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Headliner Nation, it's time to dive into tight ends, the football kind, of course. And we're already off to a way better start in 2025 than we were last year. 13 tight ends scored over seven fantasy points this past week. Last season, only five tight ends scored over eight fantasy points in week one. And we have a couple of sneaky options on Thursday Night Football with Washington in Green Bay.
And last week, Zack Z had a solid week. Five targets, three receptions, 26 yards, and a touchdown. Zachar is going to remain touchdown dependent. But did you see what the Detroit Lions did last week? They had to get the ball out quick. And Washington may have to do some of the same this week. And if they do, Zach could see another five targets and potentially another touchdown as well. Micah Parsons, hopefully another week a little bit healthier for the Green Bay Packers. Could lead to an improved pass rush that was already solid last week against the Lions. Washington's going to have to go fast and they could end up going to Zack Z quite a bit.
Tucker Craft might be even a little bit more touchdown dependent, but had a very similar line to Zack Z last week. Scoring a touchdown made all the difference. And like we say on this channel all the time, if you're a tight end and you trip into the end zone, you're probably a tight end one in any given week. Tucker Craft to me is more touchdown dependent because the potential for spreading the ball around more often. Washington's got Terry McLaren and then they've got Debo Samuel. For Green Bay, you've got Matthew Golden, Jaden Reed, Dantavian Wixs, Romeo Doss going all over the place at that point. And I have to imagine Green Bay is going to want to establish the run way better this week than they did against Detroit. Keep Jaden Daniels off the field. So, for those reasons, Tucker Craft definitely has potential, but I think we really have to have a touchdown to make it work. And I don't know how feasible that is in week two.
For Jacksonville and Cincinnati, Britain Strange had a solid week in week one. Caught all four of his targets for 59 yards. And then Hunter Long has to come in and steal his touchdown. Long only played six snaps all game, but he ends up getting the touchdown. A little bit of a gut punch to the Briton Strange owners that started him last week. But I have some questions about Britain Strange going forward. Number one, is he going to be utilized in the red zone or is Hunter Long going to be that guy? Number two, Brian Thomas Jr. had seven targets, but he only caught one of them for 11 yards. Travis Hunter also going to be heavily involved. And Diami Brown being out there as well is also being utilized. Britain Strange to me right now is a fringe start because I don't know how often he's going to turn four catches into 59 yards.
It's crazy that Noah Fant hasn't even been with the Cincinnati Bengals for a full month as of yet. And he already got 50% of the snaps compared to only 31 for Mike Gaseki. It could end up being Noah a fant moving forward. Maybe they're looking to get Mike Gaseki utilized a little bit differently. I'm not really sure what Cincinnati has in planned for both of these guys, but in week two, I want to wait and see how things play out. And I think Joe Burrow is going to really be focusing on getting Jamar Chase and T. Higgins going, which I don't know if it's going to leave a lot of opportunities for Gaseki or F.
Even if you can guess correctly, which one is the guy this week, I think by season's end, we will be able to talk about Theo Johnson a little bit more consistently when it comes to fantasy output. Now, I'm not going to list him as even a fringe start this week, but we've got some good things trending for him. Number one, his usage. He was on the field for 78% of the offensive snaps. That is really solid for a tight end. I love to see that for the young Theo Johnson. And number two, outside of Malik Neighbors and Well Robinson, you're not really throwing the ball to a whole lot of other people. Darius Sllayton was the only other wide receiver to get a target, and it was just one. So, Theo Johnson at some point this season could end up becoming the number three target on this team, even if I'm not super excited for it to happen right this second.
Jake Ferguson was number two for the Dallas Cowboys last week in targets with six. And if he can stay as the number two or even number three option, he should be fantasy viable if he's getting consistently around six targets per week. Last week, the New York Giants allowed a touchdown to Zack Z. Even though he didn't do a ton in the passing game, he scored in the red zone. And hopefully Jake Ferguson can also find the red zone against the Giants this week.
I tried to tell you I tried to tell you all that this was going to be a mess to try and figure out. Colston Loveland was drafted to be in 12 personnel, which meant Cole KT was still going to be on the field quite a bit. Cole KT played 90% of the snaps on Monday Night Football. Coulson Loveland played 57. Now, could I see that changing at some point in time? Yeah, absolutely. As the season wears on, we could see more and more Coloulston Lovelin. But rookie tight ends typically take time. And if Coloulston Lovelin takes a little bit of time in this offense that sputtered at times last night, then we could end up seeing some up and down performances. Coloulston Lovelin is not fantasy viable right now. He could absolutely grab a touchdown. He could absolutely have a big game here or there, but as of right now, if Cole KD is playing 90% of the snaps and Coloulston Lovelin isn't even breaking 60, that's a lot of people on the field at the same time to try and compete with.
Sam Laaporta was right there with Jir Gibbs as the safety blankets for Jared Goff last week. And I could see the same thing happening in week two with the Bears defensive line getting after Goff. I've already said this in the running back video and I'll say this in all the videos I record this week. I'm not worried about the Lions. If we get to week four and they're still playing like this, then we have some major concerns. But they don't play their starters in the preeason and they're trying to break in three new guys in the middle of the offensive line. It is going to take some time with a new offensive coordinator on top of that. Give them a little bit of time and everything will end up being just fine. But if we're getting the ball out quick, Sam Leaport is going to greatly benefit from that.
The Los Angeles Rams have a clear threeman rotation at the tight end position. Tyler Higgby and Kobe Parkinson both saw 50% of the offensive snaps last week, while Davis Allen decided to jump in with only 37% and steal a touchdown. Now, Higgby and Parkinson, they had two combined targets. Higgby didn't have any. Parkinson's dealing with an injury. Not sure if he's going to be out or not. As of right now, it sounds like he was going to try and play through it. When you've got three guys rotating this much at the tight end position though, it's hard to nail one down for fantasy.
Cheeky Ooko is going to be a fringe start for me. At first, I was going to list him as a sit, but then when I check the snap count numbers, he was on the field for 90% of the snaps last week. As Cam Ward gets a little bit more and a little bit more comfortable, we could see Chigyoko also building up some stats as well with the LA Rams front getting after Cam Ward this week. Hopefully, we get some quick dump offs and we get Chigyoko a little bit more involved in the passing game.
Hunter Henry is off to a fantastic start in 2025. Eight targets last week and he caught four of them for 66 yards. Volume and still showcasing a little big playability. With that type of volume, Hunter Henry is going to find himself as a top 12 option every single week. So, I'm going to start him. And we saw it last season with Drake May. He was looking towards Hunter Henry quite a bit. He became a guy that he would rely on a little bit more and a little bit more. And the wide receivers were fantastic as well. But when Drake May throws the ball 40 times a game, there's going to be plenty of targets to go around.
Darren Waller wasn't able to go last week and in the game plan, the Miami Dolphins didn't even have a tight end on the field for almost 40% of their offensive snaps. To me, that feels like I don't care what Jonnu Smith did last year and I don't care how good he was. They traded him away and signed Darren Waller, who has spent more time rapping over the past year than probably training on the football field. For those reasons alone, I don't think we can trust any tight end in Miami, even when Darren Waller comes back.
George KD, unfortunately, is heading to the IR. It's way too early in the season for this. George KD, after staying very healthy last year, ends up on the IR really early this season, and that is a gut punch to owners. Jake Ton just came in last week after the injury and was able to also catch a touchdown pass of his own. But we have a couple of unknowns right now. Brock Pury is banged up and not sure if he can play this week. If he doesn't, it's M. Jones, and I really don't want to start a backup tight end with a backup quarterback. But there's also going to be a possibility that San Francisco decides to bring in somebody else at the tight end position, and they could also end up getting some snaps as well.
Jawan Johnson played an absurd 99% of the offensive snaps last week for the New Orleans Saints. If he's going to be on the field that much every single week, then he absolutely needs to be a guy that is in the top 12 rankings moving forward. Here's the thing, though. This isn't a Kate Aton situation. If you remember last year, I talked extensively about the fact that Kate Autton was playing more snaps than any other tight end in football, but he wasn't being utilized. Jawan Johnson played 99% of the snaps last week and had 11 targets, caught eight of them for 76 yards. Jawan Johnson, this is awesome for him. He is a guy that I have been waiting to break out and he could be top 10 moving forward with those numbers.
I have some major concerns for the Buffalo tight ends moving forward. Dolan Concincade off to a fabulous start. Caught a touchdown last week. I don't want to take that away from him. But the question continues to be is why is Dawson Knox utilized so much more than Dolan Concincaid because once again he outnapped Dalton Concincaid. He's not getting the looks that Concaid gets in the passing game, but he's out there on the field. Whether it's to block, whether it's to be a playmaker, it doesn't matter. This offense and Josh Allen trust Dawson Knox being on the field. Now, if you have Dawson Knox out there that much, then you're hoping for 12 personnel with Dolan Concaid out there alongside him. But last week, Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir, and yeah, even Joshua Palmer were all solid. And if you start seeing more three wide receiver sets, who's going to be the tight end out there more times than not? Concaid or Knox?
Mason Taylor played 88% of the offensive snaps as a rookie in week one, but he only got one target. I like the usage though and at some point this season he could become the number two target on this team right behind Garrett Wilson. I was hoping it would happen in week one with no Allen Lazard and it didn't. We'll sit him for right now and we'll keep our fingers crossed that he continues to grow. He continues to play that many snaps and the offensive game plan starts to include him more often.
A lot of people were asking about Elijah Aoyo for the Seattle Seahawks, and I didn't really include him when I talked about tight ends last week, and it's because AJ Barner to me was locked in as the number one tight end, and that ended up happening. 85% of the snaps last week compared to only 31 for Aoyo. Right now, AJ Barner is the guy. And maybe we'll see some better days ahead for these tight ends. But JSN, I mean, he is the guy in this offense. We'll see if Cooper Cup gets going at any point in time and then what kind of happens after those two guys. AJ Barner maybe can find the end zone, but until he gets some more consistent looks, we'll probably go ahead and go with somebody else instead.
Jenner Smith was on the field for 66% of the offensive snaps last week compared to only 50% for Pat Frymuth. He also caught a touchdown. So, as of right now, it really feels like Jon Smith will be the fantasy relevant tight end in this offense, and hopefully they continue to utilize him. A little bit more volume would be great, but weekly touchdowns are awesome as well. Last week, Seattle allowed two touchdowns to the tight end position. Hopefully, Jonnu Smith can make it three in two weeks.
I tried to put up red flags as soon as the preeason started. David Nooku was in trouble. Harold Fannon was on the field a lot with David Njoku during the preeason and it looked like Cleveland could be moving to 12 personnel but it's even worse than we anticipated and the number like I got to keep the numbers up here right next to me. Najoku played 84% of the snaps which last week which is great but Harold Fannon played 72% of the snaps. On top of it, Harold Fannon had nine targets. David Njoku had six. Harold Fannon caught seven of them for 63. David Njoku only caught three for 37. Oh, and Harold Fannon had a rushing attempt. This is not good news for David Njoku owners. And as of right now, both of these guys for me are going to be fringe starts until we know exactly how this is going to work out. But if Harold Fannon continues to play this way, he's going to be the guy over David Njoku. And it may not even be close. Absolutely insane to see David Njoku lose that much work to Harold Fannon in week one. I knew it was going to be rough, but that's bad.
In a game with that many points last week, how does Mark Andrews walk away with only one target? Now, I don't want to be completely out on Mark Andrews this week because there's still no Isaiah likely and Cleveland allowed a touchdown pass to the tight end position last week. But I tell you what, Mark Andrews, we got to get going. Like, you're starting off 2025 the way you did 2024. You're going to end up on the waiverwire real quick if we don't turn it around.
Unfortunately, it looks like Evan Ingram could end up missing multiple weeks. Nothing confirmed as of right now, but the injury that he suffered this past Sunday just isn't looking great for him. We'll continue to monitor it throughout the week, and if anything changes, we'll update you in the ranking show. As of right now, we'll go ahead and post up there that he does have a medical issue that we're keeping an eye on. Adam Troutman would end up being the tight end that plays in his place if he misses time. But I'm not going to start either of these guys in this matchup. Even if Evan Ingram were to start, we would probably need to seriously consider sitting him just in case he's out there more of a decoy.
Tyler Warren, if he keeps getting nine targets a week, he's going to keep being in our lineups and he's going to keep being a top 12 option. We knew that was possible during the off season given the fact how he was being utilized in the preseason and how they talked about trying to use him just like he was at Penn State, moving him all over the field. The question was Daniel Jones. Daniel Jones passed the week one test. Will he pass it going forward? For Tyler Warren's sake, I hope so.
I mentioned this in last week's tight end video. I thought it was really strange that Tommy Trimble was listed as the starter on the depth chart and not Javian Sanders. But I think everybody learned last week that coaches were just wild with the depth chart heading into week one because the depth charts for a lot of teams didn't even come close to matching what actually ended up happening on the field. So there you go. Those coaches playing games with us. Once again, it is what it is. But Javian Sanders, he ended up being the guy. He played 61% of the snaps. Tommy Treble only played 45. From a fantasy standpoint, nothing really happened though. Sanders had three targets. Treble had one target. The hope is is that Sanders could jump ahead of Hunter Renfro in targets because he had six last week. Can we get Sanders six to eight targets every single week? He could be fantasy viable at that point. And last week, here's the thing. Arizona got just torn apart last week by Jawan Johnson in the passing game. And while I would love to think Javon Sanders could do that, I'm going to go ahead and sit him this week just because Bryce Young did not look good.
Last week, Carolina allowed 59 receiving yards to Brenton Strange and a touchdown to Hunter Long. Let's give all of that to Trey McBride so he can be a top three tight end in week two.
Dallas GDR is only going to be a fringe start for me. And you're probably going to question why because he led the team in targets last week. But I want to remind everybody AJ Brown only had one target. Devonte Smith only had three targets. If that happens probably the week after, Jaylen Herz is going to make it a point to try and get both of these guys going. And if he does, Dallas is probably going to lose those targets going up against Kansas City. The good news is if this is a good battle back and forth and not what we saw in the Super Bowl, hopefully they end up throwing him quite a bit. And if they do, Dallas GD gets a few targets. But for right now, because I think he's going to lose some targets to both AJ Brown and Devonte Smith, he's going to be on the fringe area for me.
When you take a look at the numbers last week for Travis Kelce, you realize that they're actually pretty modest. Almost all of his fantasy points came on one catch. He had four targets. He caught two of them for 47 yards and he had a touchdown, but 37 of those yards came on that touchdown pass with Xavier Worthy injured with obviously Rasheed Rice still out to begin the season. Travis Kelce hopefully will continue to get targets. I'd like to see it be a little bit more than four. Hopefully it is this week, but I'm going to go ahead and list him as a start because Patrick Mahomes is still looking his way and this is probably not going to be a game where Kansas City will run the ball an awful lot.
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Eight targets for Kyle Pittz last week. He caught seven of them for 59 yards. That is respectable. Give me that every single week. If we get that out of Kyle Pitts, he's going to be a top 12 option by the end of the season. He's going to add in some touchdowns here or there, but the volume has always been the key. If we can keep getting him eight targets every single week, we will be good with Kyle Pitts. And for those of you that drafted him super late, you can probably utilize him already.
Only four targets last week for TJ Hawinson is a little concerning, especially regarding the fact that Jordan Addison isn't playing right now. It took JJ McCarthy a few quarters to really get comfortable and start playing his game. And by the end of the game, you saw exactly why I've always been high on JJ McCarthy and why Kevin O'Connell and this team are very high on him as well. As JJ McCarthy gets more settled, TJ Hawinson will end up getting more targets. I would really like that relationship to take form before Jordan Addison comes back though. So on Monday Night Football, hopefully we get Hawinson rolling with a little bit more targets.
Ah, yes. A yearly tradition like none other. Kate Atten 86% of the offensive snaps, three targets, and no receptions. I'm going to list Dalton Schultz as a fringe start for the time being. With no Christian Kirk expected back for another week or two, Dolan Schultz could end up seeing some of those quick targets out of the backfield going up against Tampa Bay. If they're getting after CJ Stout a little bit and he's needing to get the ball out fast, it could end up being Dalton Schultz. But CJ Stout just needs to be better. This offensive line needs to protect better and this offense as a whole just needs to play better. Dalton Schultz to me is going to have some risk. If you try to play him, his upside isn't that great. But if we can get him five targets, he could give you decent points.
The way Tyler Conklin started Saturday Night Football, you would have thought he was going to be for a huge game. A 33yd reception early ended up fizzling out. He finished the game with two targets. Caught both of them for 50 total yards. Will Dley had an 18yd catch. They only had three targets between the two of them. All three wide receivers are probably going to see looks before these two guys do.
You can sigh a quick breath of relief if you own Brock Bowers. As of right now, it sounds like he avoided serious injury this past week and he could end up being out there this coming week. Obviously, if he plays, he's going to be a start. He'll be the main target in this offense and he'll end up putting up some really nice numbers to go along with it. Just keep an eye on the status throughout the week, just in case.
Headliner Nation, hopefully you all got something from this tight end start and sit analysis for week two of the season. But more importantly, if you are new here to the channel, please hit the subscribe button. We are closing in on 250,000 subscribers. Come be a part of something way bigger than fantasy football. This Headliner Nation community is absolutely amazing, and I can promise that you will not regret being a part of it. For now, Headliner Nation, I need to get going. I got to talk about wide receivers and quarterbacks. Now, stay safe, stay healthy, and I'll catch you on the next episode of the Fantasy Headliners. [Music]