Start Luke Musgrave vs. Sam LaPorta vs. Dallas Goedert vs. Kyle Pitts vs. George Kittle vs. Pat Freiermuth vs. Mark Andrews vs. Hunter Henry vs. Darren Waller | Fantasy Football Week 4 TE Start Decision
The tight end position continues to be a tricky one to tackle for fantasy owners. FantasySP’s “Who Should I Start?” tool is loaded with trending decisions at the position, so let’s break down several players and figure out which ones you should be starting this week.
We’ll start with the two tight ends in the Thursday night game, Green Bay Packers’ Luke Musgrave and Detroit Lions’ Sam LaPorta, and then discuss Philadelphia Eagles’ Dallas Goedert, Atlanta Falcons’ Kyle Pitts, San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle, Pittsburgh Steelers’ Pat Freiermuth, Baltimore Ravens’ Mark Andrews, New England Patriots’ Hunter Henry and New York Giants’ Darren Waller.
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Why You Should Start Luke Musgrave
Musgrave is off to a solid start to his NFL career, with 15 targets to his name through three weeks. His best game came in week 3, when he was targeted eight times.
Musgrave has caught 11 passes and turned those into 124 yards. He has yet to score, but has caught two of the three passes thrown his way in the red zone.
Musgrave might not be quite as involved in week 4 as running back Aaron Jones and wide receiver Christian Watson are due back, but having played the most snaps of any Packers’ skill player so far, Musgrave should still be on the field a bunch.
The Packers’ rookie will have the best matchup on paper in this discussion, as the Lions’ defense has allowed an average of 19 fantasy points a game to opposing tight ends. Musgrave is ranked 18th in our week 4 projections.
Why You Should Start Sam LaPorta
LaPorta has been one of the better performing rookies to this point of the season. He’s been targeted 22 times, including 11 times in week 3.
LaPorta has made 18 catches, going for 186 yards and a touchdown. He’s caught his lone red zone target and is second to just Amon-Ra St. Brown in snaps played among Lions’ pass catchers.
Running back David Montgomery is expected back for Thursday’s game, but much like Musgrave, LaPorta will be on the field enough to get plenty of chances to produce.
The Packers’ defense has allowed an average of 11 fantasy points a game to opposing tight ends so far. After his strong start, LaPorta has jumped all the way up to fourth in our weekly tight end projections.
Why You Should Start Dallas Goedert
Goedert is typically amongst the top group of tight ends, but has gotten off to a rough start. He’s been targeted just 15 times, making 11 catches for 63 yards and no scores.
Goedert has just one red zone target, and did not catch it. He’s played in 209 offensive snaps, only behind DeVonta Smith amongst the Eagles’ pass catchers.
The veteran tight end will look to get things going against the Washington Commanders this week. It’s not a great matchup on paper, as the Commanders have only allowed an average of six fantasy points to tight ends through three weeks.
Goedert is ranked eighth in our projections.
Why You Should Start Kyle Pitts
Pitts has been the most-targeted pass catcher on the Falcons’ roster, but it hasn’t resulted in a good showing so far. Pitts has nine grabs on 17 targets, going for 100 yards and no touchdowns.
A positive is that Pitts was targeted nine times in week 3, which topped his numbers from weeks 1-2 combined. Pitts is second on the team in snaps played, behind only Drake London.
Pitts and the Falcons will take on the Jacksonville Jaguars this weekend. Jacksonville is in the bottom half of the league so far in defending tight ends, with an average of 14 fantasy points against them.
Pitts is the 10th-ranked tight end for week 4.
Why You Should Start George Kittle
After a bit of a slow start, Kittle got going in week 3 after catching seven of the nine passes thrown his way. Those catches went for 90 yards.
Kittle is up to 13 catches on 18 targets this season, with 139 total yards. He has yet to score, and only has one catch on two red zone targets.
Kittle is second on the team in snaps played, behind only Deebo Samuel. Speaking of Samuel, he did not practice on Wednesday, so if he or Brandon Aiyuk misses the upcoming game, Kittle will be featured heavily in the passing game.
San Fran will take on a Arizona Cardinals’ defense that’s near the middle of the league in slowing opposing tight ends. They give up a fair amount of catches and yards, but haven’t allowed a score so far. That all equals 12 fantasy points a game.
Kittle is the second-ranked tight end this week, behind only Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce.
Why You Should Start Pat Freiermuth
Freiermuth is another tight end off to a slow start. He’s caught just five passes on nine targets and gone for 46 yards. Two touchdown receptions have helped salvage the day for fantasy owners that started him.
Pittsburgh is dealing with their fair share of injuries to wide receivers, so if any of them cannot go, Freiermuth should be involved more in the passing game.
Freiermuth will be going up against the Houston Texans and their defense that’s allowed an average of 13 fantasy points a game. That ranks in the bottom 10 spots in the league so far.
Even despite his slow start, his favorable matchup has Freiermuth at sixth in the tight end rankings.
Why You Should Start Mark Andrews
Andrews is off to a slow start by his standards. He’s caught nine passes on 13 targets across two games played. He’s gone for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Andrews has been targeted just once in the red zone, and he made the catch. He’s third on the team in snaps played despite missing a game.
The veteran tight end might be the focal point in the passing game when the team takes on the Cleveland Browns, as several skill players are banged up.
The matchup is a tough one, as the Browns have allowed an average of three fantasy points a game to opposing tight ends. The tough battle has Andrews ranked ninth in the week 4 projections, a spot you won’t often find him.
Why You Should Start Hunter Henry
Henry has been one of the better tight ends in terms of production so far. He’s caught 13 passes and been targeted 18 times. Henry has 125 receiving yards and two touchdowns to his name.
Henry has caught both of his red zone targets, and leads the team’s pass catchers by 40+ snaps.
He’ll look to keep things rolling against the Dallas Cowboys this weekend. Dallas has allowed an average of just eight points a game to opposing tight ends.
Henry is 12th in our tight end projections for the week.
Why You Should Start Darren Waller
Waller has been the best pass catcher for the Giants, but his stats are pretty uninspiring. He’s caught 12 passes and been targeted 20 times, going for 132 yards and no touchdowns.
Waller has caught both of his red zone targets. He is second on the team in snaps played, just five behind Darius Slayton.
Waller and the Giants will battle the Seattle Seahawks this weekend. Seattle ranks near the middle of the league against opposing tight ends, allowing an average of 10 points a game.
Waller ranks seventh in our week 4 projections for the tight end position.
Final Numbers and the Recommended Start
This is a fascinating battle of veterans, rookies and lesser-known fantasy players who have started the year well. There’s some favorable matchups to guys ranked low and tough matchups awaiting players ranked the highest. It makes for a tough decision.
Instead of boring you with tons of numbers, I’ll let you know that Andrews is the preferred starter over the other tight ends in this discussion, narrowly edging Kittle for the top spot.
I would side with our projections and roll with Kittle as the No. 1 guy here. His matchup is a bit more favorable than Andrews. However, if you roster both, I would start both without any hesitation.
I’d take LaPorta as my No. 3 guy. He’s been great so far, and I think he has another solid showing against the Packers on Thursday. Waller would be my next choice. Even if he doesn’t score, he should pretty safely top his projections.
My next choice would be Pitts, followed closely by Musgrave. Both matchups are pretty favorable, I simply don’t like their involvement on offense to put them ahead of the guys I’ve already taken.
I’d take Freiermuth next, as his matchup is more favorable than the one Goedert or Henry has. I’d take Henry over Goedert, simply because I don’t trust Goedert after the first three weeks.
