Fantasy Football Week 8 Start 'Em Sit 'Em Tight Ends feat. Kyle Pitts, Sam LaPorta, and George Kittle

Modified Oct 28, 2023 16:20 GMT

Detroit Lions v Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Fantasy Football Week 8 Start 'Em Sit 'Em Tight Ends feat. Kyle Pitts, Sam LaPorta, and George Kittle

It's Week 8 of the 2023 NFL season and that means we have no byes in fantasy football. You don't have to compensate for a lost tight end and this week will be about determining the right matchups and who to start. There will be no-brainers out there like Travis Kelce, but there will also be guys that require some thought.

Here are three tight ends you should start in Week 8, as well as three you should sit:

Fantasy Football Week 8 Start 'Em Tight Ends

1] George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers

George Kittle is up and down this year and this week poses an awesome opportunity for the 49ers tight end. This year, Kittle has 5 or more targets in three of his seven games. In those games, he's been top-10 twice, while in his 3 TD game, Kittle had 4 targets.

The Bengals are allowing 9 fantasy ppg to tight ends, but they are also averaging 6.8 targets per game to them. This week is big for San Francisco, as they need a win going into their bye week.

Without Deebo Samuel and with the offensive line struggling to protect Brock Purdy, don't be surprised if the 49ers make some quick-out plays to their game-breaker tight end. As such, George Kittle is a must-start this week.

2] Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions

A Sam LaPorta week is coming, and the Las Vegas Raiders are the perfect team against which the Lions will unleash the beast. Since LaPorta's TE1 performance in the third week of the season, he's been ping-ponging between top-10 and top-20 performances.

The one aspect of his game that has been steady is his 20.4% target share, as since Week 3 he's had 27 targets (just under 7 targets/game). LaPorta's biggest limitation has been his lack of red zone targets (3) during that span.

The Raiders have been relatively good this year against the tight end position averaging 5.9 fantasy ppg. That being said they haven't played a tight end that's as talented as LaPorta or an offense as smarting as the Lions after being beaten 38-6 by the Baltimore Ravens.

This week, look for LaPorta to make the most of his opportunities and be a must-start against a spiraling Vegas squad.

3] Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens

Mark Andrews has been the image of consistency this year, with only one game outside of the top 12. The Arizona Cardinals have been very good against the tight end position, averaging 3.8 fantasy ppg, but Arizona has yet to play a tight end as good as Andrews.

This year, Andrews has a whopping 23.3% target share, the third most red-zone targets (8), and the most red-zone TDs (5) in the NFL. Forget the matchup and the stats, start Mark Andrews in Week 8.

Mark Andrews vs Kyle Pitts fantasy projection for Week 8

Our Start/Sit Optimizer puts some numbers to this debate, projecting a return of 14.2 points for Andrews this week.

DFS Plays

Fantasy Football Week 8 Sit 'Em Tight Ends

1] Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals

Trey McBride gets his first opportunity to be the lead dog in Arizona with Zach Ertz on IR. Over the past two weeks, McBride has been mildly productive, tallying 11 targets. With the full workload slated to be McBride's, he'll likely see around 7 targets.

The problem is that he'll be playing a Ravens defense that has had no trouble bottling up tight ends. Baltimore has allowed the fewest fantasy points to the tight end position (2.9/ppg) this season. This week might be the worst possible for McBride to be the starter and he should be considered a sit.

2] Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons

Last week was a tough matchup for Kyle Pitts against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the third-year tight end caught 3 of 4 passes for 43 yards. That was good enough to land Pitts as the TE15 on the week, but that's not good enough for fantasy managers.

Before last week, it seemed like we were finally getting that Pitts that we've wanted throughout his career. He had back-to-back top-10 performances and was averaging 8.5 targets a game.

The Tennessee Titans pose a terrible matchup for Pitts to get back on track as they have allowed the seventh-fewest average to tight ends (4.7). The Titans are one of the last four teams that have yet to allow a TD to an opposing tight end and they have played Mark Andrews and held him to four catches and 62 yards.

3] Tyler Higbee, LA Rams

Tyler Higbee has faded into the background in Los Angeles as the return of Cooper Kupp has essentially written him off. Higbee had 26 targets from Week 1-4 and has 9 since the return of Kupp. The Rams have just seemingly forgotten to use their tight end.

This is actually an advantageous matchup for Higbee as the Dallas Cowboys have allowed an average of 8.7 fantasy ppg. While giving up back-to-back top-10 weeks to opposing tight ends, it just doesn't seem like the Rams can target anyone outside of Puka Nacua and Kupp. Sit Higbee this week.

Edited by John Maxwell