Ravens’ TE-by-Committee a Headache for Defenses & Fantasy Managers Alike

The injury bug claimed many casualties in Week 5, including the likes of De’Von Achane, Nico Collins, Aaron Jones, Drake London and Aaron Rodgers. Pile on the fact that it’s a bye week for the Chiefs, Dolphins, Rams and Vikings… well, there certainly hasn’t yet been a need to hit the waiver wire quite like there is a need to this week.

(All fantasy-related statistics are derived from FantasyPros.com and are based on standard format unless otherwise specified).

Commanders-Ravens Fantasy Outlook

Start

Austin Seibert (K)

Don’t underestimate the value of a kicker.

Austin Seibert is quickly climbing up the ranks of fantasy kickers, floating between the top five and top 10 on most fantasy websites. After missing Washington’s season opener against Tampa Bay, Seibert now carries an average of 13 points per game, and has yet to dip below a double-digit finish since Week 3 when he finished with nine points against Cincinnati. Baltimore now ties with Philadelphia for the third-most field goal attempts allowed to opponents during home games (three), which makes another double-digit finish look promising for Seibert in Week 6 if Washington struggles to find the end zone often.

Austin Ekeler (RB)

While starting an RB2 against the Baltimore Ravens sounds unappealing at first glance, consider that Cincinnati’s Chase Brown reached 13.4 points in standard format and 16.4 points in PPR, finishing with three more carries than suspected RB1 Zack Moss last Sunday.

The reason I compare Ekeler to Brown is because Ekeler, too, is not irrelevant in this matchup just because he’s the RB2 on paper. While it’s obvious that Brian Robinson Jr. is the clear ground-and-pound back for the Commies, Ekeler is the pass-catching back, averaging 37.75 receiving yards across four games. He’s only scored one touchdown thus far, but his usage in the pass game has led to double-digit finishes in PPR each week he has played, floating between 10 and 13 points.

Against a Baltimore defense that has allowed an average of 36.4 receiving yards to running backs per game (on par with Ekeler’s receiving average), it looks promising for Ekeler to have another double-digit finish in your flex or RB2 spot should you find yourself thin at the position this week. Keep in mind that Thomas is on Washington’s injury report this week as well.

Others to start: Lamar Jackson (QB), Derrick Henry (RB), Brian Robinson Jr. (RB), Zay Flowers (WR), Terry McLaurin (WR), Zach Ertz (TE)

Sit

Mark Andrews, Charlie Kolar and Isaiah Likely (TE)

Even though all three Ravens tight ends finally started to show some promise in their Week 5 matchup against Cincinnati, they now head into a tough home stand against the Commanders, who have yet to allow a tight end to reach 50 receiving yards this season, and have only allowed one touchdown to the position. Now add in Charlie Kolar to the mix, who finished with three receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown, there’s just too much uncertainty around which Baltimore tight end is a reliable starter as of yet. If they had to be ranked in terms of reliability heading into Week 6, it goes 1) Likely 2) Andrews 3) Kolar. Likely should be the only one started out of the three, only if you really can’t find another suitor for your TE slot. A double-digit finish is not promising, as Likely only notched his second of the season last Sunday.

Others to sit: Justice Hill (RB), Commanders D/ST, Ravens D/ST, Justin Tucker (K)

Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Frontrunners Around the League

Start: The Tank Duo

Tank Bigsby (RB)

Managers who have Travis Etienne Jr. on their rosters are likely starting to feel disdain towards second-year running back Tank Bigsby, who just finished with a career-high 25.9 PPR points, due in part to a monster 65-yard touchdown run:

TANK BIGSBY STIFF ARMS HIS WAY TO A 65-YARD TD.

: #INDvsJAX on CBS/Paramount+
: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/oVugPI0X5s

— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2024

Currently rostered in just 23% of Yahoo leagues and only 10% of ESPN leagues, Bigsby is an add-and-start candidate heading into Week 6 after totaling 129 yards and two touchdowns against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5.

Also having more snaps than Etienne in Week 5 (in part due to a shoulder injury that happened in-game), Bigsby now leads the league in yards per carry (eight) and yards after contact per rush attempt (6.5). He now has finished three games with over 70 rushing yards, but looks to have little involvement in the pass game.

While the first three weeks did not look promising for Bigsby, he’s trending in the direction of having another big game against Chicago, especially because of Etienne showing face on Jacksonville’s injury report this week.

Tank Dell (WR)

With Nico Collins trending in the direction of not playing against the New England Patriots this upcoming Sunday at 1 p.m., wide receiver Tank Dell looks to crawl back into his 2023 season form, in which he averaged almost 11 points per game in standard format and 15 points per game in PPR.

Highly rostered in 85% of Yahoo leagues and 82% of ESPN leagues, Dell has been quite disappointing thus far in the season, carrying an average of only 7.4 points in PPR. The difference this year? Obviously, Stefon Diggs, taking the place of Noah Brown who’s now on the Commanders.

With C.J. Stroud expected to miss his top target in Collins this Sunday, expect Dell to reach at least five receptions for just the second time this season. The last time he did so, he reached 62 yards for a total of 11.2 PPR points, which looks to be his floor in Week 6.

Sit

Romeo Doubs (WR)

It’s the Jayden Reed era in Green Bay, apparently.

Romeo Doubs has been a rather disappointing fantasy pick for managers in 2024, who likely drafted the third-year receiver in the 12th or 13th rounds of this year’s drafts. Even though Doubs averaged 10.25 PPR points last season, with four different 18-point finishes, he has yet to reach above 10 points in the format across the four games he’s played thus far. What’s even worse for Doubs is that he’s currently Jordan Love’s fourth-most favorite target, sitting with 20 behind Dontayvion Wicks (29), Reed (28) and tight end Tucker Kraft (22). Of the three others, Doubs only has more yardage than Wicks with 169 on the season—an average of just 42 yards per game.

With reports saying that Doubs has been skipping practice this week in response to being unhappy with his role in the offense, it’s not looking well for the receiver to have a double-digit performance against Arizona’s defense which currently sits 13th in the league for least receiving yards allowed.

Alec Pierce (WR)

Alec Pierce has been hit-or-miss in fantasy thus far, having three great performances with over 15 PPR points and two games where he only reached five points or less. Despite having good on-field relationships with both Joe Flacco and Anthony Richardson, Pierce is faced with his toughest task yet against a Tennessee secondary that currently allows the fewest passing yards per game in the league (124). The Titans’ defense does sit in the middle of the pack for rushing yards allowed per game (119.8), suggesting that the Colts may be in for a run-focused game that relies on Jonathan Taylor and Trey Sermon to do most of the heavy lifting. In Taylor’s absence last week, Sermon reached 18.3 points in PPR and notched a rushing touchdown.

Feel free to leave me your questions in the comments, or tweet me @BrennanStewart_ . Also, be sure to check out Tanner George’s top free agent picks for Week 6.

Good luck!

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Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2024/10/10/fantasy/andrews-kolar-likely/