It's Week 12.

Some people do something with their lives. Doctors. Teachers. Firefighters.

Others obsess for 25 hours a day about fantasy sports.

Who's to say who's right?

Let's get into the Week 12 TE edition of Freedman's Favorites, where I highlight guys I'm upgrading because of…

• Favorable betting factors and situational spots
• Advantageous defensive matchups (perhaps aided by injury)
• Increased usage expectations (again, maybe aided by injury)

For the process notes regarding this series, my Week 12 fantasy rankings, and my weekly projections, see the end of this piece. Also, check out the rest of my favorite Week 12 fantasy football plays.

• Week 12 QB Rankings
• Week 12 RB Rankings
• Week 12 WR Rankings

To see our full rankings and projections, use the promo code FREEDMAN for 20% off the FantasyLife+ package.

Week 12 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings

Week 12 Matchup Upgrades: George Kittle vs. Panthers & Hunter Henry vs. Bengals

Some defenses are so bad that they provide automatic upgrades to whatever TEs they face.

Essentially, they're "flow chart" defenses. If a TE is facing one of them, I aggressively move him up my rankings. If not, I carry on with my life.

Based on the numbers I see in our Fantasy Life DvP (Defense vs. Position) Matrix as well as FTN, the Panthers and Bengals are the league's biggest flow chart defenses for TEs.

• Panthers: No. 32 in defensive pass DVOA against TEs (43.6%)
• Bengals: No. 1 in largest fantasy boost allowed to TEs (+7.9)

Let's ride.

George Kittle (49ers) vs. Panthers: In the four games following Kittle's disappointing Week 7 return to action (no yards, two targets), he has absolutely gone off (23-226-4 receiving, 24 targets), specifically over the past two weeks, when he racked up back-to-back top-five fantasy finishes (18.9 and 21.7 points) with an elite 95 Utilization Score (per our Fantasy Life Utilization Report). In short, Kittle is trending up. Although the 49ers are seven-point favorites on Monday Night Football, I have them projected as a five-star bet in our Fantasy Life Game Model.

Hunter Henry (Patriots) at Bengals: With WR Kayshon Boutte (hamstring) and No. 2 TE Austin Hooper (concussion) out last week, Henry had a season-high 97% snap rate, and for the season he's the No. 6 TE in air yards (423).

Week 12 Scoring Upgrade: Mark Andrews vs. Jets & Brock Wright vs. Giants

Sometimes upgrades are as simple as: "This team is going to score a lot of points, so we need to bump up the RB."

As double-digit home favorites, the Lions are No. 1 in implied team total (30 points) followed closely by the Ravens at No. 2 (29)

Upgrade warranted.

Mark Andrews (Ravens) vs. Texans: TDs come and go, but they drive much of TE scoring … and Andrews has four TDs (three receiving, one rushing) since QB Lamar Jackson's Week 9 return. In fact, he has scored 17 TDs in his last 19 regular-season games with Jackson. The Jets are No. 30 in defensive pass DVOA against TEs (17.2%), and they're without SS Andre Cisco (pec, IR).

Brock Wright (Lions) vs. Giants: Last week without No. 1 TE Sam LaPorta (back, IR), Wright was literally the only TE on the team to run a route, and he actually saw eight targets. Sure, he had just eight scoreless yards—but that usage ain't nothing, and he has a 12.4% TD rate for his career. For the Giants, SS Tyler Nubin (neck) is uncertain to play.

The Hot Route

The best of the rest

Kyle Pitts (Falcons) at Saints: No. 1 WR Drake London (knee) is doubtful, and Pitts at least has a position-high 92% route rate for the season.

Noah Fant (Bengals) vs. Patriots: No. 1 WR Ja'Marr Chase (saliva) is suspended, so Fant could see a boost in usage. He has 14-149-2 receiving ever since stepping in for injured TE Mike Gesicki (pec, IR) in Week 7.

Chig Okonkwo (Titans) vs. Seahawks: No. 1 WR Calvin Ridley (leg, IR) is out, and Nos. 2-3 WRs Elic Ayomanor (hamstring) and Chimere Dike (chest) are questionable. Someone's gotta catch the ball in Tennessee. (Theoretically.)

Notes

Byes: This week, the Chargers, Broncos, Dolphins, and Commanders are on bye.

Injuries: Since I write Freedman's Favorites on Tuesday, I have incomplete injury information. After I submit this article, any updated thoughts I have regarding injuries will manifest in my rankings and projections. For our quick fantasy thoughts every day, subscribe to the Fantasy Life newsletter.

Schedule: This season, I have the following rankings and projections schedule.

• Tue AM: Publish rankings and projections
• Thu AM: Refresh rankings and projections
• Thu PM: Make necessary TNF rankings changes
• Sat PM: Update rankings and projections
• Sun AM: Revise rankings
• Sun PM: Finalize rankings based on news prior to 1 pm ET kickoff

Accuracy: I'm a six-time top-20 ranker in accuracy and a long-time profitable player prop better.

Scoring: All fantasy points are half-PPR scoring unless otherwise stated.

Cohesion: My positional breakdowns are published separately, but I think of them as comprising one whole, so check out the rest of my favorite Week 5 fantasy football plays (via my Fantasy Life author page).

Abbreviations: Here are some abbreviations I might have used in the piece.

• Fantasy Points per Game (FPPG)
• Against the Spread (ATS)
• Over/Under (O/U)
• Team Total (TT)
• Moneyline (ML)
• Return on Investment (ROI)
• Adjusted Yards per Attempt (AY/A)
• Expected Points Added (EPA)
• Success Rate (SR)
• Completion Percentage Over Expected (CPOE)
• Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA)
• AirYAC (Air Yards + Yards After Catch)
• Weighted Opportunity Rating (WOPR)
• Average Depth of Target (aDOT)
• Short Down and Distance (SDD)
• Long Down and Distance (LDD)