December 9th, 2016
Friday Night Edition
Friday's Fantasy Fixx
The Fantasy Playoffs are underway and unless you had the Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in your lineup last night, with players like Rob Gronkowski (Injured Reserve), Julius Thomas (OUT), and Gary Barnidge (no quarterback) your options may be limited on Sunday. Playing in a multitude of leagues as I do each year, this seems to be one of the dilemmas I am not able to escape this week.
Gary Barnidge has been fantasy irrelevant since the season started and with the return of quarterback Robert Griffin III, there's no guarantee this will change and the risk this week is too great. With Gronk sidelined, fantasy owners can only hope that tight end Martellus Bennett will rise to the TE1 we believed him to be. So far in Bennett's past three games this has not happened; just 6 receptions for 40 yards receiving. Even with quarterback Tom Brady under center, Bennett may be too risky to sit on until Monday night.
Some options that some may be looking at for Sunday are the Redskins number two tight end Vernon Davis. Even with starter Jordan Reed in the lineup Davis has been productive at times, but faced with a tough matchup agains the Eagles (ranked 4th for the fewest fantasy points allowed to opposing tight ends). With so much at stake this week, owners may be better served avoiding Davis.
A less than (but still) risky play this week could be the Rams tight end Lance Kendricks. By far Kendricks has been one of the teams leading pass receiving options, third on the Rams with 73 targets this season. And this week Kendricks faces the Falcons defense that has allowed the 5th most fantasy points to opposing tight ends. But like so many other options, Kendricks carries a lot of risk; just 2 catches for 13 yards last week. You have to like his matchup, but always the question "can you trust him?"
Probably my best option that I will lean on heavily this Sunday is the Niners tight end Vance McDonald. Now McDonald is coming off a week where the entire offense was completely ineffective and he only caught 2 balls for 9 yards. Prior to that McDonald had four straight games with at least 3 receptions and 46 yards receiving with two touchdowns. With the Jets coming to town and a defense that has allowed the 6th most fantasy points to opposing tight ends over the past four weeks, including three touchdowns McDonald is undoubtedly a strong play on Sunday.
That’s My Take
~David G. Ortega
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