With the Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams, Dallas Cowboys, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on bye this week, only one Top 5 option isn't available at tight end (Jason Witten, just in case you were thinking it was Jared Cook for some awful reason). That means starting the right guy if you aren't fortunate enough to hold any of Rob Gronkowski, Greg Olsen, Travis Kelce or the sudden arrival of Antonio Gates.
Fantasy football rankings, Week 6: Tight ends
With basically every top option available at tight end this week, stream, all ye wanderers. Stream wisely. The SB Nation fantasy staff rounds up the rankings for the top 25 tight ends.
Gary Barnidge had another 100 yard day despite playing a defense that suffocated opposing tight ends up to last week but will have a hard time finding daylight from here. The Cleveland Browns next four games involves an endurance run against the secondaries of the 5-0 Denver Broncos, Rams, Arizona Cardinals, and undefeated Cincinnati Bengals. In other words, good luck. Still, because of the volume and rapport he's shockingly developed with Josh McCown under helm, Barnidge remains an optimal Top 10 option moving forward.
If Barnidge isn't available, however, Zach Ertz seems like another likely candidate to produce in Week 6. Being involved in what will close as one of the highest projected scoring totals of the weekend, Ertz's latest emergence in targets suggests an injured tight end that began the year on a struggling offense and now finds himself healthy and being featured. Go figure. Fortunately, he should be able to be plucked off of most waiver wires successfully.
Here are your Week 6 tight end rankings.
Tight ends, Week 6
(DK: Daniel Kelley; DC: Dan Ciarrocchi; AM: Andrew Miller; JD: John Daigle; SK: Scott Kaliska. Dallas, Oakland, St. Louis and Tampa Bay are on bye)
| Rk | Consensus | Tm | Opp. | DK | DC | AM | JD | SK |
| 1 | Rob Gronkowski | NE | @IND | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Greg Olsen | CAR | @SEA | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Antonio Gates | SD | @GB | 5 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Travis Kelce | KC | @MIN | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | Tyler Eifert | CIN | @BUF | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | Martellus Bennett | CHI | @DET | 6 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 7 | Jimmy Graham | SEA | CAR | 7 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 7 |
| 8 | Gary Barnidge | CLE | DEN | 15 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | Delanie Walker | TEN | MIA | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 10 |
| 10 | Charles Clay | BUF | CIN | 10 | 17 | 7 | 12 | 9 |
| 11 | Julius Thomas | JAC | HOU | 8 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 11 |
| 12 | Richard Rodgers | GB | SD | -- | 10 | 12 | 16 | 13 |
| 13 | Jordan Cameron | MIA | @TEN | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 12 |
| 14 | Zach Ertz | PHI | NYG | 17 | 18 | 14 | 9 | 14 |
| 15 | Larry Donnell | NYG | @PHI | 11 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 16 |
| 16 | Kyle Rudolph | MIN | KC | -- | 14 | 21 | 15 | 15 |
| 17 | Derek Carrier | WAS | @NYJ | 14 | 15 | 19 | 18 | 17 |
| 18 | Jacob Tamme | ATL | @NO | 18 | 11 | 18 | 20 | 18 |
| 19 | Owen Daniels | DEN | @CLE | 12 | 16 | 23 | 23 | 19 |
| 20 | Coby Fleener | IND | NE | 23 | 21 | 17 | 17 | 20 |
| 21 | Heath Miller | PIT | ARI | 21 | 22 | 16 | 19 | 21 |
| 22 | Vernon Davis | SF | BAL | 20 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 23 | Garrett Celek | SF | BAL | -- | -- | 20 | 21 | -- |
| 24 | Dwayne Allen | IND | NE | 16 | 24 | -- | 25 | 22 |
| 25 | Ladarius Green | SD | @GB | 19 | 20 | 24 | 24 | 24 |
| -- | Benjamin Watson | NO | ATL | -- | 25 | 22 | 22 | -- |
| -- | Tim Wright | DET | CHI | -- | 23 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Darren Fells | ARI | @PIT | 22 | -- | 25 | -- | -- |
| -- | Brent Celek | PHI | NYG | 25 | -- | -- | -- | 23 |
| -- | Jake Stoneburner | MIA | @TEN | 24 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Jordan Reed | WAS | @NYJ | -- | -- | -- | -- | 25 |
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SB Nation presents: NFL Week 6 start/sit fantasy advice
