Week 6 Fantasy Football TE Waiver Targets and Streaming Options: Strange Brings Intrigue

Tight end; if you don't have a guy like Trey McBride or Brock Bowers, you're probably trying to figure out this position on the fly each week. There are other weekly starters, but most TEs are dependent on matchups and best used when playing the weakest opponents. You will see a lot of that with the players below who found success in Week 5 but are not weekly fantasy options.

Let's look at four of the top tight end names on the waiver wire heading into Week 6. Most stats are from NFL.com, and fantasy points and rankings are from FantasyPros.

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Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers

I listed Freiermuth (and teammate Darnell Washington to a lesser degree) as a decent lower-level streamer in Week 5 because of a great matchup against the Colts. Freiermuth came through, catching five passes for 44 yards and two touchdowns. Each of those numbers at least tied a season high other than the yards, which were two short of the 46 he gained in Week 1.

Though he has been successful so far, Freiermuth will likely find it difficult to keep up this level of play. He is a top-eight TE in both standard and PPR prior to Monday night's game, but Freiermuth is generally a middling statistical player at best, relying on touchdowns for most of his fantasy production. That's fine when he scores, but it's tough to count on a TD in any given week.

Freiermuth is better as a player to deploy only in the right matchups. This week against Tampa Bay brings an opponent that has been average against the pass and a little worse than that level against tight ends, so it's an OK matchup, but I won't be pointing out Freiermuth as a player to start; he's more of a middling-at-best fantasy option.

Mike Gesicki, Cincinnati Bengals

Another player I recommended who found the end zone! This wasn't a win quite as big as with Freiermuth, as Gesicki had only one reception, though it went for a four-yard touchdown. That makes four out of five games in which Gesicki has scored a TD this season, which makes him an intriguing fantasy player.

There are a few reasons to hesitate on picking him up, though. First, and most pressing, is that Cincinnati has their bye this week, so you'd be picking up Gesicki to fill a bench spot. Second, like Freiermuth, Gesicki is more dependent on touchdowns for fantasy production. That describes most tight ends, but it means that he should only be in your lineup when the matchup is right (again, like most tight ends).

The Bengals have a string of tougher tight end opponents coming up after the bye, including the Ravens and Titans immediately after, two teams that have been better than average against the position. It's best to leave Gesicki on the waiver wire and consider picking him up later this season, like when he faces Washington and New Orleans back to back on either side of Thanksgiving.

Hunter Henry, New England Patriots

I didn't point out Henry last week, but my colleague Morgan Rode did in our expert picks column, pegging him as a player who could score a touchdown given his matchup against the Raiders. Guess what happened: Henry caught three passes for 44 yards and his first score of the season. (We were on fire last week! Enjoy it while it lasts…)

It hasn't been a great start to the season for Henry, who is averaging just three catches and 35.4 yards per game to go with that one TD. We have seen Henry have strong stretches in his career while also falling into anonymous territory at times; sounds like most of the tight ends we deal with in fantasy. That leaves him as another guy to put in your lineup when the matchup is right but leave him on the bench (or waiver wire) otherwise.

While there are a few good matchups against the Dolphins and Lions between now and Thanksgiving, the Patriots otherwise face teams that have done very well stopping tight ends, including this coming week against the Jets. I can't recommend picking Henry up right now, waiting instead for decent outlooks again in Weeks 8 and 10.

Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars

We're usually looking at guys who got into the end zone the previous week when talking about tight end waivers, but Strange did more from a volume standpoint, catching seven passes for 68 yards without scoring. That came one week after he had another seven receptions for 95 yards, making two straight productive weeks for Strange without finding the end zone.

The first three weeks of the season were slow, as Strange averaged 2.3 catches and 24 yards per game with one total touchdown. While some may want to look at the past two weeks as a new emergence for Strange, it's more likely that he vacillates between decent games and anonymous performances, leaving him as nothing more than a streaming-level player.

I wish I had better news, but there don't appear to be any breakout players available for fantasy owners at this position. That's usually the case, but we can always hope for more, right? Strange simply fits into the “middling tight end” range with so many other guys who depend on matchups.

The Jags have a phenomenal matchup this week against the Colts, leaving Strange as a player who is worthy of picking up. Don't expect him to be a long-term fix at the position if you are struggling to find consistent production, but Strange is a real option this week before a string of middling-or-worse matchups after Week 6.