Should You Start Buffalo Bills TE Dawson Knox or Houston Texans TE Dalton Schultz in Fantasy Football Week 12?
The Buffalo Bills’ offensive scheme, gameplan, whatever you want to call it, has been heavily scrutinized by the fanbase and media alike recently. That is, until the 44-point explosion at the expense of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past Sunday.
The Houston Texans’ offense has been rather inconsistent, managing to score 20 points in consecutive games only once all season. Can fantasy football managers trust either team’s tight end, Dawson Knox or Dalton Schultz, for this Thursday Night Football matchup?
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Dawson Knox Fantasy Outlook
Knox has mostly been the TE2 more than a 1B option for Buffalo this year alongside Dalton Kincaid, until the starte went down with a hamstring injury two weeks ago. Despite the uptick in routes run the past few games, it hasn’t translated to much of an increase in fantasy production, as Knox has managed just 10 PPR total since Kincaid’s injury.
The “everybody eats” philosophy that Bills’ offensive coordinator Joe Brady employs makes it tricky to trust any Buffalo pass-catcher from week-to-week, as even Khalil Shakir only managed one catch and ended with negative yardage on Sunday. Nine different players caught passes from the reigning MVP Josh Allen, and the Bills got back to part of what made them successful last year, utilizing their RBs in the pass game.
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With or without Kincaid in the lineup, Knox is occasionally good for a breakout fantasy game, typically touchdown-dependent. He would certainly be a risky play, but you may also want to factor in that WRs Curtis Samuel and recently signed Mecole Hardman will be out for Thursday’s primetime matchup as well.
Dalton Schultz Fantasy Outlook
Schultz is averaging 10.6 PPR points per game through his first ten contests of the season. However, if we zoom in on just a more recent sample size, he’s averaging 12.9 over the last 6 games despite a 4.4 point clunker in Week 7. His target share has been 24.4% the past two games since QB Davis Mills took over for the injured CJ Stroud, and Mills will again be the starter on Thursday night.
READ MORE: Soppe’s Week 12 Fantasy Football Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em: Analysis for Every Player in Every Game
That target share is actually a decent increase from what he was seeing with Stroud under center. We have no reason to believe that changes against the Bills. But keep in mind, the Bills have the number one fantasy defense against tight ends to this point in the season.
Should You Start Knox or Schultz This Week?
The league average is 13 points per game given up to opposing tight ends, but the Bills on average are giving up only 6.0 PPG through their first 10. Their run defense is another story…
Mills may still look to use Schultz as his safety valve. Houston certainly could face a healthy deficit throughout the game if the Bills offense plays the way they did last week, meaning heavy passing game script.
But that track record against tight ends is tough to ignore, and Mills also heavily favors Texans’ star WR Nico Collins, who has hauled in 16 receptions for 228 yards over the past two games.
The Texans aren’t far behind when it comes to defending tight ends, allowing the 5th fewest fantasy points to the position at 9.6 PPG. Knox has only seen a 15% or higher target share in one game this season and still only managed 4.0 fantasy points.
One other thing to factor in is Bills RB James Cook has been quiet for consecutive weeks now, which hadn’t happened to this point in 2025. He’s failed to hit 55 rushing yards these last two games, after topping 100 and 200 yards in the two contests prior to that. Buffalo may try to get reestablish him and the running game as well here.
Both Knox and Schultz are going up against solid defenses, and are not in the best scenarios. If you’re in a bind due to injuries or byes, you may be able to get by with these guys, but look elsewhere if possible.
Week 12 Fantasy TE Rankings
1) Trey McBride | Arizona Cardinals (vs. JAX)
2) Brock Bowers | Las Vegas Raiders (vs. CLE)
3) George Kittle | San Francisco 49ers (vs. CAR)
4) Tyler Warren | Indianapolis Colts (at KC)
5) Travis Kelce | Kansas City Chiefs (vs. IND)
6) Dallas Goedert | Philadelphia Eagles (at DAL)
7) Jake Ferguson | Dallas Cowboys (vs. PHI)
8) Hunter Henry | New England Patriots (at CIN)
9) Mark Andrews | Baltimore Ravens (vs. NYJ)
10) Theo Johnson | New York Giants (at DET)
11) Kyle Pitts | Atlanta Falcons (at NO)
12) Colston Loveland | Chicago Bears (vs. PIT)
13) Cade Otton | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at LAR)
14) Harold Fannin Jr. | Cleveland Browns (at LV)
15) Dalton Schultz | Houston Texans (vs. BUF)
16) Juwan Johnson | New Orleans Saints (vs. ATL)
17) A.J. Barner | Seattle Seahawks (at TEN)
18) Pat Freiermuth | Pittsburgh Steelers (at CHI)
19) Noah Fant | Cincinnati Bengals (vs. NE)
20) T.J. Hockenson | Minnesota Vikings (at GB)
21) David Njoku | Cleveland Browns (at LV)
22) Mason Taylor | New York Jets (at BAL)
23) Dawson Knox | Buffalo Bills (at HOU)
24) Isaiah Likely | Baltimore Ravens (vs. NYJ)
25) Luke Musgrave | Green Bay Packers (vs. MIN)
