2024 Week 3 Fantasy Football Rankings: TE, K, DEF

Sam LaPorta hopes to shake his slow start, Dalton Kincaid fights for looks in the Bills’ remade skill corps, and Hunter Henry reminds fantasy managers he exists.

Other positions: Quarterback | Running Back | Receiver

Updated 9/22 at 11:45 AM ET. Removed Taysom Hill.

Week 3 Tight Ends

1	Trey McBride	ARI	vs. DET
2	Sam LaPorta	DET	at ARI
3	Brock Bowers	LV	vs. CAR
4	Travis Kelce	KC	at ATL
5	Mark Andrews	BAL	at DAL
6	Jake Ferguson	DAL	vs. BAL
7	Dalton Kincaid	BUF	vs. JAC
8	Kyle Pitts	ATL	vs. KC
9	Dallas Goedert	PHI	at NO
10	Isaiah Likely	BAL	at DAL
11	Pat Freiermuth	PIT	vs. LAC
12	Mike Gesicki	CIN	vs. WAS
13	Hunter Henry	NE	at NYJ
14	Dalton Schultz	HOU	at MIN
15	Colby Parkinson	LAR	vs. SF
17	Jonnu Smith	MIA	at SEA
18	Zach Ertz	WAS	at CIN
19	Cole Kmet	CHI	at IND
20	Noah Fant	SEA	vs. MIA
21	Juwan Johnson	NO	vs. PHI
22	Chig Okonkwo	TEN	vs. GB
23	Tyler Conklin	NYJ	vs. NE
24	Greg Dulcich	DEN	at TB
25	Tucker Kraft	GB	at TEN
26	Cade Otton	TB	vs. DEN
27	Brenton Strange	JAC	at BUF
28	Jordan Akins	CLE	vs. NYG
29	Dawson Knox	BUF	vs. JAC
30	Hayden Hurst	LAC	at PIT
31	Gerald Everett	CHI	at IND
32	Eric Saubert	SF	at LAR
33	Luke Schoonmaker	DAL	vs. BAL
34	Michael Mayer	LV	vs. CAR

TE Notes: Through two weeks, Trey McBride has been the only tight end perfectly in line with his preseason expectations. … People are getting hurt, so the 49ers are actually using George Kittle. To the surprise of absolutely no one, he is producing. Even more so than McBride, Kittle is probably the favorite to finish as the TE1 overall if: 1. The 49ers stay injured. 2. Those injuries don’t include Kittle, who has not appeared in every game since 2018. … Sam LaPorta is struggling to crack the top 20 in average PPR points through two weeks. Jameson Williams’ emergence is unquestionably bad news. There’s just no way LaPorta will remain mired in 3/20ville. The Cardinals are a compelling breakout opportunity. … Having zero Brock Bowers shares hurts. There are going to be some defensive adjustments, but Bowers is clearly the No. 2 weapon for a team lacking a run game and looking to play pitch-and-catch through the air. The Panthers have a horrendous defense.

It’s been a(nother) slow start for Travis Kelce. He was inches away from a Week 2 touchdown and lost a 41-yard reception to penalty. TE5 is probably an overreaction, if we are being honest. … Mark Andrews is still running all the routes and commanding down-field(ish) looks. Isaiah Likely predictably crashed back down to earth in Week 2. The Ravens are probably still going to need Likely’s frame down the seam, but they need Andrews’ clean targets more. He is another slow starter that should round into form. … Jake Ferguson (knee) knee nearly played in Week 2 and is expected back against the Ravens. It’s not always as simple as all that, but the target-starved Cowboys seem to have little choice but to jam Ferguson looks. … I wish I loved anything as much as Dalton Kincaid loves rotating snaps with Dawson Knox. It’s getting late early out there. It’s still difficult to see Kincaid’s usage collapse to the extent he falls out of the top 12 of this sorry group of tight ends.

Even with A.J. Brown sidelined for Week 2, the Eagles were targeting Random Guys over Dallas Goedert, including his backup Grant Calcaterra. There aren’t many amazing options to rank ahead of Goedert. There also aren’t any reasons to be excited about playing him. … There’s always the early-season dilemma of: We don’t want to overreact, but we do have to react. Through two weeks, Mike Gesciki is top-five in tight end yardage and receptions for a quarterback who has a reputation for targeting the seam. He’s worth a TE1 punt against the Commanders’ soft defense. … Along those same reaction lines, I won’t totally discount Hunter Henry’s second career 100-yard effort even though it was his first in five years (lol). He’s almost literally the only experienced healthy pass catcher on the Pats. That looked like it counted for something in Week 2. … Colby Parkinson was a Week 2 mega bust, but how do the injury-wrecked Rams get by without his targets? … Jonnu Smith’s YAC potential could be an X-factor with Skylar Thompson under center.

Week 3 Kickers

1	Brandon Aubrey	DAL	vs. BAL
2	Jake Moody	SF	at LAR
3	Ka’imi Fairbairn	HOU	at MIN
4	Justin Tucker	BAL	at DAL
5	Tyler Bass	BUF	vs. JAC
6	Chase McLaughlin	TB	vs. DEN
7	Blake Grupe	NO	vs. PHI
8	Jake Elliott	PHI	at NO
9	Harrison Butker	KC	at ATL
10	Matt Prater	ARI	vs. DET
11	Cameron Dicker	LAC	at PIT
12	Daniel Carlson	LV	vs. CAR
13	Younghoe Koo	ATL	vs. KC
14	Jake Bates	DET	at ARI
15	Chris Boswell	PIT	vs. LAC
16	Austin Seibert	WAS	at CIN
17	Jason Myers	SEA	vs. MIA
18	Evan McPherson	CIN	vs. WAS
19	Brayden Narveson	GB	at TEN
20	Will Reichard	MIN	vs. HOU
21	Cairo Santos	CHI	at IND
22	Dustin Hopkins	CLE	vs. NYG
23	Wil Lutz	DEN	at TB
24	Greg Zuerlein	NYJ	vs. NE
25	Jason Sanders	MIA	at SEA
26	Joshua Karty	LAR	vs. SF
27	Cam Little	JAC	at BUF
28	Nick Folk	TEN	vs. GB
29	Eddy Pineiro	CAR	at LV
30	Joey Slye	NE	at NYJ
31	Matt Gay	IND	vs. CHI
32	Graham Gano	NYG	at CLE

Week 3 Defense/Special Teams

1	Cleveland Browns	vs. NYG
2	New York Jets	vs. NE
3	San Francisco 49ers	at LAR
4	Chicago Bears	at IND
5	Buffalo Bills	vs. JAC
6	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	vs. DEN
7	Las Vegas Raiders	vs. CAR
8	Los Angeles Chargers	at PIT
9	Kansas City Chiefs	at ATL
10	Seattle Seahawks	vs. MIA
11	Green Bay Packers	at TEN
12	Tennessee Titans	vs. GB
13	Indianapolis Colts	vs. CHI
14	Minnesota Vikings	vs. HOU
15	Dallas Cowboys	vs. BAL
16	Pittsburgh Steelers	vs. LAC
17	New England Patriots	at NYJ
18	New York Giants	at CLE
19	Cincinnati Bengals	vs. WAS
20	New Orleans Saints	vs. PHI
21	Houston Texans	at MIN
22	Denver Broncos	at TB
23	Baltimore Ravens	at DAL
24	Detroit Lions	at ARI
25	Arizona Cardinals	vs. DET
26	Atlanta Falcons	vs. KC
27	Philadelphia Eagles	at NO
28	Carolina Panthers	at LV
29	Jacksonville Jaguars	at BUF
30	Miami Dolphins	at SEA
31	Washington Commanders	at CIN
32	Los Angeles Rams	vs. SF