Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Week 12: Tight Ends

Fantasy managers considering who to start in fantasy football at tight end are staring down some tough decisions in Week 12.

The first half of the season has seen many of the NFL’s 32 teams dogged by widespread injury, and tight ends were not spared: Top fantasy football tight ends like George Kittle, Tucker Kraft, Darren Waller and Brenton Strange have all missed time due to injury. Managers have had to adapt through trades or streaming week to week. 

If you’re fretting over who the top tight ends to start for Week 12 are, or which players should be riding your bench this week, here’s our fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em Week 12 tight ends guide to help you get an edge in your league this week.

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Start ‘Em/Sit ‘Em Week 12, 2025 – Tight End

So, who should you absolutely slot into your lineup for Week 12, and who’s better of left on your bench? Let’s take a look.

Tight End Start of the Week

Hunter Henry, New England Patriots (at Cincinnati Bengals): Hunter Henry is starting to emerge as a preferred option for Drake Maye, and he’s got an enviable matchup against the Bengals for Week 12. Cincinnati is the arguably the league’s worst defense against tight ends. Honestly, a matchup against the Bengals at any position this season should be reason to salivate.

Tight Ends to Start in Week 12

Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at Los Angeles Rams): Cade Otton was our top pick for fantasy tight ends last week even though he ended up posting just 5 points against the Bills, and he’s on our list again for the Bucs Week 12 matchup against the Rams. The Rams are pretty generous to tight ends, and Otton is one of the few solid and healthy passing options for Baker Mayfield on the Bucs.

Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts (at Kansas City Chiefs): Tyler Warren has been a bit of bust lately, but he put up a strong game against the Atlanta Falcons. Now the Colts will face a Chiefs team that has been shutting down receivers all season long, positioning Warren as a tasty target for Daniel Jones, if he can avoid the pressure the Chiefs defense will almost certainly lay on him.

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Tight End Sit of the Week

Harold Fannin Jr. and David Njoku, Cleveland Browns (at Las Vegas Raiders): Cleveland offense has been generally bad this season, and with Shedeur Sanders stepping in for Dillon Gabriel (concussion) in yet another change under center for the Browns, things could potentially get even worse. We’re avoiding both Browns tight ends this week.

Tight Ends to Sit in Week 12

Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys (vs. Philadelphia Eagles): CeeDee Lamb’s return, coupled with George Pickens’ presence on the team, has dented Ferguson’s productivity for sure, and he’s up against a Philly defense that has been adept at shutting down tight ends so far. We’re leaving him benched.

TJ Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings (vs. Green Bay Packers): Poor TJ Hockenson has been a fixture of our sit list this season, and he’s on here again against the Packers. Minnesota’s offense, dealing with problems at the quarterback position, has been inconsistent at best this season, and that’s relegated Hockenson to near-irrelevance as far as fantasy goes. We’re sitting him, or potentially dropping him entirely.

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Week 12 Tight End Matchups: Average Points Allowed to Tight End by Team

To help you analyze your tight end starts or sits this week, here’s the average fantasy points allowed to the position by team through Week 10 in the 2025 NFL season. Higher points allowed totals generally indicate better matchups for tight ends.

Team	Avg. Fantasy Points Allowed to Tight Ends
Cincinnati Bengals	18.8
Jacksonville Jaguars	14.2
Indianapolis Colts	13.7
Miami Dolphins	13.7
Seattle Seahawks	13.5
Pittsburgh Steelers	13.3
Minnesota Vikings	12.4
San Francisco 49ers	12.4
Carolina Panthers	12.1
New England Patriots	12.1
Washington Commanders	12.1
Arizona Cardinals	12
Dallas Cowboys	12
Los Angeles Rams	12
Chicago Bears	11.4
New York Jets	11.3
New Orleans Saints	11.2
Green Bay Packers	11
Cleveland Browns	10.4
Denver Broncos	10.4
Detroit Lions	10.2
New York Giants	9.8
Tennessee Titans	9.2
Baltimore Ravens	9.1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	9
Kansas City Chiefs	8.2
Los Angeles Chargers	7.8
Las Vegas Raiders	7.7
Houston Texans	7.5
Atlanta Falcons	6.2
Philadelphia Eagles	5.4
Buffalo Bills	4.8

Week 12 Fantasy Football TE Rankings

Here are the rankings for the top tight ends for Week 12:

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Proj. Fantasy Points
1	Trey McBride	ARI	vs. JAC	18.4
2	George Kittle	SF	vs. CAR	15.3
3	Brock Bowers	LV	vs. CLE	15.1
4	Tyler Warren	IND	at KC	13
5	Travis Kelce	KC	vs. IND	12.9
6	Hunter Henry	NE	at CIN	11.6
7	Dallas Goedert	PHI	at DAL	11.2
8	Kyle Pitts Sr.	ATL	at NO	10.6
9	Jake Ferguson	DAL	vs. PHI	10.6
10	Theo Johnson	NYG	at DET	10.2
11	Mark Andrews	BAL	vs. NYJ	10.1
12	Cade Otton	TB	at LAR	10
13	Dalton Schultz	HOU	vs. BUF	9.6
14	Juwan Johnson	NO	vs. ATL	9.6
15	Colston Loveland	CHI	vs. PIT	9.5
16	Harold Fannin Jr.	CLE	at LV	8.6
17	AJ Barner	SEA	at TEN	8.1
18	Noah Fant	CIN	vs. NE	7.8
19	Mason Taylor	NYJ	at BAL	7.6
20	T.J. Hockenson	MIN	at GB	7.4
21	David Njoku	CLE	at LV	7.4
22	Pat Freiermuth	PIT	at CHI	7.1
23	Isaiah Likely	BAL	vs. NYJ	7.3
24	Dawson Knox	BUF	at HOU	6.5
25	Chig Okonkwo	TEN	vs. SEA	6.5
26	Brock Wright	DET	vs. NYG	6.1
27	Taysom Hill	NO	vs. ATL	6
28	Darnell Washington	PIT	at CHI	5.6
29	Jonnu Smith	PIT	at CHI	5.5
30	Luke Musgrave	GB	vs. MIN	5.4
31	Michael Mayer	LV	vs. CLE	5.4
32	Ja’Tavion Sanders	CAR	at SF	5.2
33	Terrance Ferguson	LAR	vs. TB	5.1
34	Elijah Arroyo	SEA	at TEN	5
35	Gunnar Helm	TEN	vs. SEA	4.7
36	Cole Kmet	CHI	vs. PIT	4.5
37	Colby Parkinson	LAR	vs. TB	4.3
38	Elijah Higgins	ARI	vs. JAC	4.3
39	Davis Allen	LAR	vs. TB	4.3
40	Tommy Tremble	CAR	at SF	4
41	Noah Gray	KC	vs. IND	3.6
42	Daniel Bellinger	NYG	at DET	3.4
43	Tanner Hudson	CIN	vs. NE	3.2
44	John FitzPatrick	GB	vs. MIN	3
45	Jackson Hawes	BUF	at HOU	3
46	Brenton Strange	JAC	at ARI	2.9
47	Johnny Mundt	JAC	at ARI	2.9
48	Austin Hooper	NE	at CIN	2.8
49	Josh Whyle	GB	vs. MIN	2.7
50	Jeremy Ruckert	NYJ	at BAL	2.7
51	Drew Sample	CIN	vs. NE	2.7
52	Charlie Kolar	BAL	vs. NYJ	2.6
53	Foster Moreau	NO	vs. ATL	2.3
54	Quintin Morris	JAC	at ARI	2.3
55	Hunter Long	JAC	at ARI	2.3
56	Mitchell Evans	CAR	at SF	2.3
57	Luke Schoonmaker	DAL	vs. PHI	2.2
58	Jake Tonges	SF	vs. CAR	2.2
59	Cade Stover	HOU	vs. BUF	2.1
60	Grant Calcaterra	PHI	at DAL	2
61	Charlie Woerner	ATL	at NO	2
62	Mo Alie-Cox	IND	at KC	1.9
63	Luke Farrell	SF	vs. CAR	1.8
64	Josh Oliver	MIN	at GB	1.6
65	Connor Heyward	PIT	at CHI	1.6
66	Mike Gesicki	CIN	vs. NE	1.5
67	Kylen Granson	PHI	at DAL	1.4
68	Ross Dwelley	DET	vs. NYG	1.4
69	Brevyn Spann-Ford	DAL	vs. PHI	1.3
70	Payne Durham	TB	at LAR	1.3
71	Keleki Latu	BUF	at HOU	1.1
72	Drew Ogletree	IND	at KC	1.1
73	Robert Tonyan	KC	vs. IND	1
74	Ian Thomas	LV	vs. CLE	0.9
75	Durham Smythe	CHI	vs. PIT	0.8
76	Nick Kallerup	SEA	at TEN	0.8
77	Josiah Deguara	ARI	vs. JAC	0.8
78	Tyler Higbee	LAR	vs. TB	0.7
79	Jack Westover	NE	at CIN	0.7
80	Thomas Fidone II	NYG	at DET	0.7
81	David Martin-Robinson	TEN	vs. SEA	0.7
82	Zaire Mitchell-Paden	NO	vs. ATL	0.7
83	Andrew Beck	NYJ	at BAL	0.7
84	Chris Manhertz	NYG	at DET	0.6
85	Blake Whiteheart	CLE	at LV	0.6
86	Robbie Ouzts	SEA	at TEN	0.6
87	CJ Dippre	NE	at CIN	0.6
88	Jack Stoll	NO	vs. ATL	0.5
89	Ben Yurosek	MIN	at GB	0.5
90	Teagan Quitoriano	ATL	at NO	0.5
91	Devin Culp	TB	at LAR	0.5
92	Stone Smartt	NYJ	at BAL	0.4
93	Cameron Latu	PHI	at DAL	0
94	Brenden Bates	CLE	at LV	0

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