2024 Week 5 Fantasy Football Rankings: TE, K, DEF

Jake Ferguson throws his hat in the ring for TE1 overall status, Tucker Kraft replaces Mike Gesicki as the “why not?” TE1 du jour, and Kyle Pitts wonders if his moment of relevance has ended.

Other positions: Quarterback | Running Back | Receiver

Week 5 Tight Ends

TE Notes: Even with the 49ers’ skill corps finally approaching full strength (sans CMC), George Kittle seems like the best bet for default TE1 status right now. His 2024 floor has been fine. Everyone knows about the ceiling. The Cardinals are a glorious Week 5 matchup. … Jake Ferguson is the rare 2024 tight end draft plan actually going to plan. Matchups shouldn’t matter much for the Cowboys’ No. 2 weapon. … The Cardinals expect Trey McBride back after a one-week absence with a concussion. A struggling Kyler Murray seemed totally out of ideas without his seam safety valve. Despite his rib injury, 49ers LB Fred Warner is an unideal Week 5 McBride welcoming committee. … Rashee Rice got hurt and Travis Kelce instantly had a usable effort. Overdue for positive touchdown regression, Kelce could end up back in his traditional top spot before long. … Dalton Kincaid still isn’t running enough routes, but he continues to command targets when doing so. Hopefully Texans/Bills actually shoots out.

Pat Freiermuth hasn’t really had a good game. He also hasn’t really had a bad one. Evidently that’s enough to make you a safe mid-range TE1 these days. … David Njoku (ankle) is practicing. If he returns from his three-game absence, it will be as a desperately needed No. 2 weapon for the Browns against a super leaky Commanders defense, albeit one that has so far limited tight end production against a soft slate of enemy seam stretchers. … Evan Engram (hamstring) is also fighting to get back from his three-game sabbatical. If he can make it, the Colts have been a land of opportunity for rival pass catchers. … Brock Bowers is predictably slumping after proving he needed to be a defensive focal point. Even with Davante Adams staging something of an in-season hold-in, Bowers’ Week 5 targets outlook isn’t amazing since the Broncos figure to wreck the Raiders’ entire passing-game operation. … Dalton Schultz is a poor man’s Pat Freiermuth in that he’s at least doing no evil. As for his good fantasy works? He’ll get back to you on that.

I decided to panic a little more than expected with Mark Andrews. With so many tight ends struggling, it’s tempting to fall back on fundamentals, one of which is: Andrews has been good a long time. But Andrews was struggling to even get on the field for the Ravens’ most important Week 4 snaps. I am holding Andrews at least one more week, but looking for starting alternatives vs. the Bengals. It should at least be a high-scoring affair where the Ravens need to pass. … We are rush returning Tucker Kraft to the TE1 ranks after Jordan Love immediately revived his fantasy relevance. How much of that was due to 28-0 comeback game script is a fair question. It’s also fair to focus on Kraft being one of the tight ends to have a good game in any circumstance this season. … Relative to the rest of the industry, I’ve never really been a Kyle Pitts booster. But even I have to stop pretending he’s relevant at all right now. The guy is losing target battles to Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud and no longer even looks fast. … Cade Otton is tied for fourth in tight end targets at 21 (lol).

Week 5 Kickers

Week 5 Defense/Special Teams