New Orleans Saints TE Jimmy Graham has been ailing and fantasy football owners have a number of options as free agents, trades and pickups to replace him in the lineup for Week 8 after a poor performance in Week 7 if needed, as names like Owen Daniels, Travis Kelce, Julius Thomas, Dwayne Allen, Gavin Escobar, Larry Donnell, Daniel Fells, Jared Cook and Coby Fleener all could be solid options to step up.
Graham obviously is one of the best fantasy options in the entire league, but after missing games and making just zero catches against the Lions, owners may want to wait a week or two before starting him again. Owners have a number of options to look at on the market and in trades, as names like Daniels, Allen and Escobar could be available. Obviously Thomas could be had in a trade and right now I would try and snag Thomas for anyone, even Graham with the way he has played.
Peyton Manning and Thomas are playing video games out there right now and Thomas could end up as one of the best fantasy players in all of football with the numbers he has put up. Larry Donnell and Daniel Fells have been solid for the Giants and they are good options moving forward as well. Travis Kelce has emerged as a legitimate tight end option, while Dwayne Allen has been a favorite target for Andre Luck in recent weeks along with Coby Fleener.
In deeper leagues Gavin Escobar is an option, but clearly it's still Jason Witten who will be getting the plays and the targets, but he had a nice game against the Giants. Escobar could end up as a sleeper in leagues with 12 or 14 teams, but anything less he isn't worth picking up unless Witten goes down with an injury. Escobar had three catches for two touchdowns on Sunday with 65 yards and while he may not be a consistent option, he could be worth a flier in some league depending on how the roster breakdown is.
Thomas comes out of the week after going for four catches for 27 yards and while he did not get into the endzone, he has nine scores already on the season. The Broncos play the Chargers on Thursday and Thomas is a prime option and he has four touchdowns over the past three games and five in the last four. This was the first game where Thomas failed to score a TD and he now has one 100-yard game this season and nine touchdown catches.
Allen had three catches for 52 yards and a touchdown on Sunday and he is looking like the best TE option for Luck. Allen has 21 catches for 305 yards this season and he already has five touchdowns on the year. Allen has not had a 100 yard game this season, but he has had at least three catches in all but one game and over the past three games he has two touchdowns. Graham is the best, we all know this, but if he continues to put up eh numbers, there are some replacements at least for a week or so.