Fantasy Football Week 12 Tight End Preview: Schultz’s volume keeps him viable while Otton looks to rebound

Last week in this space, I called Dalton Schultz and Cade Otton must-start tight ends. Schultz did just fine, finishing as TE8 with 11.1 PPR Fantasy points. Otton was a huge bust with just two catches for 28 yards. Now they may be the most difficult tight ends to rank in Week 12.

Part of the reason Schultz is so difficult to rank is because of what just happened to Otton: He faced the Bills. Buffalo has given up just 5.3 PPR FPPG to tight ends this season, a mark Otton fell just short of. Travis Kelce (10.6) is the only tight end who has scored double-digit Fantasy points against them. They held each of Kyle PittsMark AndrewsHunter Henryand Juwan Johnson below seven Fantasy points.

So why are we even considering Schultz?

To start with, he has scored double-digit Fantasy points in five of his last six games. In the last three games, mostly with Davis MillsSchultz has averaged 14.4 PPR Fantasy points. He has 28 total targets in those three games, good for a 22.8% target share. Those are not the numbers of a tight end we would even consider benching right now. As of Tuesday, I have Schultz ranked as TE8. The three guys behind him (Juwan Johnson, Jake FergusonDallas Goedert) are all fine starts over him if you are scared of the matchup.

As for Otton, as long as Chris Godwin is out, I am starting him. I’ll chalk last week up to a bad matchup. He had 26 targets in his prior three games, and I expect Baker Mayfield to throw a lot more passes in Week 12 than he did in Week 11. If Godwin returns, Otton may very well fall out of the top 12, but not very far.

Here’s everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 11:

Week 12 TE Preview

• 21.8— The Bengals are giving up 21.8 PPR FPPG to tight ends, by far the highest mark in the league. Hunter Henry isn’t the worst emergency fill-in.
• 6.8 — Travis Kelce is averaging 6.8 yards after catch per reception, the highest mark of his career. His resurgence has been impressive.
• 19 — Dalton Schultz has caught 19 passes since Week 9. Only Trey McBride and Brock Bowers have caught more.
• 9 — Kyle Pitts saw nine targets in Week 8, the last game Drake London missed. He’s a start.
• 17.9% — Juwan Johnson has a 17.9% target share with Tyler Shough on the field and Rashid Shaheed off the field.
• 20.3% — Theo Johnson has a 20.3% target share when Jaxson Dart is on the field. He’ll get a boost if Dart is back.
• 49 — T.J. Hockenson does not have more than 49 receiving yards in a game this season. You’re just praying for a touchdown if you start him.

My full set of Week 12 Fantasy football projections for every position is now available on SportsLine. You can find them here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don’t live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 12. Projected stats for all starting tight ends are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.