Fantasy football waiver wire: 5 tight ends to target for Week 6

With tight end being the most unpredictable position in fantasy football, owners will take any modicum of consistency they can get. So it’s a relief to see Jimmy Graham and Travis Kelce coming back from their byes this week -- barring injury, they can be plugged into lineups every week with little worry.

This week, the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on bye, taking Kyle Rudolph and Cameron Brate out of the picture. Those two had been reliable fantasy producers so far, so their absences will be felt. Fantasy players will likely be taking another spin of musical chairs with tight ends on the waiver wire, so here are five options worth considering. All players are owned in 50 percent or less of Yahoo! standard leagues.

Tamme has been pretty quiet in recent weeks, getting just three catches for 4 yards the past two games. In addition, Tevin Coleman has appeared to supplant him as Matt Ryan’s checkdown option and he’s going up against the Seattle Seahawks this week. Fantasy owners have likely cooled on Tamme, but the Seahawks have typically struggled to defend tight ends, so this could be a sneaky cheap streaming option.

Antonio Gates made his return, but Henry looks like he’ll still be involved in the offense, seeing four targets and getting three catches for 74 yards and a touchdown. His TE2 window is probably closing with Gates nearing full health, and the Denver Broncos on a short week is an imposing matchup, but Henry should keep seeing enough red zone targets to stay on the fantasy radar for at least one more week.

James had his most productive game yet on Sunday, setting season highs in catches (six) and yards (43) while scoring his third touchdown of the year. That’s pretty much his ceiling at this point, and Ladarius Green is eligible to return from the PUP list after this week, but fantasy owners can keep streaming him while the starting job is his. He has a good shot to score again when the Steelers face the Miami Dolphins this week.

Clay’s stat line since Sammy Watkins got shut down in Week 4: 10 catches, 120 yards in two games. Not huge numbers, but acceptable enough if you’re streaming tight ends. The Bills have a high-upside matchup with the San Francisco 49ers’ defense this week, so Clay has a chance to put up season-best numbers in this spot.

Green was a trendy preseason sleeper target as Trevor Siemian’s safety valve, but a Week 2 calf injury derailed his hype train. He was close to returning in Week 5 before being inactive again, so fantasy owners will have to watch his practice reports as the Broncos gear up for a Thursday night game. If Green plays, he’ll be on the TE2 map against San Diego’s defense.