Fantasy Football Week 5 Start 'Em Sit 'Em TEs feat. Sam Laporta, Kyle Pitts and more 

The tight end position is crucial to your fantasy football lineup. Knowing which to start and sit is a must on a week-to-week basis. The position is volatile and in many weeks, a top tight end will score you round about 8-15 points. Here are three guys I think you need to start and three you can keep on your bench for Week 5.

Fantasy Football Week 5 Start 'Em Tight Ends

Falcons Lions Football

Sam LaPorta

LaPorta has been awesome for the Lions and for fantasy football. So far he's put together three top-10 weeks with Week 4 being the only asterik. Last week, he still put together a great week with four catches for 56 yards.

So far this season, LaPorta has seen 22% of the Lions target share and has utilized it well, with 242 yards (leading tight ends) and a TD. This could be a breakout game for the rookie tight end with Jahmyr Gibbs (hamstring) questionable, and Amon Ra St. Brown (Abdomen) still a doubt.

This should make LaPorta a locked in must start.

Jonnu Smith

The Falcons have decided that they don't care about your fantasy football team. Jonnu Smith is the perfect example for this.

So far this year, Smith has one less target than Kyle Pitts. He's also pretty much played in one less game, as Week 1 only yielded five snaps for Smith.

Evan Engram vs Jonnu Smith fantasy projection for Wek 5

One look at our experts' projection via our Start/Sit Optimizer gives a glimpse into what you should expect of Smith this weekened.

Since Week 1, Smith has been on a tear going for 179 yards on 15 receptions, with six catches and 95 in Week 4. Smith seems to be solidifying a spot on this offense and his 87 yards after catch makes him a strong choice this week against the Texans. Make sure you start Jonnu this week.

Tyler Conklin

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The Jets offense has been a mess since Zach Wilson took back over, but the one constant has been Tyler Conklin getting five targets. Conklin is the vanilla ice cream of tight ends. He'll never be much more than 8-10 points, but there are weeks where that's all you need.

Currently sitting at TE17 and facing a favorable matchup against the Broncos, Conklin is a candidate to start on your team in Week 5.

Fantasy Football Week 5 Sit 'Em TEs

Steelers Texans Football

Pat Freiermuth

It's been a rough year for Pat Freiermuth and the Pittsburgh Steelers. So far, the Steelers tight end has put up only 53 yards and two TDs on right catches.

While he has been a top-12 TE in each game he's scored in, that doesn't seem sustainable. He's yet to get more than four targets in a game and this Steelers offense has been one of the worst in the league. This week, the matchup is against division rival Baltimore Ravens who are currently the best team against the tight end position, averaging 2.5 ppg. This is an easy one for me - sit Freiermuth.

Evan Engram

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Evan Engram has looked really good since coming to Jacksonville and should be considered a start on most weeks. Just not in Week 5, facing the Bills who allow the second-fewest points to opposing tight ends (2.8).

The Bills are yet to allow a TD and have given up the sixth-fewest yards to tight ends this year. A lot of that has been against lesser tight ends but after back-to-back blowouts, the Bill defense is seemingly feeling itself and it's one that I wouldn't want my fantasy team playing against on Sunday.

Kyle Pitts

Pitts has been one of the biggest letdowns in fantasy football. He has the most air yards (250), deep targets (3) and the highest ADOT (11.9). Analytically, he should be beasting out and it doesn't make any sense at all.

Pitts hasn't scored more than nine points in a game since Week 8 in 2022. Topping it all off is the fact that he's only been a top-12 TE three times between the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Having the most unrealized yards (149) and being ranked TE31 make Pitts absolutely unstartable until he can somehow find his way out of the funk.