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Should You Even Consider Starting A Tight End Other Than Rob Gronkowski?

By Travis Pulver - 6 years ago in Daily Fantasy, NFL News

Should You Even Consider Starting A Tight End Other Than Rob Gronkowski?

During the regular season, there are plenty of options for every position on a daily fantasy roster. But that is not the case during the playoffs and especially championship weekend.

However, there are some spots players should have no trouble deciding who to start— no matter how much a player cost.

For example, can you really justify starting any tight end other than Rob Gronkowski?

Not that the other guys are bad.

None of them are. At different times during the regular season, Zach Ertz and Kyle Rudolph have been excellent fantasy tight ends. Jacksonville doesn’t make use of their tight ends very much. Marcedes Lewis is long past his prime, anyway.

You are only going to start Lewis if you don’t like money.

So—why not go with Ertz or Rudolph?

Like Gronkowski, Ertz led the Eagles in receiving (74 receptions, 824 yards, and eight touchdowns). He did his best work with Carson Went at quarterback. But he did have decent games against the Giants (six receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown) and Raiders (nine receptions for 81 yards).

But he only had three receptions (targeted five times) for 32 yards against the Atlanta Falcons. This week, he and the Eagles will be facing a much tougher Minnesota Vikings defense.

As for Rudolph, while he has had several moments throughout the season where he made great plays for the Vikings, his fantasy value is tied directly to whether he makes a touchdown

reception. He only had 57 receptions for 532 yards. He had four receptions or less ten times and one catch three times. His season-high for yards in a single game was 63.

But he did have eight touchdowns—as many as Gronkowski and Ertz.

It sounds like all three could be good starts.

Eh—maybe. Daily fantasy players shouldn’t expect to get much out of Ertz. The Vikings were the stingiest defense against tight ends in fantasy play during the regular season. They will definitely be the toughest defense Nick Foles has faced.

Rudolph doesn’t do enough. Touchdowns are great, but since he’s not worth playing unless he scores, you should forget about him, too.

Gronkowski must play

But isn’t Gronk playing a tough defense too?

Yes, the Patriots are playing a very tough defense. It would not be shocking to see the Jaguars defense dominate the Patriots like the Denver defense did a couple of years ago. But Gronk still had eight receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown that day.

He is as reliable as they get this week.

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