Theo Johnson and 3 Other Must-Start Tight Ends in Week 9 Fantasy Football

I cannot recall any NFL season that has commanded the depth at tight end that we are seeing this year. At the top, you have Tucker Kraft, Jake Ferguson, and Tyler Warren. As sleeper breakouts, we have seen Oronde Gadsden II, Harold Fannin Jr., and to an extent, Hunter Henry. When you look deeper down the standings, we have TJ Hockenson, Mark Andrews, and Evan Engram that may even be available on waivers. This makes it fun, although also difficult to project the best tight ends week-over-week. We will put our best foot forward and suggest these four players are starts in Week 9.

There is a very good case to be made that Gadsden is also a weekly start, and that he should not even be on this list. However, data shows that he is being started in about 50% leagues. That means that I must convince the other 50% to start him this week.

Over the last three weeks, there is no tight end better than Gadsden in fantasy football. Any concerns about Quentin Johnston? Well, there should be and the culprit is Gadsden. We are entering Week 9 and Gadsden has only been a thing since Week 6. Even then, he has (8) Red Zone Targets for 2 Touchdowns. His target share is already infringing on McConkey and Keenan Allen. He must be started, regardless of the matchup.

Ertz is surely at the end of his career. You can see it when he plays, he is not the specimen that he once was, but he is still very productive and he still does make great plays. Kliff Kingsbury has made it very clear that Ertz is a vital piece to this passing offense. Ertz has a 19% target share this season and he leads this team is receiving touchdowns (4). In the Red Zone, he is 5/5 in Targets with 4 Touchdowns. He is a vital target.

As good as Seattle has been on defense, their weakness has been against the tight end. Seattle stands 24th versus Tight Ends. We can expect Ertz to have favorable volume in this week’s game plan.

I do not care how good Theo Johnson is viewed to be. It does not matter here. The Giants are using and abusing Johnson as a key weapon on this team. In 8 Games, Johnson has 35 Targets for 23 Receptions and 4 Touchdowns. He leads the team by a margin of two touchdowns for the best of all receivers. In the Red Zone, he has (9) Targets, which is a 22% target share.

The Giants are without Malik Nabers and now, Cam Skattebo. In 12 Games, they had combined ror 60 Targets, or 5.0 per game. This will be divvied up and gives even more volume to Johnson. By all accounts, the 49ers are average against the tight end. Unless a defense is shutdown in this matchup, Johnson is a start given the volume.

We had loved Loveland in Week 8. He did not breakout, but he did have the volume that we anticipated. Over the last two weeks, Loveland is approaching a 20% target share. In essentially just three meaningful, healthy games, Loveland has 3 Red Zone Targets. The team has targeted the tight end (6) times in the red zone. In 2024, Ben Johnson had Sam LaPorta with 20% of team red zone targets. It is a role that Loveland is working in to.

The Bengals are the far worst NFL team versus the tight end. This leads Loveland into a great opportunity to break out. Cincinnati is allowing 6.8 Receptions and 1.2 Touchdowns per Game to the tight end. If I start Loveland in any week, it is this week.