Fantasy football: Here’s a reason to take Zach Ertz over George Kittle

So you’re trying to win your Fantasy football league, and you need a tight end, huh? Do you take Zach Ertz or George Kittle? PFF may have your answer.

The league-wide consensus keeps throwing the same three names in the conversation of who the three best tight ends in NFL football are. Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs is universally seen as the best at his position. George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers and Zach Ertz of the Philadelphia Eagles round out the other two names in the top three. Any Fantasy football addict will tell you that, sometimes, none of that has anything to do with winning your league.

Fortunately, if you’ve already drafted your team and you’ve picked one of those three, you should wind up with good production from your tight end position.

The question on some minds, especially if you haven’t had your draft party yet, is who’s the better option between Ertz and Kittle. In the real world, many football pundits slot Kittle at two and Ertz at three, but again, Fantasy has nothing to do with that.

If you’re a fan of EA’s Madden franchise, you’re aware that Ertz has a higher overall rating than Kittle does. When it comes to Fantasy, however, things can be a toss-up. In theory, it would seem that Kelce is a lock to come off of the board first in every league unless you’re running one that’s full of Oakland Raiders fans.

Pro Football Focus has a theory that might help you out. Recently, they brought up the same question, and based on their stat engine, Ertz may have a slight edge in targets and Fantasy points if everything follows the same pattern it did a season ago.

Ertz’s 154 targets were good enough to place him in the top spot in that category in 2018. Kittle was targeted 128 times. That made him third. You don’t have to understand the PFF stat engine to know that more targets mean more opportunities for catches and possible touchdowns, always the sure sign of a nice Fantasy commodity.

Most of you are probably under the impression that, with all the offensive weapons the Eagles have, there’s no way Ertz equals his production from a season ago, one where he set the NFL record for single-season receptions by a tight end. That’s probably a safe bet.

Still, he figures to remain one of the favorite targets for Carson Wentz and a reliable option on third down and in the red zone. With that being said, if you add it all up, Ertz and Kittle are both safe Fantasy options with the slight edge going to Ertz if you need to make a decision between the two of them.