Streaming Tight Ends: Week 6 Targets

Oct 09, 2018

In what feels like the blink of an eye, we’ve reached Week 6. Now’s the perfect time to evaluate your roster choices and gauge if the tight end you drafted is worthy of starting or if you need to hit the waiver wire in search of a better option. If you purposely approached drafting the tight end position with the intention of streaming weekly, I’ve got you covered there, too. As a strategy, streaming aims to find players with above-average matchups, which can hopefully translate to TE1 production for your fantasy squad.

For streaming purposes, 4for4’s Schedule-Adjusted Fantasy Points Allowed (aFPA) is a metric we rely heavily on to determine weekly matchup strength. 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 choosing weekly streamers.

4for4 rankings also come into play here and should always be considered when making league-specific roster decisions.

The goal is to roster a player who will return TE1 fantasy points and sadly, we did no such thing this week. Geoff Swaim at TE14 was my high point with 8.5 PPR points, followed by Nick Vannett’s underwhelming 7.3 PPR points. The optimal TE streamer has 69.3 PPR fantasy points—good enough for TE1 on the season thus far, with all streamers averaging 7.1 PPR points per contest which checks in as TE6. On to Week 6, and the players who can fill in on a bye week, bail you out of a bad draft choice or simply provide the weekly streaming points you crave.

In order to provide advice you can actually implement, candidates for tight end streaming consideration must be owned in no more than 40 percent of Yahoo fantasy leagues.

Top Streaming Picks

Cameron Brate (Buccaneers) @ Falcons

Two factors come into play here, and neither of them is super data driven. O.J. Howard has an MCL sprain and is sidelined for a few weeks, and Jameis Winston is back under center. Brate has historically been one of Winston’s favorite targets, as he averaged 12.3 yards per catch in 2017 with six touchdowns. (I had to sneak in some data, as that’s what we’re all about.)

With the boys back together, Brate should see an increase in usage this week against NFC South rival Atlanta, as both teams attempt to make some headway in their division. Brate is rostered in 30 percent of Yahoo leagues and with a very well rested QB under center, should make a solid streamer this week.