It can be incredibly frustrating or incredibly rewarding to make fantasy football lineup decisions. It all depends on how often you get it correct. Here to help you make those decisions are our positional start ’em and sit ’em picks.
Fantasy decisions will only get more difficult from here on out, so let’s take a look at our Week 5 start/sit plays for the TE position.
Looking to make a trade in your fantasy league? Having trouble deciding who to start and who to sit? Setting DFS lineups? Check out PFN’s Free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer, Start/Sit Optimizer, and DFS Lineup Optimizer to help you make the right decision!
Which TEs Should You Start in Fantasy This Week?
Hayden Hurst, TE, Carolina Panthers
Hayden Hurst caught five of seven targets for 41 yards and a touchdown in Week 1. Since then, he’s seen his production decrease in every game. Last week, it bottomed out at one catch for seven yards. So, why are we starting him this week? Well, it’s the Detroit Lions.
The Lions have a much-improved defense this season — I even like the Lions’ defense as a top streamer this week. But that doesn’t preclude Hurst from having a solid game.
Through four games, 30.3% of receiving yards allowed by the Lions have gone to tight ends. Detroit’s opponents are targeting the TE position 29.4% of the time. Both of those rates are the highest in the league.
With the Carolina Panthers lacking a true alpha at the WR position, relying so heavily on 33-year-old Adam Thielen, look for them to attack the Lions where they are most vulnerable and utilize the team’s top TE. Hurst is a sneaky streamer this week.
Which TEs Should You Sit in Fantasy This Week?
Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons
In time, the truth always reveals itself. Recent comments by Arthur Smith heavily suggest Kyle Pitts’ limited usage is due to him not being completely healthy. Based on what Pitts looks like on the field, that checks out.
Pitts looks slow and often dogs it on routes. I don’t think it’s him being lazy, but rather just not being able to give it 100% yet. As a result, he’s been thoroughly outproduced by Jonnu Smith.
MORE: Week 5 Start/Sit Options — QB | RB | WR
The Houston Texans present a decidedly average matchup for tight ends, but that’s more beneficial for Smith than Pitts at this juncture. Fantasy managers with Pitts have no choice but to hold until we see signs of improvement. He certainly cannot be started if you can reasonably avoid it.
Trending Searches for TE Start/Sit
Did you know that we have a Start/Sit Optimizer here at Pro Football Network?! It’s completely free to use and it allows you to enter in up to six players to find the best option to plug into your starting lineup.
It also allows us to see the most popular trending searches, which we’ve jotted some of them down here to help provide some clarity.
Should You Start Hayden Hurst or Jonnu Smith?
I probably sound like a broken record by now. Have you heard the tight end position is terrible this year? I count no more than five tight ends that absolutely cannot under any circumstances be dropped. That’s it. Five. As a result, fantasy managers find themselves in predicaments like deciding between these two guys.
MORE: Fantasy News Tracker
You already read why I like Hurst as a sneaky streamer this week. But the Start/Sit Optimizer says to start Smith.
To be clear, there is no correct answer here. Both are just dart throws. But they are different types of dart throws.
Smith has seen 20 targets over his last three games. His six catches for 95 yards last week gave him elite TE1 numbers. That’s really all it takes. He’s just not very likely to score.
Hurst is not going to rack up the receptions. He has five fewer receptions on the season than Smith has in his last three games. But Hurst has scored before. And against the Lions, he’s a better bet than Smith to do it again.
Do you want to chase the touchdown upside of Hurst or take the more stable floor that comes with Smith? The answer depends on what you think you need in your matchup this week.
Should You Start Kyle Pitts or Dalton Schultz?
I don’t actually pick these start/sit decisions myself. So, it’s always fun when one pops up that I actually have on one of my teams.
The Start/Sit Optimizer has this as Kyle Pitts. I, too, am starting Pitts. Obviously, I’m not thrilled about it, but here’s why.
As much as those of us with Pitts would love to bench him, there needs to be a clearly superior alternative. In some cases, there is. But Dalton Schultz is not that guy.
Schultz has seen just a 12.1% target share this season. He’s being targeted on just 14.1% of his routes run, outside the top 30 at the position. The tight end has yet to reach 100 receiving yards on the season. And this is with C.J. Stroud playing as well as any rookie QB in his first four starts in NFL history.
We just haven’t seen anything from Schultz to suggest he’s any better than Pitts. Given that Pitts is the more talented player, stick with Pitts if Schultz is your only alternative.