Tight End START/SIT Advice: Week 12 of THE 12 FORMATION

Win Your Week 12

• Week 12 Positional CheatChart to Spot the Best Fantasy Producers
• Quarterback START/SIT Advice: Week 12 of THE AUDIBLE
• Running Back START/SIT Advice: Week 12 of THE CUTBACK
• Wide Receiver Start/Sit Advice | Week 12 of The SLANT PATTERN
• Tight End START/SIT Advice: Week 12 of THE 12 FORMATION
• IDP Fantasy START/SIT Advice: Week 12 of THE BLINDSIDE
• The Week 12 IDP Waiver Wire | Best Free Agent Targets
• Week 12 Sunday Preview | Fantasy Points Data Suite | THE FULL SLATE

Dynasty Nerds writers are here to provide you with weekly start/sit advice all season long. We will be making our recommendations based on weekly consensus PPR rankings. Here is the Week 12 Tight End Start/Sit from Senior NFL Nerd Steven Pintado.

Week 12 Top 30 PPR Rankings by Steven Pintado

One thing to keep in mind when making your Week 12 tight end start/sit decisions; it will ALWAYS depend on who your other options are. Don’t take the players below out of (or put them into) your lineup unless the alternatives are worth it.

Win Your Week 12 | QB | RB | WR | TE | IDP | CheatChart | Full Slate

NOTE: Rankings for the Week 12 Tight End Start/Sit are sourced from FantasyPros expert consensus expert rankings (ECR). Our terminology is for a 12-team PPR league. So, TE1 means top 12, or TE2 means top 24, etc.

Our writers answer all positional questions, including Week 12 tight end start/sit, on Discord before the games exclusively for the #Nerdherd. The advanced metrics used in this article are courtesy of Fantasy Points Data Suite, use code NERDS for 25% off your own data suite subscription or All-in bundle.

START | Week 12 Tight End Start/Sit

Zach Ertz | Washington Commanders | TE 14

Week 11 Stats | TE5 | FPts 16.7 | Tgts 7 | Rec 6 | Yds 47 | 1 TD | Confidence 75%

Our tight end must start for Week 12 is Zach Ertz. The veteran tight end is coming off of a solid performance where he finished as a top-5 tight end in Week 11. Ertz is seeing consistent targets in the Commanders’ offense, with at least 7 in 3 of the last 4 games.

Zach Ertz will face the Cowboys this week—a team that has recently struggled to stop tight ends. In 4 of the previous 6 games, the Cowboys have surrendered a touchdown to the opposing tight end. I’d expect the Commanders to get back on track with their passing game in this divisional matchup. Since Week 5, Ertz leads the Commanders pass catchers in red zone targets (10). Ertz should be in many-a-lineup for Week 12 in a mega bye week.

SIT | Week 12 Tight End Start/Sit

Mark Andrews | Baltimore Ravens | TE 13

Week 11 Stats | TE27 | FPts 4.2 | Tgts 3 | Rec 2 | Yds 22 | Confidence 60%

This one may be hard to stomach, but Mark Andrews could disappoint again in Week 12. Andrews’ play has improved over the last month and a half, with double-digit fantasy points in 4 of the previous 6 games. The biggest reason is the 5 touchdowns Andrews has during that span. In Week 12, Andrews will go up against the Chargers defense, which ranks in the top 10 in stopping fantasy tight ends this season.

The Chargers allow on average, 5.1 fantasy points per game, according to Pro Football Reference. They are the only team that has yet to allow a tight end to score against their defense. Andrews isn’t seeing consistent targets and fell behind against Isaiah Likely last week. Likely finished with 5 opportunities, while Andrews only had 3. Despite this game looking like a shootout, it’s hard to trust Andrews in a difficult matchup for the position. Andrews could hurt your fantasy scores in Week 12.

Streamer | START | Week 12 Tight End Start/Sit

JaTavion Sanders | Carolina Panthers | TE 19

Week 11 Stats | BYE Week | Confidence 60%

Our tight end streamer for Week 12 is rookie JaTavion Sanders. The young tight end is coming off a bye week, a great time to start a rookie. The unspoken truth is that teams like to get their rookies more involved following a bye, so we could see Sanders game-planned for a bigger role. JaTavion Sanders was already seeing consistent production, with at least 8 fantasy points in 4 of the last 5 games.

He’ll go up against the KC Chiefs, who will try to beat down on the Panthers after their first loss of the season last week. This means we could see plenty of negative game script, which could benefit Sanders. The Chiefs are already a bottom-5 unit against fantasy tight ends in 2024. They have allowed at least 8-or-more fantasy points to a tight end in 5 of the last 6 games. Sanders could be a gift for your fantasy lineup in Week 12.

Spotlight | SIT | Week 12 Tight End Start/Sit

T.J. Hockenson | Minnesota Vikings | TE 8

Week 11 Stats | TE34 | FPts 3.3 | Tgts 3 | Rec 2 | Yds 13 | Confidence 78%

Our tight end spotlight this week is T.J. Hockenson. Since Hockenson returned from injury, he has been up and down the last three weeks. You would assume that he is a must-start tight end, but you’re not wrong to question it. Hockenson is still limited, as he’s participated in under 50% of the offensive snaps since returning. The Vikings are still working him back to full strength, and it has shown that he has 1 game over 5 targets so far.

Since Week 2, the Bears have allowed just 2 tight ends to finish over 10 fantasy points. Both of those tight ends had double-digit targets in those games. Hockenson is not being targeted as a top option at this time. This matchup has the lowest over/under of the weekend with a 39.5. This could be a battle of defense and the run game leaving the passing game for the Vikings to be used when needed. This will hurt Hockenson’s ceiling in this matchup.

Redemption | START | Week 12 Tight End Start/Sit

Travis Kelce | Kansas City Chiefs | TE 1

Week 11 Stats | TE38 | FPts 2.8 | Tgts 4 | Rec 2 | Yds 8 | Confidence 90%

Our tight end who should redeem himself in Week 12 is Travis Kelce. This one could be a slight risk, but I’d expect the future Hall-of-Fame tight end to rebound. He’ll face off against the Panthers, who allow the most fantasy points per game to tight ends. The Panthers have allowed a top-13 tight end in 4 of the last 6 games. The worst finish in that span was TE19.

The Chiefs should be hungry and angry after finally losing a game this year, and the Panthers are the right team to beat down. Last week, Kelce was game planned out of the offense due to the Bills locking him down. I wouldn’t expect the same this game. Kelce had 3-straight games over 20 fantasy points before Week 11. While you probably have to start Kelce anyway, you should feel confident in a big bounce back for Week 12.

Win Your Week 12 | QB | RB | WR | TE | IDP | CheatChart | Full Slate

If you enjoyed reading the Week 12 Tight End Start/Sit, I encourage you to check out our other start/sit positional articles in the series using the navigation tool above or in the series navigation at the top of the page.

In case you missed it, our Senior NFL Prospects Nerd Mike Johrendt released his 2025 Rookie Big Board with his first two rounds of a dynasty rookie draft, plus his sleeper for the 2025 NFL Draft class:

Week 12 Tight End Top 30 PPR rankings

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