Fantasy football start/sit advice, Week 14: Tight ends

Still not sure about your tight end this week in fantasy? Here are some guys that have some interesting matchups.

It's a hit or miss world with tight ends. Some of the time, a tight end can save your week. Other times it might not even matter, since they rarely put up monster lines. Well, excluding guys like Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham.

There are a few guys that can help or hurt you this week.

Starts

Julius Thomas - He might be an obvious play with his 10 TDs in just 10 games, but sitting out a couple of games might scare folks away. He's listed as probable and put in a full practice on Thursday and Friday this week. The Titans are also a great matchup for him and they don't have anyone on their roster who can cover him. Of course, nobody does.

Greg Olsen - Before this year, it would have been a no-brainer to play a guy like Olsen at New Orleans, but the Saints have been very good in stopping the pass. They've been the fifth-toughest matchup for tight ends on the season. They have been worse lately, though, allowing two scores to tight ends in the last three weeks. Also, their overall ranking is a little skewed by tight ends catching just five balls in the first three weeks of the season.

Bad matchup aside, Olsen looks like he can bust up New Orleans quite a bit. It's in a dome and he's caught five balls in each of his last three games. Cam Newton has played his best ball as of late and they should been able to post some points in this huge matchup. He's a good bet for a score.

Jordan Reed - He said he's going to play against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, but the team has him listed as questionable for the 1 p.m. game. The good news is that if the Redskins pull a fast one and sit him, fantasy owners can line up a backup plan since it's an early game.

The Chiefs do allow the fewest fantasy points to tight ends this year, but they haven't gone up against many good ones. Thomas was hurt for both games, and they have only really seen Jason Witten and Antonio Gates.

Reed isn't your traditional tight end and he should be a low-end TE1 as long as he's active.

Sits

Antonio Gates - There's a tight end that is making plays for the Chargers and it isn't Gates. Ladarius Green has been stealing the show in the slot for San Diego. Philip Rivers loves him some Green and he counts on him on third down, giving him looks in the red zone.

Gates' numbers have taken a tumble over his last two. While he was targeted 19 times, he could only produce eight catches and 62 yards. The Chargers are likely going to have some success moving the ball, but with Green, Keenan Allen and Danny Woodhead getting a lot of looks, it's not going to be easy for him to get enough chances. He's a risky, low-upside TE2.

Charles Clay - He gets a bad matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers run a lot of zone blitzes and tend to keep the top of their defense vulnerable up top. Pittsburgh has held tight ends to the seventh-fewest points and has been red hot lately in that department. The Steelers haven't allowed any TDs to tight ends in the past three weeks and allowed just an average of 35 yards per game. The matchup is a little too tough for Clay.

Heath Miller - The Dolphins are actually one of the best matchups for tight ends, but Miller is not much of an attractive option this week. He is actually coming off one of his best weeks with eight catches for 86 yards on nine targets, but he still has just one score.

For tight ends, TDs are gold. There aren't many tight ends that can rack up enough fantasy points in just the yardage game, and Miller isn't one of them. Ben Roethlisberger has gone to to Jerricho Cotchery a lot in the red zone and it's directly impacted Miller's production.