There’s an important distinction to be made when talking about the current state of the tight end position, and it’s one I fear I may not have been drawing clearly enough lately. There are more viable Fantasy tight ends right now than we’re used to seeing, by which I mean, there are quite a few players with solid roles in their offenses. 

By my count, there are 16 tight ends with a target share of at least 15% right now, and that doesn’t include the likes of Rob Gronkowski, Dawson Knox, Pat Freiermuth, or Hunter Henry. It also doesn’t include Logan Thomas, who could make his return from the IR this week as he is set to return to practice. Fifteen percent isn’t a massive number, but historically, it puts you in the starting tight end discussion.

The problem is … well, as you can see from week to week, there still aren’t that many players you can actually trust. Everyone’s threshold for trust is different, but it’s fair to ask whether Kyle Pitts has done enough to meet it lately. The same is true for T.J. Hockenson, Mike Gesicki, and Dalton Schultz. I mean, I feel like I can trust those guys, and I do think they represent the sort of second tier at tight end, the guys I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to sit.

Of course, I would have said the same of Dan Arnold last week, and he didn’t even have a target. There’s potential here, but weekly studs remain more rare at tight end than anywhere else. 

Here are my tight end rankings for Week 12. To see the rankings of Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard, and Heath Cummings, make sure you head here. 

Week 12 TE Rankings

1. Darren Waller @DAL
2. Mark Andrews vs. CLE
3. George Kittle vs. MIN
4. Rob Gronkowski @IND
5. T.J. Hockenson vs. CHI
6. Kyle Pitts @JAX
7. Dalton Schultz vs. LV
8. Mike Gesicki vs. CAR
9. Dallas Goedert @NYG
10. Dan Arnold vs. ATL
11. Tyler Higbee @GB
12. Noah Fant vs. LAC
13. Dawson Knox @NO
14. Tyler Conklin @SF
15. Pat Freiermuth @CIN
16. Jared Cook @DEN
17. Cole Kmet @DET
18. Hunter Henry vs. TEN
19. Evan Engram vs. PHI
20. Austin Hooper @BAL
21. O.J. Howard @IND
22. Juwan Johnson vs. BUF
23. David Njoku @BAL
24. Foster Moreau @DAL

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