Fantasy Football: 5 Potential Antonio Gates Replacements
By Bob Evans
Oct 4, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) runs the ball against the Cincinnati Bengals in the second half at Paul Brown Stadium. Cincinnati defeated Kansas City 36-21. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
Like Witten, your chances of picking up Kelce off the waiver wire are pretty slim—as he is owned in 98.5 percent of leagues (how he is not owned in 100 percent is beyond me). But like Gates and Witten, Kelce has an extra favorable matchup this week—so if you happen to own Gates and Kelce, that’s a real good job out of you.
Despite playing on a Kansas City Chiefs team that seems to be losing playmakers by the week, he managed to reel in five catches for 88 yards last week against the Vikings. According to my ESPN PPR league, he is the No. 4 overall tight end heading into this week—just slightly ahead of Greg Olsen. For the season, he has caught 29 passes for 416 yards and two touchdowns.
Playing against the Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 30 against tight ends on ESPN), Kelce should have plenty of opportunities to go off for a big game. In Week 1, the Steelers gave up 39.5 points to the Patriots tight ends, and in Week 5 against the San Diego Chargers they gave up 40.2 points—so the boom potential is there.
Like Witten, Kelce is an easy substitute for the DFS players out there thanks to his $4,900 price tag on DraftKings. But if you want to play Kelce, you’ll have to make that decision before Gates is declared in or out of his game, as the Chiefs play at 1 p.m.
Next: He Could Fly Past The Falcons Secondary This Week