Fantasy Football Week 8 Tight End Who Should I Start? George Kittle, Dallas Goedert, Cade Otton, and More
Comparing George Kittle to three tight ends who he has been matched up with often on FantasySP's start/sit tool.
George Kittle returned from IR last Sunday night to make his first appearance since Week 1 because of a hamstring injury. For the first time in his career, Kittle failed to catch a pass, breaking a streak of 114 straight games.
He's a superstar at his position, so fantasy owners are rightly worried after such a disappointing outing. Because of that, Kittle is showing up all over our FantasySP start/sit tool.
Let's look at Kittle and three tight ends who he has been matched up with often on the start/sit tool. We'll do a head-to-head quick-hit exercise to determine the best starter in each situation. Most stats are from NFL.com.
Use FantasySP's Who Should I Start? tool to compare players and make your toughest lineup decisions each week!
George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers @ Houston Texans
As I mentioned above, Kittle returned in less-than-spectacular fashion. He didn't catch either of his two targets, but he did help as a run blocker; too bad that doesn't count in fantasy football.
That game was against maybe the toughest tight end matchup available in the Atlanta Falcons. This one isn't much better, as the Texans have allowed the fifth-fewest yards per pass attempt and the fifth-fewest fantasy points per game to tight ends.
We know what Kittle is at full strength: he's one of the best tight ends in both real and fantasy football and a weekly fantasy starter. It's possible he could still be dealing with ill effects from the injury, and returning against two tough defenses doesn't do him any favors.
I would almost never recommend leaving Kittle on the bench, but I gave a warning last week and will do the same this week after what we saw in his return. There's a tough outlook in this one.
Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys @ Denver Broncos
Ferguson has been a volume demon, catching 7.3 passes per game but only at 6.5 yards per reception, an almost impossibly low number for a guy as involved as Ferguson. He has also scored six touchdowns, so Ferguson is a phenomenal PPR player.
Volume is doing a lot of the work for his quarterback as well, as Dak Prescott had thrown the second-most pass attempts entering Week 8. Ferguson's numbers will drop if Prescott's also go down, but there's no reason to expect that to happen, as he has been regularly throwing it all over the field.
The Broncos present a tougher matchup, giving up the eighth-fewest yards per pass attempt and the 11th-fewest fantasy points per game to tight ends. Denver has a really tough defense, but they have been closer to average against this position, leaving the possibility of some success.
Ferguson is likely to get more volume if nothing else. This could turn into a high-scoring game given Dallas' propensity for throwing the ball and their own poor defense, and that would mean more chances for Ferguson to catch the football.
Advice: Start Jake Ferguson over George Kittle, especially in PPR. After Week 7, I want to see Kittle succeed against the toughest defenses before trusting him. He might still be recovering, so I'm OK going with the better matchup in Ferguson.
Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants
Goedert is on his way to maybe his best season, on pace for career highs with 72 receptions and 13 touchdowns with nearly 700 yards. He won't catch as many touchdowns moving forward; no one scores once every five receptions. Goedert can still be a useful fantasy player, though, particularly if he finds the end zone somewhat often.
The Giants are a tougher matchup for tight ends, allowing the 10th-fewest yards per pass attempt and the ninth-fewest fantasy points per game to the position. While New York is making more headlines on offense with rookies Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo, the defense is quietly competent, something that was seen as a possibility given the strength of the defensive line.
When these teams played just two weeks ago, Goedert had a huge game, catching nine of his 11 targets for 110 yards and a touchdown. Each of those numbers is a season high other than the TDs, as he caught two in Week 4.
That previous success makes it worth considering Goedert, but the season-long numbers say it's a tougher matchup. He will probably end up closer to his season averages (4.5 catches, 43.5 yards) than that major performance, making Goedert more of a middling fantasy player.
Advice: Start George Kittle over Dallas Goedert. The latter has scored five touchdowns, helping his fantasy scores, but he is a player who needs matchups considered before throwing him into your lineup.
Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ New Orleans Saints
Inconsistency makes it tough to trust any fantasy player, especially a low-ceiling guy like Otton. He had zero catches in two of the first three games, showing as low of a floor as possible.
Otton has been much better the past three weeks, totaling 16 receptions and 197 yards, but he still hasn't found the end zone, and with a total of just 34 yards in his other four games, I'm skeptical of counting on Otton regularly.
The matchup here is in his favor, as the Saints have allowed the 10th-most yards per pass attempt while sitting right in the middle in fantasy points given up to tight ends. New Orleans doesn't offer a great matchup, but they are worse than average, giving Otton the chance of maybe finding the end zone also.
With his low floor, I only want to count on Otton when I need to. That doesn't include starting him over a fantasy superstar, even if the matchups are in his favor.
Advice: Start George Kittle over Cade Otton.
