Fantasy Football: 3 Tight End Streamer Options for Week 7

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.

Projections and rankings via numberFire.

Week 7 Tight End Streamers

Michael Mayer, Las Vegas Raiders

Not to be hyperbolic, but Michael Mayer is not just the top tight end streamer for Week 7, but he may be the tight end pickup of the season.

The 35th overall pick in this year's draft, Mayer was a target machine in college. He led all collegiate tight ends with a 31.3% target share during his final season at Notre Dame en route to 809 yards and 9 touchdowns. He finished his career as Notre Dame's all-time tight end receptions leader (180) and slotted in at No. 19 on PFF's draft board.

Despite being such a highly drafted player, Mayer saw little action through the first four weeks. During that time, Mayer only played between 38-53% of snaps and only had a single catch.

However, he's seemingly taken over the Las Vegas Raiders' starting tight end role over the last two weeks. He played 62.5% of snaps in Week 5, securing 2 of 3 targets for 39 yards. Then, in Week 6, Mayer truly broke onto the scene. He played 81.5% of the team's snaps (compared to Austin Hooper's 33.8%) and commanded a 19.4% target share.

Mayer turned a season-high 71.9% route participation rate into 5 receptions and 75 yards. Fantasy-wise, he finished as the TE5 with 10.0 half-PPR points.

Next week, Mayer and the Raiders take on the Chicago Bears. Chicago has had one of the worst defenses all season, and that's held true against tight ends. The Bears allow the ninth-most fantasy points per game (10.5), the sixth-highest catch rate over expectation (9.0%), and the fifth-highest target rate (20.5%).

With a soft matchup on deck, Mayer could feast as Vegas' new top tight end.

Jonnu Smith, Atlanta Falcons

It took five straight weeks of consistent production, but I'm ready to trust Jonnu Smith -- at least in Week 7.

With an 11.6-point performance last week, Smith now slots in as the TE9 for the season despite not scoring a single fantasy point in Week 1.

Jonnu Smith is not going to put up 20 points and win you the week. But what he can do is provide you with some much-needed stability at fantasy football's most volatile position. Just look at his last five games:

Smith's timeshare with Kyle Pitts may limit his upside on paper, but an encouraging target share over the last five weeks makes him a real fantasy option. Since Week 2, Smith ranks third on the team with a 17.9% target share. Over that span, he's tied for second with a 17.4% red zone target share and has registered an impressive 4.6% catch rate over expectation (Pitts is at -4.4%, for reference).

In Week 7, Smith and the Falcons take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs have allowed just 7.0 fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends, but they have allowed the 10th-highest target share (19.6%) to the position.

Smith has proven himself to be one of the top options in Atlanta's passing attack and is a quality tight end streamer in Week 7.

Luke Musgrave, Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers tight end Luke Musgrave may fly under the radar after last week's bye, but he's one of the top waiver-wire targets heading into Week 7.

Like Mayer, Musgrave was a top tight end prospect coming into the draft, and the Packers took him with the 42nd overall pick. However, unlike Mayer, Musgrave has had spurts of production all season.

In the four full games that Musgrave played, he garnered a 17.7% target share. In Weeks 3 and 5 (his last two fully healthy appearances), Musgrave secured 12 of 15 targets for 83 yards. He finished as the TE11 (7.9 points) and the TE18 (6.4 points) in those two weeks and has played at least 70% of the snaps in all four games he didn't leave early.

While his lack of red zone utilization (10.0% red zone target share) limits his upside, Musgrave's growing target share gives him a solid floor heading into his Week 7 matchup with the Denver Broncos.

Denver is a great matchup for opposing offenses, especially pass-catchers. The Broncos have allowed the most fantasy points per game (13.7), the sixth-highest target rate (20.2%), and the most yards per route run (2.08) to opposing tight ends. A tight end facing the Broncos has finished inside the top 12 at the position in four of the past five weeks. If Musgrave's ever-growing target share is any indication, that number will grow to five in six weeks when all is said and done.

Luke Musgrave is a quality streamer in Week 7 and has the utilization profile to stay on your roster for the remainder of the season.

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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.