Week Seven fantasy tips: TEs

Based on targets, Ravens TE Ed Dickson could merit a look as a bye-week fill-in for Week Seven. He's seen 35 targets, second-most on the club, catching 18-200-1 in five games. Granted, that's only 3.6 receptions for 40 yards and 0.2 TDs per game. He's facing a Jaguars defense struggling against opposing tight ends. Over its last four games the Jaguars' "D" is allowing 66.8 yards and 0.8 TDs to the position, thus the bye-week fill-in potential.

Browns TE Benjamin Watson has seen a team-high 38 targets in five games, making him a potential bye-week or injury fill-in in bigger leagues. Watson has a pair of TD catches on the season, and he has a three-game average of nine targets for 4.7 catches, 49 yards and 0.3 TDs. The Seahawks are allowing 69.3 yards and 0.7 TDs per game to the position. If you need a body, he's a solid one-week play.

Antonio Gates will return to the Chargers' lineup after being out since Week Two with a foot injury. Though still not 100 percent, Gates is always a fantasy start, as he's one of Philip Rivers' favorite red-zone targets. He has a mixed history against the Jets, going 8-132-0 in 2005, yet going 2-25-1 in 2008. In three games against them he's averaged 4.7 receptions for 65.3 yards and 0.3 TDs. Overall, those are solid enough numbers, and the Jets are allowing 48.8 yards and no touchdowns to the position their last four games. He has a tough matchup, but the truth is, you don't bench Gates.

Monitor Panthers TE Greg Olsen's status this weekend. He has turf toe, which can be a painful, nagging injury, but the Panthers are optimistic he'll play Sunday vs. the Redskins. Olsen has been a solid red-zone threat this season — he had scored a touchdown in three straight games before the Falcons stopped him in Week Six. The Redskins have allowed the second-fewest passing TDs in the league (four), but Eagles TE Brent Celek had 42 yards and a TD against them last week. As a Bear, in his last matchup against the Redskins, Olsen went 3-43-0, and this year, over their last three games, the Washington defense is allowing opposing tight ends 50.7 yards and 0.3 TDs per game. Olsen will be worth starting as a low-end fantasy tight end, if he's active.

You could be in a heap of trouble if you continue to count on Cardinals TE Todd Heap to make a fantasy difference. Since suffering a hamstring injury almost two weeks ago, Heap hasn't done squat. He sat out the Cardinals' Week Five game at Minnesota, and apparently his hamstring hasn't gotten any better, as he has yet to practice this week and will probably be a game-time decision. He's also facing the Steelers, who are only allowing 46.8 yards and 0.3 TDs per game to the position over their last four. Heap's head-to-head against the Steelers — as a Raven — has not been great. His last four games against them he averaged 1.5 receptions, 19.5 yards and 0.5 TDs, numbers that keep him on your bench.

Seahawks TE Zach Miller (head, neck) has yet to practice this week but has not been ruled out of Sunday's game against the Browns in Cleveland. The Browns are allowing 57.7 yards and one TD per game over their last three. However, with an average of three targets for 1.6 receptions for 16.6 yards and no touchdowns, he's not even worth a roster spot or a one-week pickup.

Source: http://www.profootballweekly.com/2011/10/20/week-seven-fantasy-tips-tes-3

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