2024 Week 3 Fantasy Football Rankings: TE, K, DEF

Sam LaPorta hopes to shake his slow start, Dalton Kincaid fights for looks in the Bills’ remade skill corps, and Hunter Henry reminds fantasy managers he exists.

Other positions: Quarterback | Running Back | Receiver

Week 3 Tight Ends

TE Notes: Through two weeks, Trey McBride has been the only tight end perfectly in line with his preseason expectations. … People are getting hurt, so the 49ers are actually using George Kittle. To the surprise of absolutely no one, he is producing. Even more so than McBride, Kittle is probably the favorite to finish as the TE1 overall if: 1. The 49ers stay injured. 2. Those injuries don’t include Kittle, who has not appeared in every game since 2018. … Sam LaPorta is struggling to crack the top 20 in average PPR points through two weeks. Jameson Williams’ emergence is unquestionably bad news. There’s just no way LaPorta will remain mired in 3/20ville. The Cardinals are a compelling breakout opportunity. … Having zero Brock Bowers shares hurts. There are going to be some defensive adjustments, but Bowers is clearly the No. 2 weapon for a team lacking a run game and looking to play pitch-and-catch through the air. The Panthers have a horrendous defense.

It’s been a(nother) slow start for Travis Kelce. He was inches away from a Week 2 touchdown and lost a 41-yard reception to penalty. TE5 is probably an overreaction, if we are being honest. … Mark Andrews is still running all the routes and commanding down-field(ish) looks. Isaiah Likely predictably crashed back down to earth in Week 2. The Ravens are probably still going to need Likely’s frame down the seam, but they need Andrews’ clean targets more. He is another slow starter that should round into form. … Jake Ferguson (knee) knee nearly played in Week 2 and is expected back against the Ravens. It’s not always as simple as all that, but the target-starved Cowboys seem to have little choice but to jam Ferguson looks. … I wish I loved anything as much as Dalton Kincaid loves rotating snaps with Dawson Knox. It’s getting late early out there. It’s still difficult to see Kincaid’s usage collapse to the extent he falls out of the top 12 of this sorry group of tight ends.

Even with A.J. Brown sidelined for Week 2, the Eagles were targeting Random Guys over Dallas Goedert, including his backup Grant Calcaterra. There aren’t many amazing options to rank ahead of Goedert. There also aren’t any reasons to be excited about playing him. … There’s always the early-season dilemma of: We don’t want to overreact, but we do have to react. Through two weeks, Mike Gesciki is top-five in tight end yardage and receptions for a quarterback who has a reputation for targeting the seam. He’s worth a TE1 punt against the Commanders’ soft defense. … Along those same reaction lines, I won’t totally discount Hunter Henry’s second career 100-yard effort even though it was his first in five years (lol). He’s almost literally the only experienced healthy pass catcher on the Pats. That looked like it counted for something in Week 2. … Colby Parkinson was a Week 2 mega bust, but how do the injury-wrecked Rams get by without his targets? … Jonnu Smith’s YAC potential could be an X-factor with Skylar Thompson under center.

Week 3 Kickers

Week 3 Defense/Special Teams