Fantasy Football Week 10 Tight End Start/Sit: Dalton Kincaid, Luke Musgrave, and More

Brock Bowers suffered an injury in Week 1 after five catches and 103 yards. He played the next three games but was obviously hampered, averaging 4.7 receptions but just 40.7 yards per game. He looked more like a decent tight end than a top-level pass catcher.

Bowers then sat out the next three games and the team's Week 8 bye before returning last week against the Jaguars. He made up for lost time, catching 12 of 13 targets for 127 yards and three touchdowns. It's safe to say that Bowers is back at the top of the tight end hierarchy, leaving one less streamer that fantasy owners need to find each week.

Let's look at three tight ends to start and three to sit in Week 10 of the NFL season. I won't give you any obvious names, like Bowers. Instead, there are six players listed below who are good fantasy starters some weeks but better left on the bench other times. Most stats are from NFL.com.

Use FantasySP's weekly projections to find the players expected to perform best and help make your toughest lineup decisions!

Start

Theo Johnson, New York Giants @ Chicago Bears

Johnson has been a bit of a low-volume player, but he keep scoring touchdowns, finding the end zone five times in the last six games. That's not a recipe for sustained success because touchdowns are random and will slow down. A guy who doesn't touch the ball a lot won't have consistent success.

Johnson is still worth considering in the right matchups, though, and this is one of those games. Chicago has allowed the third-most yards per pass attempt and the 11th-most fantasy points per game to tight ends. The position has averaged 6.5 receptions and 57.9 yards per game against the Bears with four touchdowns.

Johnson is a lower-level player, but he has formed a report with Jaxson Dart and will likely keep getting targets with a lack of playmakers around him. Malik Nabers is out for the year, and Cam Skattebo recently joined him, so the Giants will need players to step up, and Johnson has been involved. The matchup has him on the streaming radar.

Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills @ Miami Dolphins

Kincaid has split snaps with Dawson Knox, somtimes playing less than the veteran tight end, but he is by far the top receiver from that group. Kincaid leads the Bills in receiving yards and touchdowns, and he is third in targets and receptions behind receivers Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman.

In his past three games, Kincaid had six catches and over 100 yards twice. He has mixed in a few one-catch games as well, so it hasn't been consistent success, but Kincaid has shown himself to be a valuable fantasy player.

The matchup is also in his favor in this one, as the Dolphins have given up the sixth-most yards per pass attempt and the fifth-most fantasy points per game to tight ends. These teams played back in Week 3, and Kincaid caught five of six targets for 66 yards and a touchdown. Even backup tight end Jackson Hawes caught a five-yard TD.

Everything is set up for another successful game. Miami is poor defensively, and the Bills keep doing their thing. Kincaid is a strong fantasy player in Week 10.

Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New England Patriots

Speaking of inconsistency, Otton started the year with four games in which he didn't top three receptions or 25 yards. In the four games since then, he has had at least four catches and 40 yards in each contest, averaging nearly 60 yards per game in that time.

Tampa Bay has been dealing with wide receiver injuries since before the season even started, so it's not a surprise to see Otton have a role in the offense. He has been one of the only stable pass catchers on the team.

The Patriots have allowed the ninth-most yards per pass attempt and the seventh-most fantasy points per game to tight ends. TE groups have averaged close to six catches and 65 yards per game with four touchdowns. Four of those nine teams have gotten at least eight receptions from their tight ends against New England.

Otton is more of a low-to-mid-level streamer, but the matchup is in his favor. Mike Evans is out long term, and Chris Godwin is questionable and not practicing as of Thursday, so there should be targets to go around.

Sit

Luke Musgrave, Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Tucker Kraft suffered a torn ACL last week, robbing the Packers of maybe their best pass catcher in 2025. It's easy to think that Musgrave, a player drafted in the second round the same year as Kraft, could step in and fill much of that void.

Musgrave just hasn't been close to the player that Kraft has, though, catching 50 passes in 26 games. To expect him to be anything close to Kraft from a production standpoint is fantasy malpractice until we see him excel.

That's unlikely to happen in this game, as the Eagles have allowed the 10th-fewest yards per pass attempt and the third-fewest fantasy points per game to tight ends. The position is averaging just four catches and 32.6 yards per game with one total touchdown; only two teams have topped 50 yards, and the high mark was 62 from the Chiefs.

Without knowing what to expect from Musgrave in a new role, there's no way to trust him in this matchup. Don't count on him in any format.

Jonnu Smith, Pittsburgh Steelers @ Los Angeles Chargers

Pittsburgh has three tight ends who play real snaps in Smith, Pat Freiermuth, and Darnell Washington; that makes it tough to trust any of the three in fantasy, kind of like a split backfield.

Smith leads the group in targets and receptions (he's second on the team behind DK Metcalf), and Freiermuth tops the tight ends in yards and touchdowns (he's also second on the team behind Metcalf in each stat). Washington lags behind in each category.

There's extra reason to skip this triumvirate this week, as the Chargers present a brutal matchup. Los Angeles has given up the third-fewest yards per pass attempt and the sixth-fewest fantasy points per game to tight ends. TEs are averaging just 3.6 receptions and 36.3 yards against LA.

Even if I got the entire production of all three Pittsburgh tight ends, I still wouldn't want to start that player in fantasy this week. It's a tough matchup, and Smith is likely to have a quiet game in this one.

Mason Taylor, New York Jets vs. Cleveland Browns

Taylor is at least tied for second on the Jets in targets, receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns. The problem is that New York has a low-volume passing game, so with Garrett Wilson far ahead of everyone else in each category, no one else is left with enough volume to find consistent fantasy success.

Taylor was listed as a starter in this column last week with a fantastic matchup against the Bengals; he caught five passes for 34 yards and his first career touchdown. The opponent isn't nearly as nice this time around, as Taylor faces a tougher AFC North defense.

Cleveland actually sits close to the middle in both yards per pass attempt allowed and fantasy points per game given up to tight ends. They don't have the traditional shutdown defense that's usually listed here.

Instead, this is about Cleveland having a successful defense overall and to chance to stifle New York's offense. The Jets do their best work on the ground, and the Browns have allowed the third-fewest yards per rush attempt. If they can force New York to be one-dimensional and throw the ball, it's going to be an ugly day for the Jets' offense. Taylor isn't in position to succeed.