Streaming Tight Ends: Week 4 Targets

Sep 27, 2016

So you missed out on a top tier TE, or purposely chose to wait until later rounds with the strategy of streaming the position weekly? You’ve come to the right place. It’s time to assess your lineup and see if the TE you drafted is starter-worthy this week or if you are better off grabbing someone off the waiver wire who has an above average matchup which can hopefully translate to TE1 production.

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.

The goal is to roster a player that is going to return TE1 fantasy points and in Week 3, my picks were a mixed bag. Dennis Pitta performed well, posting 10.2 PPR points as the TE12. I also recommended Vance McDonald who was only targeted twice, and left the game early due to injury. Clive Walford finished at TE23 with 4.7 points and Jacob Tamme’s Monday night performance was good enough for 5.8 fantasy points as TE21.

After three weeks of football, 4for4 streaming candidates are averaging 7.8 PPR fantasy points per game, which currently ranks as TE23. The optimal TE streamer has a combined 35.1 PPR fantasy points, enough for TE8 on the season thus far. On to Week 4 and a fresh batch of streaming targets that are ready to be plucked off the waiver wire and inserted directly into your lineups.

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

Zach Miller (CHI) vs. Detroit

The Chicago Bears are 0-3 with a hurt and non-effective Jay Cutler currently on the bench in favor of Brian Hoyer as the starting QB. One of the bright spots in this Bears’ offense has been TE Zach Miller. After three weeks, Miller is sitting as the TE4 in fantasy points with 39.5, with most of those coming in Week 3 versus the Dallas Cowboys.

This week, Chicago gets a home game against their fellow NFC North rival Detroit Lions, whose aFPA versus TEs so far in 2016 is the second-highest in the league at 24.9. It is still unclear who will be under center on Sunday, but either way, Miller makes a solid play.

In Yahoo leagues, Miller currently has a 41% ownership so there is a decent chance he is available to grab this week.