Streaming Tight Ends: Week 16 Fantasy Football Targets

Dec 19, 2017

If you’re reading this, there’s a solid chance your team is still alive, fighting for that elusive championship. It’s win-or-go-home time, so it is imperative to have the best possible roster at your disposal moving forward. Is the TE you drafted, starter-worthy this week or are you better off grabbing someone off the waiver wire to get the TE1 production your team needs to survive?

The main focus of our research when looking at a TE’s matchup is 4for4’s schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed (aFPA) metric. As the season continues to progress and more data is available, aFPA becomes more and more reliable, using rolling 10-week data. Targets and efficiency metrics are also considered when coming up with weekly TE streamers.

Week 15 was kind to me, as three of my TE streamers landed in the Top 11 in PPR points. Ben Watson posted 17.4 points as TE6, while Eric Ebron’s 14.3 was good enough for TE8, with Charles Clay checking in as TE11 with 11.8 fantasy points. After 15 weeks of football, 4for4 streaming candidates are averaging 8.73 PPR fantasy points per game, which currently ranks as TE15. The optimal TE streamer has 248.6 PPR fantasy points, enough for TE1 on the season thus far. On to Week 16 and the players who’ll help you get that championship win that we’re all chasing.

In order to provide advice that you can actually implement, candidates for streaming must be available in at least 40% of Yahoo fantasy leagues.

Eric Ebron (DET) @ CIN

Ebron doesn’t garner much respect and is perceived as somewhat of a bust by the fantasy community. Sure, he’s not the most consistent producer and only scored eight touchdowns in his first three seasons in the league, but 2017 is proving to be a productive one. The Lions’ TE is right on the bubble of starting TE numbers, sitting as TE14 on the season with 111.2 total PPR points. For the second straight week, Ebron led his offense in opportunity and posted a respectable 14.3 PPR points.

Ideal for streaming this week, Detroit heads to Cincinnati to face a Bengals defense ranked 29th in TE aFPA. The Lions are still fighting for a potential wildcard berth and must win out to do so, with a little help from teams around the league. They have won their last two contests, so look for QB Matthew Stafford to keep feeding Ebron on Sunday. The fourth-year TE is rostered in 43% of Yahoo leagues and is a solid option in Week 16.