Injuries are important to track every week, but in Week 18, it’s more important to know which players might be rested because their teams have nothing to play for. Even if a player is slated to start, it’s tough to know just how many snaps he’ll get if his team has locked up their playoff spot, but we’ll do our best throughout the week to stay on top of each situation and update accordingly. The Buccaneers and Giants are locked into their playoff seeds, while several other teams are only playing for seeding that may or may not matter much to them. For now, we’ll still rank their players as if they’re going all out.
Matchup-wise, the Seahawks (vs. Rams in Week 18), Cardinals (@ 49ers), Dolphins (vs. Jets), Falcons (vs. Buccaneers), and Titans (@ Jaguars) allow the most fantasy points to TEs, so Tyler Higbee, George Kittle, Tyler Conklin, Cade Otton, and Evan Engram are all great options if they’re expected to play the majority of snaps. Otton and Conklin are widely available on waiver wires, making them the top streams of the week, though Otton obviously comes with risks because we don’t know how much he’ll play, never mind the fact that Blaine Gabbert will likely be throwing him passes. If Otton rests, Ko Kieft becomes your Week 18 sleeper.
WEEK 18 FANTASY RANKINGS:QBs | RBs | WRs | D/STs | Kickers
The Lions (@ Packers), Giants (@ Eagles), Broncos (vs. Chargers), Jaguars (vs. Titans), Buccaneers (@ Falcons), Raiders (vs. Chiefs), and Patriots (@ Bills) round out the top 12 in terms of fantasy points allowed to TEs. That puts Robert Tonyan on the streamer map and moves Dallas Goedert, Gerald Everett, Darren Waller, and Dawson Knox into “must-start” territory. Those in really deep leagues can even try MyCole Pruitt against the Bucs, although he managed just 50 yards in a better matchup against Arizona last week, so he’s probably best left for DFS tournaments.
The Saints (vs. Panthers), Bills (vs. Patriots), Cowboys (@ Commanders), Bears (vs. Vikings), 49ers (vs. Cardinals), Commanders (vs. Cowboys), Eagles (vs. Giants), Browns (@ Steelers), Packers (vs. Lions), and Steelers (vs. Browns) allow the fewest fantasy points to TEs. We still see T.J. Hockenson as a must-start, but Dalton Schultz, Pat Freiermuth, and David Njoku are in more precarious positions. They’re all better in PPR leagues, though, so we’d still use them in most 12-team formats, especially if you can’t get Conklin or Tonyan.
Overall, there are enough decent TEs to go around if you’re still playing this week. As long as you stay on top of the matchups, who’s in, who’s out, and who’s facing potentially bad weather, you should be fine.
We’ll be updating these TE rankings as needed throughout the week, so check back for the latest changes and analysis.
Week 18 fantasy TE rankings for standard leagues
Rankings based on standard, non-PPR scoring
Rank Player 1 Travis Kelce, Chiefs @ Raiders 2 George Kittle, 49ers vs. Cardinals 3 Evan Engram, Jaguars vs. Titans 4 Tyler Higbee, Rams @ Seahawks 5 Darren Waller, Raiders vs. Chiefs 6 Dawson Knox, Bills vs. Patriots 7 Mark Andrews, Ravens @ Bengals 8 T.J. Hockenson, Vikings @ Bears 9 Dallas Goedert, Eagles vs. Giants 10 Tyler Conklin, Jets @ Dolphins 11 Gerald Everett, Chargers @ Broncos 12 Cade Otton, Buccaneers @ Falcons 13 Cole Kmet, Bears vs. Vikings 14 Pat Freiermuth, Steelers vs. Browns 15 Taysom Hill, Saints vs. Panthers 16 Dalton Schultz, Cowboys @ Commanders 17 Juwan Johnson, Saints vs. Panthers 18 Robert Tonyan, Packers vs. Lions 19 Noah Fant, Seahawks vs. Rams 20 Hayden Hurst, Bengals vs. Ravens 21 David Njoku, Browns @ Steelers 22 Chig Okonkwo, Titans @ Jaguars 23 MyCole Pruitt, Falcons vs. Buccaneers 24 Trey McBride, Cardinals @ 49ers 25 Albert Okwuegbunam, Broncos vs. Chargers 26 Logan Thomas, Commanders vs. Cowboys 27 Jordan Akins, Texans @ Colts 28 Austin Hooper, Titans @ Jaguars 29 Jeff Driskel, Texans @ Colts 30 Jelani Woods, Colts vs. Texans 31 Hunter Henry, Patriots @ Bills 32 Mike Gesicki, Dolphins vs. Jets 33 Brock Wright, Lions @ Packers 34 Ian Thomas, Panthers @ Saints 35 Daniel Bellinger, Giants @ EaglesRank Player 1 Travis Kelce, Chiefs @ Raiders 2 George Kittle, 49ers vs. Cardinals 3 Evan Engram, Jaguars vs. Titans 4 Tyler Higbee, Rams @ Seahawks 5 Darren Waller, Raiders vs. Chiefs 6 Dawson Knox, Bills vs. Patriots 7 Mark Andrews, Ravens @ Bengals 8 T.J. Hockenson, Vikings @ Bears 9 Dallas Goedert, Eagles vs. Giants 10 Tyler Conklin, Jets @ Dolphins 11 Gerald Everett, Chargers @ Broncos 12 Cade Otton, Buccaneers @ Falcons 13 Cole Kmet, Bears vs. Vikings 14 Pat Freiermuth, Steelers vs. Browns 15 Taysom Hill, Saints vs. Panthers 16 Dalton Schultz, Cowboys @ Commanders 17 Juwan Johnson, Saints vs. Panthers 18 Robert Tonyan, Packers vs. Lions 19 Noah Fant, Seahawks vs. Rams 20 Hayden Hurst, Bengals vs. Ravens 21 David Njoku, Browns @ Steelers 22 Chig Okonkwo, Titans @ Jaguars 23 MyCole Pruitt, Falcons vs. Buccaneers 24 Trey McBride, Cardinals @ 49ers 25 Albert Okwuegbunam, Broncos vs. Chargers 26 Logan Thomas, Commanders vs. Cowboys 27 Jordan Akins, Texans @ Colts 28 Austin Hooper, Titans @ Jaguars 29 Jeff Driskel, Texans @ Colts 30 Jelani Woods, Colts vs. Texans 31 Hunter Henry, Patriots @ Bills 32 Mike Gesicki, Dolphins vs. Jets 33 Brock Wright, Lions @ Packers 34 Ian Thomas, Panthers @ Saints 35 Daniel Bellinger, Giants @ Eagles
Week 18 fantasy TE PPR rankings
Rankings based on full-point PPR scoring
Rank Player 1 Travis Kelce, Chiefs @ Raiders 2 George Kittle, 49ers vs. Cardinals 3 Evan Engram, Jaguars vs. Titans 4 Tyler Higbee, Rams @ Seahawks 5 Darren Waller, Raiders vs. Chiefs 6 Dawson Knox, Bills vs. Patriots 7 Mark Andrews, Ravens @ Bengals 8 T.J. Hockenson, Vikings @ Bears 9 Dallas Goedert, Eagles vs. Giants 10 Tyler Conklin, Jets @ Dolphins 11 Gerald Everett, Chargers @ Broncos 12 Pat Freiermuth, Steelers vs. Browns 13 Cade Otton, Buccaneers @ Falcons 14 Cole Kmet, Bears vs. Vikings 15 Dalton Schultz, Cowboys @ Commanders 16 Taysom Hill, Saints vs. Panthers 17 Juwan Johnson, Saints vs. Panthers 18 Hayden Hurst, Bengals vs. Ravens 19 David Njoku, Browns @ Steelers 20 Robert Tonyan, Packers vs. Lions 21 Noah Fant, Seahawks vs. Rams 22 Chig Okonkwo, Titans @ Jaguars 23 MyCole Pruitt, Falcons vs. Buccaneers 24 Logan Thomas, Commanders vs. Cowboys 25 Trey McBride, Cardinals @ 49ers 26 Albert Okwuegbunam, Broncos vs. Chargers 27 Jordan Akins, Texans @ Colts 28 Austin Hooper, Titans @ Jaguars 29 Jelani Woods, Colts vs. Texans 30 Hunter Henry, Patriots @ Bills 31 Jeff Driskel, Texans @ Colts 32 Mike Gesicki, Dolphins vs. Jets 33 Brock Wright, Lions @ Packers 34 Ian Thomas, Panthers @ Saints 35 Daniel Bellinger, Giants @ Eagles