Remember that one time that we didn’t rank Travis Kelce as the TE1? We’re just going to pretend that didn’t happen. The king is back on his throne as we look ahead to our Week 16 fantasy football TE tiers and streamers.
Make sure to check out the rest of our fantasy football rankings for Week 16: Quarterback | Running Back | Wide Receiver | Superflex | Flex | Defense | IDP | Kicker
Week 16 TE Rankings and Tiers
At this point, we pretty much know who resides in the top tier. It’s not up for debate.
Tier 1
1. Travis Kelce | Kansas City Chiefs vs. PIT
2. George Kittle | San Francisco 49ers @ TEN
3. Mark Andrews | Baltimore Ravens @ CIN
Tier 2
4. Rob Gronkowski | Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ CAR
5. Dallas Goedert | Philadelphia Eagles vs. NYG
6. Mike Gesicki | Miami Dolphins @ NO
7. Zach Ertz | Arizona Cardinals vs. IND
Tier 3
8. Kyle Pitts | Atlanta Falcons vs. DET
9. Dawson Knox | Buffalo Bills @ NE
10. Dalton Schultz | Dallas Cowboys vs. WAS
11. Hunter Henry | New England Patriots vs. BUF
Tier 4
12. Tyler Conklin | Minnesota Vikings vs. LAR
13. Noah Fant | Denver Broncos @ LV
14. Jared Cook | Los Angeles Chargers @ HOU
15. Cole Kmet | Chicago Bears @ SEA
Tier 5
16. James O’Shaughnessy | Jacksonville Jaguars @ NYJ
17. Gerald Everett | Seattle Seahawks vs. CHI
18. Evan Engram | New York Giants @ PHI
19. C.J. Uzomah | Cincinnati Bengals vs. BAL
20. Albert Okwuegbunam | Denver Broncos @ LV
21. Ricky Seals-Jones | Washington Football Team @ DAL
Tier 6
22. Foster Moreau | Las Vegas Raiders vs. DEN
23. David Njoku | Cleveland Browns @ GB
24. Josiah Deguara | Green Bay Packers vs. CLE
25. Zach Gentry | Pittsburgh Steelers @ KC
26. Ryan Griffin | New York Jets vs. JAX
Tier 7
27. Jonnu Smith | New England Patriots vs. BUF
28. Adam Trautman | New Orleans Saints vs. MIA
29. Brevin Jordan | Houston Texans vs. LAC
30. Jack Doyle | Indianapolis Colts @ ARI
31. Juwan Johnson | New Orleans Saints vs. MIA
32. Mo Alie-Cox | Indianapolis Colts @ ARI
Tier 8
33. Jimmy Graham | Chicago Bears @ SEA
34. Cameron Brate | Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ CAR
35. Tommy Tremble | Carolina Panthers vs. TB
36. Anthony Firkser | Tennessee Titans vs. SF
37. Brock Wright | Detroit Lions @ ATL
38. Durham Smythe | Miami Dolphins @ NO
39. Pharaoh Brown | Houston Texans vs. LAC
40. Hayden Hurst | Atlanta Falcons vs. DET
Week 16 TE Streaming Options
Here are a few streaming options worth considering with your fantasy playoffs on the line.
Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears have a young offensive corps of Justin Fields, Darnell Mooney, David Montgomery, and Cole Kmet — which should be a lot of fun when they get a decent head coach next year. For now, we can continue to buy in on the young chemistry with Kmet posting solid numbers.
On Monday Night Football, Kmet caught 6 passes for 71 yards, leading the Bears in receiving yards. Somehow, Jimmy Graham still continues to annoy Kmet fantasy managers by taking the occasional touchdown, but Kmet has averaged 6.8 targets per game and has played 83% of the snaps since Chicago’s Week 10 bye. Graham, by comparison, has played only 22.6% of snaps. The Bears play the Seahawks — the NFL’s worst defense against the TE position — in Week 16. Kmet is a smash streaming option.
Hunter Henry, New England Patriots
Hunter Henry was on this list last week, and all he did was finish the week as the overall TE3 with 25.7 fantasy points. That’s good enough to lead the pack most weeks, but Kelce and Mark Andrews decided to go nuclear.
Henry and the Patriots have a rematch with the Buffalo Bills on tap. Thankfully, it doesn’t appear they’ll be playing in the middle of a snowglobe like they did a few weeks ago. Henry is a key part of New England’s offense, especially in the red zone, and should continue to be one of Mac Jones’ favorite targets. The veteran tight end should have a good chance to score again, which would make for a nice fantasy day.
James O’Shaughnessy, Jacksonville Jaguars
It’s time that we talk about James O’Shaughnessy and his splendid Irish name. As an Irishman myself, I want to buy him a Guinness and a whiskey for his service lately as a streamable TE in a muddy landscape.
Over the last four weeks, O’Shaughnessy has averaged 5.3 targets and 30.8 yards per game. Those numbers are plenty respectable. He had 4 catches for a career-best 60 yards on Sunday against Houston, and while he hasn’t found the end zone, that’s not surprising. Nobody on Jacksonville’s offense has been scoring touchdowns except for James Robinson.
In their second week without former head coach Urban Meyer, the Jaguars will face the Jets and their putrid defense. O’Shaughnessy is a dart-throw streaming option if you’re desperate.