advantage, averaging close to four catches and 50 yards per game while scoring three touchdowns. He has a good quarterback in Drake Maye who will generally set a nice floor, but Henry's fantasy value is dependent on his matchup.
Advice: Start Darren Waller over Hunter Henry.
Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Strange was involved but unspectacular in the first four games, averaging 4.8 receptions and 45.5 receptions per game. He hasn't gotten into the end zone, which lowers his fantasy value and has him around TE15 in both scoring formats.
That makes Strange worthy of fantasy consideration, but there seems to be a low ceiling both on the player and his team. He's more of a guy to consider when the matchup is right if you don't have another option and just need to get some points.
Kansas City has given up the 10th-fewest yards per pass attempt and the fourth-fewest fantasy points to tight ends. A team's performance defending the pass doesn't always match up with their performance against tight ends, but KC has been good in both cases and even better against TEs.
With Strange having a low ceiling and a tougher matchup here, I'm not putting him in my lineup. You can find a better tight end in Week 5.
Advice: Start Darren Waller over Brenton Strange.
