Fantasy Football Week 5 Rankings: Tight Ends

Can you believe it’s Week 5 of the NFL season already? There have been some surprises at the quarter-pole, both in the standings, and among players.

The same is true at the tight end position. Though the old reliable players like Antonio Gates and Dallas Clark are doing their things, who would have guessed at the contributions made by the likes of Aaron Hernandez and Marcedes Lewis?

We’ll see what happens this week, and as a primer for your fantasy football needs, here is a look at our fantasy football Week 5 tight end rankings.

1. Antonio Gates (San Diego Chargers) @ Oakland

Gates has been a demon to opposing defenses this season. He had seven receptions, 144 yards, and two touchdowns last week against Arizona, and he leads all tight ends with 386 receiving yards and six touchdowns. In fact, his six receiving scores are the most of any NFL player, and his receiving yardage total is fourth in the NFL.

Gates has scored a touchdown in each game this season, and has at least 75 receiving yards in three of his four contests this year. He faces Oakland this week, a team he has scored on seven times in 11 games dating back to 2004. In fact, last season was the first time since ’04 that he failed to produce a score against the Raiders.

Point Projection: 15 points

2. Dallas Clark (Indianapolis Colts) vs. Kansas City

Clark scored for the third time in three games last week in Indy’s upset loss to the Jaguars. For the game, he had seven receptions for 68 yards on 11 targets. The former Iowa star has at least five catches in each contest this season.

While the Chiefs have been a nice surprise at 3-0, they are 11th in the league in average fantasy points allowed to opposing tight ends. This will be just the second home game of the season for the Colts, and it sets up nicely for Clark to have yet another solid day.

Point Projection: 14 points

3. Jermichael Finley (Green Bay Packers) @ Washington

Finley scored for the first time last week against the Lions, as part of a four-catch, 36-yard game. For the season, his 301 receiving yards are second in the league among NFL tight ends (and tops among Packers players). He has accumulated at least nine fantasy points in each of his past three contests, and he goes up against the Redskins this week, who have allowed a touchdown catch to a tight end in each of their past two games. There’s really no reason to think he won’t put up similar numbers in Washington.

Point Projection: 13 points

To see where your tight end ranks this week go here: Week 5 TE Rankings.