Fantasy Football Week 2 Tight End Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Matchup Analysis

The tight ends who succeed in fantasy football on any given week are the guys who find the end zone. That's true of every position, but there is generally less volume fed to most tight ends, so they are more dependent on scoring a TD to secure their place on the leaderboard.

After one week, player rankings are skewed a bit by the guys who happened to score; most of them probably won't hit pay dirt again this week. Playing the matchups rather than going off the most recent game is usually the best way forward.

Let's look at three tight ends to start and two to sit in Week 2 of the fantasy football season. Most stats are from NFL.com, and fantasy points and rankings are from FantasyPros.

Use FantasySP's weekly projections to find the players who are expected to excel and help make your toughest lineup decisions!

Start

Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Last week, I put Mike Gesicki in our start section because of his fantastic matchup against the Bucs. Gesicki lived up to that billing, catching five passes for 78 yards and a touchdown. Well, let's go back to the well with Fannin, who had a quiet Week 1 (two catches, 21 yards) but is coming off a very good rookie season in which he led the Browns in catches, yards, and touchdowns.

Poor quarterback play could be an issue all season, but Fannin overcame that last year while catching most of his passes from Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel. While there are more mouths to feed in the passing game, including two wide receivers drafted in the first two rounds, Fannin is likely to still have plenty of productive games.

Tampa allowed the sixth-most yards per pass attempt and the fifth-most fantasy points to tight ends last season, and while they kept Joe Burrow to just a slightly above-average yards per attempt mark in Week 1, they faltered against the top tight end. Fannin is in position to benefit from the matchup this week.

Chig Okonkwo, Washington Commanders @ Dallas Cowboys

I talked last week about not loving Okonkwo as a fantasy player and had him listed in the sit section because of a tough matchup with Philadelphia. I'm still not enamored with his output, but the matchup is much better this week, so he's worth considering as a lower-level streamer.

Dallas gave up the second-most yards per pass attempt in 2025, but they were in the middle against tight ends in fantasy. In Week 1, Isaiah Likely led the Giants with eight receptions, 78 yards, and two touchdowns against the Cowboys, enjoying a strong first game with New York.

Okonkwo is highly unlikely to match any of those numbers, but things are in his favor here against a defense that has struggled to stop the pass and just allowed a huge game to another tight end. You can cautiously consider Okonkwo, particularly in deeper leagues.

Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Another guy who was here last week! Like Okonkwo, I had Schultz listed in the sit section because he was facing a tougher team in the Bills; he had 35 yards on four catches in a game in which his quarterback threw 38 times. Again, the matchup now turns in this one, giving him a much better outlook in the second week.

Last year, the Bengals allowed the fourth-most yards per pass attempt and by far the most fantasy points to tight ends. They let Baker Mayfield find success when throwing in Week 1 (even though he lost three fumbles), but Cade Otton only caught three passes for 26 yards.

Schultz is a better fantasy player than Otton and has a chance to easily surpass those numbers. While he's not a top-tier player in any matchup, Schultz could have one of his best games in this one, especially with Nico Collins ailing and uncertain to play.

Sit

Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints @ Baltimore Ravens

I've talked a lot this week about how Johnson had a good day in Week 1 (three receptions, 54 yards, and a touchdown), but his quarterback also threw the ball 56 times, something that might not happen again this season. Johnson can still be successful even without that many attempts, but he's a guy who is more dependent on the matchup than his own top level.

The Ravens are a tougher opponent than Detroit was last week. Baltimore gave up the seventh-fewest fantasy points to tight ends last season while sitting in the middle in yards per pass attempt allowed. They stifled the Colts passing game in Week 1 and let Tyler Warren catch just three passes for 13 yards (though he did find the end zone).

With a stingier opponent and the likelihood that his team won't lean into the air raid quite so hard (so to speak), Johnson is a riskier fantasy option this week. He will probably be dependent on scoring a touchdown to make it worth having him in your lineup.

Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts @ Kansas City Chiefs

Speaking of Warren, we just talked about his subpar opening game, though the touchdown did help salvage his fantasy score. We can't count on touchdowns; it's a fool's errand to try to predict who will fall into the end zone. I also have real worries about his quarterback.

Daniel Jones tore his Achilles in the second half of last season and was uncertain to be ready for Week 1, but he was on the field and struggled, with just 5.4 yards per pass attempt. He is likely working his way back physically still, something that will affect his running and passing, and Indianapolis follows up a tough matchup against Baltimore with maybe a tougher one this week against Kansas City.

The Chiefs kept Bo Nix to just 4.7 yards per attempt on Monday night, and while Evan Engram led Denver in receiving, he had just four catches and 43 yards. Oh, and he also scored a touchdown, which helped save his fantasy score and is something we can't ignore, but again, it's tough to count on TDs from week to week.

Warren is a tough player to bench given the success we saw from him in his rookie season, but he also struggled to put up stats after Jones went down last year, and if his quarterback isn't himself right now, those lower performances might continue. You may not have a better option, but I'm skeptical of Warren this week; it's worth seeing what your options are.