Who should I start at TE: Kyle Rudolph or Hunter Henry?
Kyle Rudolph comes off of his bye owning 23.4 percent of the targets in Minnesota but heads into what appears to be a dreadful matchup on paper with the Eagles. Through six weeks, no team has allowed fewer targets (15), receptions (eight) or yards (93) to tight ends than the Eagles. However, this is largely because Philadelphia has yet to face a dynamic tight end seeing a large volume of targets. They played Gary Barnidge and Zach Miller in Weeks 1 and 2, both in diminished roles at that time, Jesse James in Week 3, and somehow managed to dodge Eric Ebron in Week 5 and Jordan Reed in Week 6 (injuries). So don't let the Eagles' FPA numbers for tight ends scare you off, Rudolph is still a fine start in fantasy. He's a top option in an efficient offense and leads the team in red-zone targets with six, scoring all three of his touchdowns in that space. Sam Bradford will continue to look for Rudolph early and often this Sunday.
Hunter Henry is looking to erase the "rookie tight ends can't produce in fantasy" narrative this season, and gets an enticing matchup with the Falcons defense. Excluding the Denver game in Week 5, the last three tight ends the Falcons have faced have finished as the TE2 (Coby Fleener), TE2 (Greg Olsen), and TE10 (Jimmy Graham). Over the last three weeks Henry is second on the Chargers in targets (19), first in receiving yards (218), and first in receiving touchdowns (three). While the matchup and his own ability are fantastic, the one worrisome caveat with Henry is he must split time with Antonio Gates. Over the last two weeks, Gate's playing time jumped from 35 percent to 47 percent, while Henry's dipped from 82 percent to 68 percent. Despite the rookie's performance thus far, this split could continue to even out as Gates gets healthier. Henry has shown he can produce on limited snaps/targets, but his usage certainly needs to be monitored moving forward.
Verdict: While the Player Comparison Tool picks this debate in a landslide favoring Henry, my feeling is to swing the other way and start Rudolph. The Eagles defense has shown cracks when playing good offenses like Washington and Detroit, and Rudolph's role for the Vikings almost assures him targets. Henry, on the other hand, has to battle a wily veteran for targets at his own position, much less a trio of speedy wide receivers who could be getting loose frequently on the turf in Atlanta. While Henry's ceiling might be higher, Rudolph looks to be the smarter play.
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Kyle Rudolph comes off of his bye owning 23.4 percent of the targets in Minnesota but heads into what appears to be a dreadful matchup on paper with the Eagles. Through six weeks, no team has allowed fewer targets (15), receptions (eight) or yards (93) to tight ends than the Eagles. However, this is largely because Philadelphia has yet to face a dynamic tight end seeing a large volume of targets. They played Gary Barnidge and Zach Miller in Weeks 1 and 2, both in diminished roles at that time, Jesse James in Week 3, and somehow managed to dodge Eric Ebron in Week 5 and Jordan Reed in Week 6 (injuries). So don't let the Eagles' FPA numbers for tight ends scare you off, Rudolph is still a fine start in fantasy. He's a top option in an efficient offense and leads the team in red-zone targets with six, scoring all three of his touchdowns in that space. Sam Bradford will continue to look for Rudolph early and often this Sunday.
Hunter Henry is looking to erase the "rookie tight ends can't produce in fantasy" narrative this season, and gets an enticing matchup with the Falcons defense. Excluding the Denver game in Week 5, the last three tight ends the Falcons have faced have finished as the TE2 (Coby Fleener), TE2 (Greg Olsen), and TE10 (Jimmy Graham). Over the last three weeks Henry is second on the Chargers in targets (19), first in receiving yards (218), and first in receiving touchdowns (three). While the matchup and his own ability are fantastic, the one worrisome caveat with Henry is he must split time with Antonio Gates. Over the last two weeks, Gate's playing time jumped from 35 percent to 47 percent, while Henry's dipped from 82 percent to 68 percent. Despite the rookie's performance thus far, this split could continue to even out as Gates gets healthier. Henry has shown he can produce on limited snaps/targets, but his usage certainly needs to be monitored moving forward.
Verdict: While the Player Comparison Tool picks this debate in a landslide favoring Henry, my feeling is to swing the other way and start Rudolph. The Eagles defense has shown cracks when playing good offenses like Washington and Detroit, and Rudolph's role for the Vikings almost assures him targets. Henry, on the other hand, has to battle a wily veteran for targets at his own position, much less a trio of speedy wide receivers who could be getting loose frequently on the turf in Atlanta. While Henry's ceiling might be higher, Rudolph looks to be the smarter play.
