Week 12 Waiver Wire Tight End Priority List | Deciding Between Isaiah Likely, Michael Mayer, Tanner Hudson, Josh Oliver, Stone Smartt, Luke Schoonmaker and Donald Parham
Discussing deeper waiver wire options at the tight end position going into week 12.
The tight end position remains a tough one for fantasy owners to figure out, with several little-known players finishing among the best performers in week 11.
With that in mind, let’s continue our waiver wire priority list series by looking at some sparsely-owned tight ends. We’ll use an own percentage of 50 as the cutoff.
We already covered wide receivers, running backs and quarterbacks going into week 12.
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Available Tight Ends
For week 12, we will focus our attention on Baltimore Ravens’ Isaiah Likely, Las Vegas Raiders’ Michael Mayer, Cincinnati Bengals’ Tanner Hudson, Minnesota Vikings’ Josh Oliver, Los Angeles Chargers’ Stone Smartt and Donald Parhmam and Dallas Cowboys’ Luke Schoonmaker.
Likely is on this list because of the injury to Mark Andrews. Likely had been serving as the Ravens’ No. 2 tight end.
I wrote in depth about Likely on Monday, so I’ll summarize some things here. Likely came into the year with some positivity after a solid rookie season. Even though he was the backup to Andrews, he figured to build on that rookie season of his and make a contribution for a Baltimore team lacking a ton of pass catchers.
Likely has just nine catches for 89 yards on 12 targets this season. He’s played plenty, with 230 offensive snaps to his name, but he just hasn’t been able to get in a rhythm
Without Andrews, there’s now a gaping hole in the Ravens offense. Likely figures to at least pick up some of the slack.
Mayer continues to pop up in this series, probably because he isn’t delivering many big games. He did finish with five targets for a second straight week.
Mayer finished with four catches on his five targets, going for 46 yards. He played 49 offensive snaps, which was 20 more than backup Austin Hooper. As the Raiders continue to build toward the future, Mayer should continue being a big part of the team’s offense.
The rookie tight end could definitely benefit from more consistent play from rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell, but that simply might not happen this season.
The big news in Cincinnati is the season-ending injury to Joe Burrow. That leaves Jake Browning as the starter.
That news has overshadowed Hudson, who quietly has earned a solid offensive role. He’s got 16 targets over the past three contests.
Hudson caught all four of his targets for 49 yards in week 11. He only played 21 offensive snaps, which was three less than fellow TE Irv Smith and three more than TE Drew Sample. Hudson has clearly been the more consistent pass catcher of late, but splitting snaps is limiting his ceiling.
Oliver delivered his best game of the season in the Vikings’ week 11 loss to the Denver Broncos. He played 34 offensive snaps and caught all four of his targets for 47 yards and a touchdown.
Oliver only has 16 catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns on 18 targets for the season, so he’s clearly not consistently involved. But with a new quarterback in town and still without Justin Jefferson, Oliver might be earning himself some extra snaps and targets going forward.
T.J. Hockenson is clearly the Vikings' No. 1 tight end, but minus Jefferson, Oliver played the fifth-most snaps of any pass catcher on the team. He was by far the team’s best fantasy pass catcher last week, so why not see if that was the start of a hot streak.
It’s rare to have two players from the same team on the same list, especially at the tight end position. Smartt and Parham both turned in solid fantasy outings during the team’s week 11 loss, so here they are.
Keenan Allen is clearly the team’s top pass catcher, but after that, nobody else has stepped up. Maybe Smartt and Parham can be more involved going forward.
Schoonmaker is another backup tight end to find himself on the list. He only was targeted twice in week 11, but scored once to finish as one of the better fantasy tight ends.
Schoonmaker caught both of his targets for 23 yards and a touchdown. He’s played 232 snaps for the season, but only has nine catches, 37 yards and 11 targets to his name. Schoonmaker has scored twice, so maybe you could sneak another score out of him in the right matchup.
The Priority List
As we do with each position, we will break this last part down into two sections. First, we will look at each tight end’s week 12 matchup and determine the best streaming options. Then, we will determine who the best long-term fantasy options are of this group.
The Ravens and Chargers will battle in week 12. The Chargers’ defense struggles to slow opposing tight ends, while the Ravens excel at slowing them down.
Mayer and the Raiders take on the Kansas City Chiefs in week 12, which is a tough matchup on paper for Mayer. The Bengals have the Pittsburgh Steelers up next, which is another tough matchup for Hudson.
Oliver has a slightly above-average matchup against the Chicago Bears, while Schoonmaker has an average clash scheduled with the Washington Commanders.
As easy as it would be to pick the best matchup based on the opposing defense, I’d feel much safer trusting the players that will be on the field the most. Thankfully, Likely is the top choice for both of those thoughts, so he’s my top streaming option for week 12 of this group.
I’d take Mayer next. I’d follow him up by taking a chance on Parham and then Hudson. I’d go with Oliver next, then Schoonmaker and finally Smartt.
I don’t anticipate Likely being nearly on the same level as Andrews, which is what some people think is going to happen. That makes the best long-term option a close one for me. I’d still go with Likely over Mayer, but that’s simply because of the quarterbacks that each guy has.
I like Hudson next, as I think he’ll continue to produce, even if it’s in limited snaps. I like him as a checkdown option for Browning, so he should especially be useful in PPR formats.
I’d take Parham next, and then Oliver, Schoonmaker and Smartt to round things out.
As you’d probably expect in a weak position and given our 50% own criteria, the names on this tight end list aren’t all that special. In fact, many are backups.
Still, in those deeper leagues where you are looking for any help you can get, many of these guys proved they can score a few points in week 11. The consistency is going to be the problem, and their breakout games might not happen simply because they are playing a poor defense.
I wouldn’t recommend adding anyone other than Likely or Mayer in redraft leagues, and would probably stay away from the others even in deeper leagues. There are some crazy deep fantasy leagues out there (I’m in one), so we mention guys like this for you. Hopefully one of these players is your missing piece.
