Recovering from a significant injury in fantasy football can be an overwhelming endeavor.

In deeper leagues, the waiver wire often offers slim pickings, making it challenging to secure viable replacements during bye weeks.

This scarcity is particularly true for running backs and often for wide receivers. However, the tight end position offers a different narrative.

Though it may lack an abundance of elite talent, there is usually a promising tight end available to tide you over for the week.

With key players like Travis Kelce and Jake Ferguson on bye and Tucker Kraft out of action, many fantasy managers are finding themselves in a tight-end dilemma.

They’ve added Luke Musgrave hoping he will serve as the “next man up” in Green Bay, or they’ve opened up their FAAB wallets to pay a steep price for Bears tight end Colston Loveland. 

However, neither profiles as the target monster we had in Kraft.

Musgrave is not as strong a blocker and will share snaps with John FitzPatrick, and Loveland only stepped into the limelight with a game-winning touchdown against a soft Bengals defense after Cole Kmet left with a concussion.

Kmet has already returned to practice, and Musgrave is still soft on blocking. 

If you need a tight end for Week 10, add Juwan Johnson from the Saints to your roster.

With the trade of wide receiver Rashid Shaheed to Seattle, those seven-plus targets per game need to land somewhere, and despite recent comments from head coach Kellen Moore regarding a boost in workload for Devaughn Vele, Johnson is expected to also land some extra work. 

The converted wide receiver should see an increase in both snaps and targets, especially this week against a Panthers team that ranks dead last in DVOA against tight ends and allows an average of 14.6 fantasy points per game to the position. 

Should Johnson not be available, you can turn your attention to Cade Otton of the Buccaneers.

When Baker Mayfield doesn’t have one of Mike Evans or Chris Godwin on the field, he routinely turns to Otton — not just to move the chains between the 20s, but also inside the red zone. 

Mayfield will have Emeka Egbuka filling one of those receiver spots, but with receivers like Tez Johnson and Sterling Shepard, we can expect another lean on Otton.

Their opponent, the Patriots, has struggled against the tight end the entire season and is allowing the ninth-most fantasy points per game (15.3) to them. 

Betting on the NFL?

We all know the tight end position has been a disaster throughout the season.

Between injuries to top producers and inconsistent performances, the advantage of having a top tight end is not what it used to be.

If you are in need of some help, streaming the position seems to be more and more viable each week. Taking the time to investigate the weekly matchups properly is going to be your ticket to success. 

Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on X @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy football news and advice.