Fantasy football: Cole Kmet among 4 must-start Week 6 tight ends

MIAMI, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Cole Kmet is among my four must-start fantasy football tight ends for Week 6.

Trey McBride leads my Top 20 tight end rankings, which are listed below. My Week 6 quarterback , running back and wide receiver rankings also are available. These positional rankings will be updated based on developments, including injuries. My top free agent targets for Week 6 are available here .

Cade Otton, Zach Ertz and Theo Johnson join Kmet as my must-start options. Brock Bowers, Tucker Kraft, Kyle Pitts and Evan Engram join McBride in the Top 5 of my weekly rankings.

Those with stock in David Njoku , Kraft and Engram should monitor their injury status before plugging them into starting lineups.

Players from the Kansas City Chiefs , Los Angeles Rams , Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings should be benched or dropped as those teams serve Week 6 byes. San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks players, who played Thursday, were removed from my rankings.

Cade Otton

Otton, who also was among my must-start plays in Week 5, should shine again this week for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers . Otton totaled at least 44 yards in each of his last three games. He also was targeted 21 times over that span, leading to 16 catches.

The Buccaneers will face a tough New Orleans Saints defense in Week 6, but I expect Otton to see enough targets to warrant a streaming start.

The Saints allowed the fewest passing touchdowns, but also surrendered the third-most receiving yards (64.2) per game to opposing tight ends through the first five weeks of the season. Look for Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield to look Otton's way as Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore blankets top option Mike Evans .

I expect at least six catches for 70 yards from Otton, my No. 8 option for Week 6.

Zach Ertz

Ertz has yet to find the end zone, but remains involved in the Washington Commanders' offensive attack. The veteran tight end received at least four targets in four of five appearances. He also received a season-high eight targets in Week 5, but turned those looks into just two catches for 10 yards.

This week, the Commanders will face a Baltimore Ravens defense that allowed the second-most receiving yards (73.6) per game to opposing tight ends so far this season. They also surrendered at least five catches to opposing tight ends in four of their first five games.

I expect Ertz to reach that total, while eclipsing 50 receiving yards. He is my No. 9 play.

Cole Kmet

Kmet sits at No. 10 in my Week 6 tight end rankings. The Chicago Bears veteran was a Top 10 play -- in terms of fantasy points per game -- through his first five games. He also hauled in at least three catches in four consecutive games.

This week, the Bears will face a Jacksonville Jaguars defense that allowed just 36.2 yards per game to opposing tight ends through five weeks, but also surrendered the fourth-most touchdowns to the position.

Kmet can be trusted as a TE1 on a weekly basis, but should shine bright in this International Series matchup Sunday in London.

Theo Johnson

Johnson is a long shot play, but worth streaming consideration in Week 6. The rookie tight end totaled season highs in targets (five), catches (five) and receiving yards (48) in Week 5, when the New York Giants played their first game without star wide receiver Malik Nabers.

Nabers was ruled out again in Week 6, when the Giants face the Cincinnati Bengals . The Bengals allowed the fourth-most fantasy points and tied for allowing the most touchdown catches (0.6) per game to tight ends so far this season. They also just surrendered 10 catches for 132 yards and three touchdowns to Baltimore Ravens tight ends in Week 5.

Look for Giants quarterback Daniel Jones to spread out his targets to other pass catches in Nabers' absence. That should lead to another healthy dose of looks for Johnson, my No. 13 option.

Week 6 fantasy football tight end rankings

1. Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals at GB

2. Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders vs. PIT

3. Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers vs. ARI

4. Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons at CAR

5. Evan Engram, Jacksonville Jaguars vs. CHI

6. Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions at DAL

7. Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys vs. DET

8. Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers at NO

9. Zach Ertz, Washington Commanders at BAL

10. Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears vs. JAX

11. Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills at NYJ

12. Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers at LV

13. Theo Johnson, New York Giants vs. CIN

14. Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens vs. WAS

15. Tyler Conklin, New York Jets vs. BUF

16. Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles vs. CLE

17. Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans at NE

18. Chig Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans vs. IND

19. David Njoku, Cleveland Browns at PHI

20. Hayden Hurst, Los Angeles Chargers at DEN