Fantasy Football Week 17 Tight End Start Decision: Chig Okonkwo, Dalton Schultz, Hunter Henry, Tucker Kraft, Pat Freiermuth and More

We’ve looked at quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers in start decision stories already for week 17, so now it’s time to do a tight end article.

We’ll compare Pat Freiermuth, Dalton Schultz, Chig Okonkwo, Hunter Henry, Dalton Kincaid, T.J. Hockenson, Tucker Kraft and Zach Ertz.

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Important Numbers

Freiermuth is averaging nine PPR fantasy points per game this season. He had been between 11-19 points in weeks 13-15 before a 4.6-point showing last week. Freiermuth scored touchdowns in each game between weeks 13-15.

Schultz is at just 7.2 points per game this season, although he has two double-digit showings over his past three games played. Schultz has caught touchdowns in his two bigger fantasy outings. He should be more involved offensively this week after the injury to Tank Dell.

Okonkwo is at just 6.8 PPR points per game this season. He has scored 13.9 and 19.1 points over the past two games. Okonkwo did not score in either of those contests, instead piling up points on 17 receptions and 21 targets.

Henry is at 9.7 points per game this season. He’s scored in double figures in three of the past five games, and missed by 0.6 points in one of those down weeks. Henry has at least eight targets in four of the past five games.

Kincaid has missed time this season, but underwhelmed when on the field. He’s at just eight fantasy points per contest. Kincaid had 9.3 points in his first game back from injury, and then just 5.5 last week.

Hockenson is averaging nine fantasy points over the eight games he’s played this season. He only had 4.7 points last week and has more single-digit fantasy showings than double-digits ones so far.

Kraft is at 9.9 fantasy points per game, but he only has 14.9 over the past two games combined. He’s been between 2-7 targets over the past four games, showing how inconsistently the targets in Green Bay are distributed.

Ertz has had a pretty good fantasy season as well, with 9.1 points per game. He only tallied 2.2 points last week, although not many people expected him to play after suffering a concussion in week 15.

Week 17 Matchups

Freiermuth plays in one of the two Christmas day games, taking on the Chiefs. It’s one of the most favorable matchups a tight end can have.

Schultz is part of the other Christmas game, taking on the Ravens. Baltimore is a slightly above-average matchup for Schultz.

Henry is in one of the three Saturday games against the Chargers, who are one of the tougher matchups out there. 

On Sunday, Okonkwo takes on the Jaguars, who are another pretty favorable test. Kincaid faces the Jets, who do a pretty good job at slowing down fantasy tight ends.

Hockenson and Kraft are part of the same Sunday game. It’s a pretty favorable matchup for Hockenson, while being a slightly below-average clash for Kraft.

Ertz faces the Falcons on Sunday night. Atlanta is one of the toughest tests a tight end can have.

Projections and Starting Recommendations

Henry, Hockenson and Kincaid are all tied for the highest fantasy projection, 10 PPR points. 

Freiermuth, Okonkwo and Schultz are all at nine points. Kraft sits at eight points, while Ertz is at seven.

As you might guess from the projections, this is an extremely tight decision. I’ll factor in matchups a decent amount to get to my final rankings.

I like Freiermuth the most in the group of tight ends. He’d been a good fantasy option until last week, and has the right matchup to post a huge fantasy score this week. Having George Pickens active again might take away some targets, but it should also open some things up for the tight end.

Schultz is second for me. He hasn’t done a ton this season, but this is all about a good situation, and a pretty good matchup. I see Schultz delivering a big fantasy score this week as he tries to help the Texans out a bit.

Give me Hockenson third. He’s been up and down since returning, but in a pretty good matchup, I’m fine trusting Hock with a starting spot this week.

Henry appears fourth on my list, with his season of work the biggest reason why. He’s an underrated fantasy option, and would probably go even higher if he had a better matchup.

Okonkwo is a trendy fantasy player of late, and I’m on board. The matchup is right for him to continue to deliver, and I think he will for the fantasy owners that trust him this week.

Kincaid might be the most-talented tight end in this discussion, but he hasn’t consistently delivered all season, so he falls here. He’s probably a better deep-league option.

Kraft is the highest PPR scorer per week this season among these TEs, but hasn’t done enough of late for me to trust. He did fare well in the last clash with Minnesota, and that alone will probably make him startable for many fantasy owners.

Ertz had a good stretch of fantasy performances in the middle of the season, but he’s struggled since the bye (with the concussion being a big reason why). It might not be fair to Ertz, but he’s very hard to trust for a week 17 start.