Week 7 vs. Denver Broncos
Antonio Gates has given way to Hunter Henry. Gates has not surpassed 30 yards all season and has only scored once. He is not a starting consideration for Week 7.
Week 6 at Oakland Raiders
The Chargers are starting to use Hunter Henry as the pass weapon he has been since he broke onto the fantasy scene as a rookie last year. That meant only 3 targets last week for Antonio Gates versus 8 for Henry. The Chargers are a losing team right now with a first-year head coach. Expect the younger Henry to keep playing as Gates' illustrious career starts to come to an end.
Week 5 at New York Giants
If you're streaming tight ends, the Chargers give you the best chance of any to steal a touchdown this week. The Giants have allowed the most points to opposing PPR TEs, including five touchdowns in four games. Cameron Brate and O.J. Howard both scored last week. Antonio Gates isn't a bad dart throw if you need a TE and don't have one in the top-10 of our rankings this week; just understand he's total boom-or-bust, given his yardage totals this year.
Week 4 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Antonio Gates has a season-high of 30 yards. So unless you get a touchdown out of him this week, he's a fantasy liability. It's Gates; therefore, that's possible. However, if you're streaming tight ends, there are better options with higher floors in Week 4.
Week 3 vs. Kansas City Chiefs
The equation for Gates in 2017 isn't complicated. Did he score? That's about it. Only 11 yards on 2 catches last week but he found the end zone. He's only averaging 3.5 targets per game, making him a straight gamble for your starting lineups that we do not recommend.
Week 2 vs. Miami Dolphins
We have Gates ranked ahead of teammate Hunter Henry in Week 2; however, this continues to be a touchdown-or-bust proposition. In one-TE leagues, there are better streaming options for this week, with much higher floors than Gates.
Week 1 at Denver Broncos
If the Broncos elite defense is vulnerable anywhere, it is against tight ends. Denver ranked only 18th in PPR points allowed to the position a year ago. Antonio Gates, in two games against the Broncos, produced 2-16-0 and 4-33-1 lines. So, how lucky do you feel? We have Gates well outside TE1 consideration in this Week 1matchup, which means it's a touchdown or bust proposition if you are considering starting him in your redraft leagues (which most of you certainly will not). Hunter Henry did also score a touchdown in the two games against Denver last season, proving even more there is opportunity for Chargers tight ends to score this week. Again though...how lucky do you feel?
Fantasy Upside
Thanks to Philip Rivers force-feeding him passes, Antonio Gates finally got his hands on the NFL record-setting 112th TD catch for a tight end, but he dropped it. Hopefully the pressure will be lessened this season because he only needs one TD to own the record. But now the real question is will the Bolts drop Gates? He's lost a step at 36, finished with an uncharacteristic six drops on the season, and the team could decide that his $5 million cap number might be too steep. Then again, his seven TD catches were only one off the team high. Rookie Hunter Henry got that with eight, proving to be a solid second-round pick. Indeed, for much of the season, Gates was no longer the best tight end on the field for the Chargers.
Fantasy Downside
It's clear the torch has been passed to Henry. What isn't clear is what to do with Gates? Remember, Gates and Henry missed three games combined due to injury, which impacted the Chargers' versatility in using different personnel groupings.
2017 Bottom Line
With Gates at the end of his career, expect him to be more of a role player—but expect that role to revolve in and around the red zone, where his chemistry with Rivers will be a plus.
Week 17 vs. Kansas City
After a 1-11-0 performance in Week 15, Gates exploded for an 8-94-1 fantasy line last week against the Browns. He was targeted a season-high 13 times as well. It was his sixth TD of the season.
Outside of last week, Gates wasn't a poor fantasy play, he was just losing TDs to teammate Henry Hunter. So it was nice for Gates owners to be rewarded with a huge fantasy performance. Gates comes in ranked eighth this week in a tough matchup against the Chiefs, who are fourth in allowing fantasy points to TEs. Gates remains a guy who should continue to get the targets. He may just lose a TD in the red zone to Henry.
Week 16 at Cleveland
Antonio Gates had just one catch for 11 yards on two targets last week. He once again lost a TD to teammate Hunter Henry, who caught his seventh of the year and fourth in his last five games.
Gates and Henry continue to cap one another's fantasy values. Gates was getting a bulk of the catches until this past week, but even so, Hunter only had a 3-37-1 (4). Gates is still the safer play and gets a great matchup this week, as the Browns are 29th in allowing fantasy points to TEs. Gates should go back to getting more catches and targets as well as yards, but he hasn't caught a TD pass in four-straight games.
