Week 9 TE Rankings: The Colston Loveland Breakout is Upon Us

It's Week 9.

We're almost to the halfway point of the NFL regular season, and fantasy campaigns are closer to the end than the beginning.

When games kick off this Sunday, we'll be in the month of November.

November.

Unreal.

I know I say this every year, but it increasingly feels true: Time doesn't fly—it dies.

This game of ours, this fantastical amusement of absurdity, is an affair of attrition.

Sometimes, survival is sufficient.

Let's get into the Week 9 TE edition of Freedman's Favorites, where I highlight guys I'm upgrading because of …

• Favorable betting factors and situational spots
• Advantageous defensive matchups (perhaps aided by injury)
• Increased usage expectations (again, maybe aided by injury)

For process notes regarding this series, my Week 9 fantasy rankings, and my weekly projections, see the end of this piece. Also, check out the rest of my favorite Week 9 fantasy football plays.

• Week 9 Quarterback Rankings
• Week 9 Running Back Rankings
• Week 9 Wide Receiver Rankings

Access our full rankings and projections with a FREE FantasyLife+ subscription when you download and install Comet, an awesome AI-powered web browser via Perplexity. Get Comet AND FantasyLife+ for free. Win. Win. Win.

Week 9 Tight End Rankings

Oronde Gadsden: Just Induct Him Into the Hall of Fame

As Ian Hartitz noted in his early Week 9 ranks piece, Oronde Gadsden is now No. 3 all time among TEs in receiving yardage in his first two NFL games.

• Kyle Pitts: 471
• Jordan Reed: 388
• Oronde Gadsden: 385

But here's the thing: Gadsden hit his mark with only 33 targets, whereas Pitts and Reed both had 44.

In terms of efficiency, Gadsden has been the best of the three.

• Oronde Gadsden: 11.7 yards per target | 78.8% success rate
• Kyle Pitts: 10.7 yards per target | 54.5% success rate
• Jordan Reed: 8.8 yards per target | 65.9% success rate

And I think looking at what Gadsden has done since his first NFL game sells him short—because he wasn't a full-time player until Week 6.

In each of the past three games, Gadsden has had snap of rate of at least 75%, and in those games he has gone all the way off with 19-309-2 receiving on 22 targets.

Two weeks ago, he had the best fantasy performance of any TE this year (25.9 points on 7-164-1 receiving). Last week, he followed that up with another top-five finish (16.2 points, 5-77-1 receiving).

Since Week 6, Gadsden has an über-elite 96 Utilization Score (No. 2 TE, per our Fantasy Life Utilization Report).

And here's what's most impressive about this: He has put up these numbers as a rookie while competing with veteran WRs Ladd McConkey, Keenan Allen, and Quentin Johnston for targets.

That might be the league's best WR trio … and Gadsden has still managed to look like 2024 Brock Bowers.

With that kind of competition for volume, Gadsden is likely to be more of a boom/bust producer than a consistent contributor—but he has done enough to solidify himself as a locked-in TE1 for fantasy as long as he maintains his role in the Chargers offense.

Even in Guillotine Leagues, I want Gadsden in my starting lineup.

The Chargers are traveling across the country for an early 1 pm ET game, but they're still 10-point favorites, and with QB Justin Herbert, the Chargers on the road are 26-18 ATS (13.4% ROI, per Action Network).

The Chargers offense has put up 29, 24, and 37 points over the past few weeks, and the Titans are No. 28 in points allowed (28.8 per game).

I expect the Chargers to move the ball and score at will, and some of that production should flow to Gadsden.

Colston Loveland Is in Line for a Week 9 Breakout

No. 1 TE Cole Kmet (back) exited Week 7, didn't practice at all in Week 8, and was declared out on Friday ahead of the weekend.

In his absence, rookie Colston Loveland had a season-high 78% route rate, which he converted into career-best marks in targets (5), receptions (3), and receiving yards (38).

That's not elite production, but Loveland is a TE2 with that usage, and given that Kmet is yet to return to practice, I think Loveland has a good chance to start again this week, which makes him a worthwhile waiver addition for bye-impacted teams.

But what I really like about Loveland this week is the matchup. The Bengals aren't just bad against TEs. They're abominable.

They're No. 1 in largest fantasy boost allowed to TEs (+8.1). The No. 2 team has a mark of +3.8.

Over the past month, the Bengals have allowed … counting … still counting … EIGHT TDs to TEs. Last week, they allowed 5-34-1 receiving on eight targets to rookie Mason Taylor.

There's no guarantee Loveland will exploit this opportunity, but this is a mashable matchup.

The Hot Route

Tyler Warren (Colts) at Steelers: Despite playing alongside WRs Michael Pittman, Josh Downs, and Alec Pierce, the rookie Warren is the No. 4 TE in target share (22%), which he has translated into a position-best 258 yards after the catch as well as 293 air yards (No. 3 TE). The Steelers might be without SS DeShon Elliott (knee), who exited last week with an injury. Although the game total is already a frothy 50.5, I still have the over as a four-star bet in our Fantasy Life Game Model.

Kyle Pitts (Falcons) at Patriots: No. 1 WR Drake London (hip) was a late addition to the injury report last week before being ruled out, which opened the door for Pitts to have a 30% target share on an obscene 100% route rate. With 24-209-1 receiving on 28 targets over the past month, Pitts seems safely startable, and the Pats are No. 4 in most fantasy points allowed to TEs (13.5).

Mark Andrews (Ravens) at Dolphins: I think QB Lamar Jackson (hamstring) has a decent shot to return this week, and the Dolphins might be without their top three deep defenders in SS Ifeatu Melifonwu (hand), FS Ashtyn Davis (quad), and FS/SCB Minkah Fitzpatrick (finger), all of whom exited last week early with injuries.

Notes

Byes: This week, the Browns, Jets, Eagles, and Buccaneers are on bye.

Injuries: Since I write Freedman's Favorites on Tuesday, I have incomplete injury information. After I submit this article, any updated thoughts I have regarding injuries will manifest in my rankings and projections. For our quick fantasy thoughts every day, subscribe to the Fantasy Life newsletter.

Schedule: This season, I have the following rankings and projections schedule.

• Tue AM: Publish rankings and projections
• Thu AM: Refresh rankings and projections
• Thu PM: Make necessary TNF rankings changes
• Sat PM: Update rankings and projections
• Sun AM: Revise rankings
• Sun PM: Finalize rankings based on news prior to 1 pm ET kickoff

Accuracy: I'm a six-time top-20 ranker in accuracy and a long-time profitable player prop better.

Scoring: All fantasy points are half-PPR scoring unless otherwise stated.

Cohesion: My positional breakdowns are published separately, but I think of them as comprising one whole, so check out the rest of my favorite Week 5 fantasy football plays (via my Fantasy Life author page).

Abbreviations: Here are some abbreviations I might have used in the piece.

• Fantasy Points per Game (FPPG)
• Against the Spread (ATS)
• Over/Under (O/U)
• Team Total (TT)
• Moneyline (ML)
• Return on Investment (ROI)
• Adjusted Yards per Attempt (AY/A)
• Expected Points Added (EPA)
• Success Rate (SR)
• Completion Percentage Over Expected (CPOE)
• Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA)
• AirYAC (Air Yards + Yards After Catch)
• Weighted Opportunity Rating (WOPR)
• Average Depth of Target (aDOT)
• Short Down and Distance (SDD)
• Long Down and Distance (LDD)