Fantasy Football: 3 Tight End Streamer Options for Week 17

Tight end, as the kids say, is a wasteland.

Of all the positions in fantasy football, tight end has consistently been the most volatile. It's gotten to the point where we're lucky to have even a handful of tight ends we can rely on week to week.

This year is no different. Unless you were one of the lucky few to nab a top option at the position, you'll likely be scouring the waiver wire in search of a diamond in the rough.

However, just because you punted on the tight end position doesn't mean you've punted on your team as a whole.

Streaming tight end is a real, and effective, strategy -- you just have to know where to look.

That's where I come in, giving you three tight end streamers to target each and every week of the 2023 NFL season. All of these guys should be available in the majority of 12-team leagues and at the very least possess value for the upcoming week.

It's championship week for fantasy football teams. Here are the tight ends that should offer you some help if you're looking for it at the position.

Projections and rankings via numberFire. All statistics via NFL Next Gen Stats and Pro Football Focus unless otherwise stated.

Week 17 Tight End Streamers

Chigoziem Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans

It took nearly all season, but Chigoziem Okonkwo finally has a touchdown, and we're not shying away from him in Week 17.

Okonkwo is coming off his best game after recording 6 receptions, 63 receiving yards, and a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks. The Tennessee Titans' tight end has been a sleeper option all year, but the inability to score had held him back from being a weekly starter.

Things are different now, as we've seen with his role specifically over the last five weeks. Whether Will Levis returns or Ryan Tannehill starts for the second week in a row, Okonkwo is the top streamer at the tight end position.

Over his last five games, Okonkwo has received five or more targets four times -- 26 overall in that time. This is the type of work that doesn't just happen, especially with tight ends available on the waiver wire. He was comfortably the second favorite target for Levis after DeAndre Hopkins, but most importantly, he was the main checkdown option, which carries value.

If you're down a tight end due to the injuries of T.J. Hockenson or Cole Kmet in Week 16, then Okonkwo against the Houston Texans sounds like the best matchup to exploit.

The Texans are allowing the fifth-most fantasy points per game to TEs, breaking down to 8.93 targets, 6.67 receptions, and 62.9 receiving yards. If Okonkwo is out there, he's the tight end who should be the top priority for championship week.

Hunter Henry, New England Patriots

If he's able to play, Hunter Henry will be a great tight end streamer option for this week.

Since Bailey Zappe became the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots, they've played a lot better, and it's led their offense to being competent as a result. Henry, as we saw in Zappe's first few weeks, has been a big winner of the change.

Through two games with Zappe as the starter, Henry had 12 targets, 10 receptions, and 3 touchdowns. Both of those weeks saw Henry finish as a top-five tight end in fantasy football. It's hard not to look at that and get excited.

The problem, however, is that Henry had to miss Week 16's game against the Denver Broncos due to a knee injury, making his Week 17 outlook a bit cloudy. Assuming that he can play, he'll take on a huge role against the Buffalo Bills.

If Henry is unable to play, Mike Gesicki will fit the role just fine, too. The Patriots' second tight end had only two receptions in Week 16 as the starter, but one of them was a touchdown, further playing to the idea that when Zappe is in a position to score, he's looking for the big targets in the red zone.

Assuming Henry is able to go, he's the one you want out there. But if Henry is out, there's certainly some value in Gesicki as a touchdown-dependent option.

Logan Thomas, Washington Commanders

The quarterback carousel over the last two weeks has made it tough to guess who will be starting for the Washington Commanders in Week 17, but if we're assuming Jacoby Brissett after a second straight successful run in relief, that should be good news for Logan Thomas.

The tight end finished with 5 receptions for 36 receiving yards and a touchdown in Week 16 as part of the Commanders' comeback attempt against the New York Jets. It was Thomas' best game in weeks, fitting of how the Commanders have been going offensively in the second half of the season while the struggles of Sam Howell pile up.

Through Week 11, Thomas had a respectable 15.3% target market share in the highly successful offense but was left with just eight targets total over the Commanders' last three games. That isn't going to be inviting for fantasy, but with six receptions in the comeback effort against the Jets, it's time to get back in on him.

Washington will be taking on the San Francisco 49ers in what has the potential to be a blowout with the 49ers favored by -13.5 early in the week. But with blowouts come opportunities for garbage time points, and that's what anyone in championship week should be banking on with Thomas.

All it takes is getting into the end zone once to make it all worthwhile.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.