Week 12 Tight End Start/Sid | FF advice

Dynasty Nerds writers are here to bring you weekly starting/seating advice all season long. We will make our recommendations based on weekly consensus PPR rankings. Here’s the Week 12 Tight End Start/Sit from Senior NFL Nerd Steven Pintado.

One thing to keep in mind when making your decisions about starting/sitting in week 12; it will ALWAYS depend on who your other options are. Don’t take the below players out of (or put them in) your lineup unless the alternatives are worth it.

Win your Week 12 | QB | RB | WR | TE | IDP | Cheat Chart | Full board

NOTE: Week 12 Tight End Start/Sit rankings are taken from FantasyPro’s Expert Consensus Expert Rankings (ECR). Our terminology is for a 12-team PPR league. So TE1 means top 12, or TE2 means top 24, etc.

Our writers answer all positional questions, including Week 12 tight end start/sit, on Discord before the games exclusively for #Nerdherd. The advanced metrics used in this article are courtesy Fantasy Points Data Suiteuse code NERDS for 25% off your own data suite subscription or All-in package.

Top 3 toughest matchups
Fantasy player	Opposite team	Def vs FPPG	Avg. Def vs. Yards	TDs allowed
Kyle Granson	THE	3.9	34.9	1
Cade Otton	NEW	3.9	33.2	1
Cobly Parkinson	PHI	4.6	39.6	1
Top 3 Softest Matchups
Fantasy player	Opposite team	Def vs FPPG	Avg. Def vs. Yards	TDs allowed
Travis Kelce	CAR	11.5	60.8	7
Adam Trautman	LV	10.9	67.4	7
Theo Johnson	TB	10.1	68.4	5

START | Week 12 Tight End Start/Sid

Zach Ertz | Washington Commanders | TEE 14

Week 11 Statistics | TE5 | FPts 16.7 | Tgts 7 | Rec 6 | Yds 47 | 1 TD | Confidence 75%

Our tight end bowl starting for Week 12 is Zach Ertz. The veteran tight end is coming off a solid performance, finishing as a top-5 tight end in Week 11. Ertz is seeing consistent targets in the Commanders’ offense, with at least 7 in 3 of the last 4 games.

Zach Ertz will face the Cowboys this week — a team that has struggled recently to stop tight ends. In 4 of the previous 6 games, the Cowboys have surrendered a touchdown to the opposing tight end. I expect the Commanders to get back on track with their passing game in this divisional game. Since Week 5, Ertz has led Commanders pass catchers in red zone targets (10). Ertz should be in the many-one lineup for Week 12 in a mega bye week.

SIT | Week 12 Tight End Start/Sid

Mark Andrews | Baltimore Ravens | TEE 13

Week 11 Statistics | TE27 | FPts 4.2 | Tgts 3 | Rec 2 | Yds 22 | Confidence 60%

This one may be tough to hold off on, but Mark Andrews could disappoint again in Week 12. Andrews’ play has improved over the past month and a half, posting double-digit fantasy points in 4 of the previous 6 games. The biggest reason is the 5 touchdowns Andrews has during that span. In Week 12, Andrews will go up against a Chargers defense that ranks in the top 10 in stopping fantasy tight ends this season.

The Chargers are allowing an average of 5.1 fantasy points per game. game, according to Pro Football Reference. They are the only team that has yet to allow a tight end to score against their defense. Andrews isn’t seeing consistent targets and fell behind against Isaiah Likely last week. Probably finished with 5 opportunities while Andrews only had 3. Despite this game looking like a shootout, it’s hard to trust Andrews in a tough battle for the position. Andrews could hurt your fantasy results in Week 12.

Streamers | START | Week 12 Tight End Start/Sid

JaTavion Sanders | Carolina Panthers | TE 19

Week 11 Statistics | BYE Week | Confidence 60%

Our tight end streamer for Week 12 is rookie JaTavion Sanders. The young tight end is coming off a bye week, a good time to start a rookie. The unspoken truth is that teams like to get their rookies more involved after a bye, so we could see Sanders play-scheduled for a bigger role. JaTavion Sanders already saw consistent production with at least 8 fantasy points in 4 of the last 5 games.

He will be up against the KC Chiefs, who will be looking to take down the Panthers after their first loss of the season last week. That means we could see plenty of negative play scripting that could benefit Sanders. The Chiefs are already a bottom-5 unit against fantasy tight ends in 2024. They have allowed at least 8 or more fantasy points to a tight end in 5 of the last 6 games. Sanders could be a godsend for your Week 12 fantasy lineup.

Spotlight | SIT | Week 12 Tight End Start/Sid

TJ Hockenson | Minnesota Vikings | TE 8

Week 11 Statistics | TE34 | FPts 3.3 | Tgts 3 | Rec 2 | Yds 13 | Confidence 78%

Our tight end spotlight this week is TJ Hockenson. Since returning from injury, Hockenson has been up and down the last three weeks. You’d assume he’s a must-start tight end, but you wouldn’t be wrong to question that. Hockenson is still limited as he has participated in less than 50% of the offensive snaps since returning. The Vikings are still working him back to full strength and it has shown that he has 1 game over 5 goals so far.

Since Week 2, the Bears have allowed just 2 tight ends to finish over 10 fantasy points. Both of those tight ends had double-digit targets in those games. Hockenson is not targeted as a top option at this time. This matchup has the lowest over/under of the weekend by one 39.5. This could be a battle of the defense and the running game, leaving the passing game for the Vikings to use when needed. This will hurt Hockenson’s ceiling in this matchup.

Redemption | START | Week 12 Tight End Start/Sid

Travis Kelce | Kansas City Chiefs | TEE 1

Week 11 Statistics | TE38 | FPts 2.8 | Tgts 4 | Rec 2 | Yds 8 | Confidence 90%

Our tight end who should redeem himself in Week 12 is Travis Kelce. This one could be a bit of a risk, but I would expect the future Hall-of-Fame tight end to rebound. He will face the Panthers, who allow the most fantasy points per game. battle in tight ends. The Panthers have allowed a top-13 tight end in 4 of the last 6 games. The worst finish in that span was TE19.

The Chiefs should be hungry and angry after finally losing a game this year, and the Panthers are the right team to beat. Last week, Kelce was scheduled out of the offense due to the Bills locking him down. I wouldn’t expect the same this game. Kelce had 3-straight games over 20 fantasy points before Week 11. While you’ll likely start Kelce anyway, you should feel confident in a big return for Week 12.

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Win your Week 12 | QB | RB | WR | TE | IDP | Cheat Chart | Full board

If you enjoyed reading the Week 12 Tight End Start/Sit, I encourage you to check out our other start/sit positional articles in the series using the navigation tool above or in the series navigation at the top of the page.

See the Week 12 Sunday Preview curated for each player in each game using Fantasy Points Data Suite’s premium stats:

Week 12 Tight End Top 30 PPR Rankings

Ranking	Name
1	Travis Kelce
2	Brock Bowers
3	Trey McBride
4	David Njoku
5	George Kittle
6	Cade Otton
7	John Smith
8	Hunter Henrik
9	TJ Hockenson
10	Will Disley
11	Sam LaPorta
12	Dallas Goedert
13	Zach Ertz
14	Tucker Kraft
15	Mark Andrews
16	Ja’Tavion Sanders
17	Cole Kmet
18	Dalton Schultz
19	Pat Freiermuth
20	Isaiah Probably
21	Luke Schoonmaker
22	Theo Johnson
23	Noah Gray
24	Lucas Krull
25	Chig Okonkwo
26	AJ Barner
27	Davis Allen
28	Austin Hooper
29	Adam Trautman
30	Josh Whyle

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IDP Fantasy START/SIT Counseling: Week 12 of THE BLINDSIDE >>