John Bates

Washington Commanders TE 60

Week 6 at SF

Wk 6 -- Read as the page opens

Rest of season 27.0 from week 6, TE60 in our order

Opp rank -- at SF

Avg 1.3 a game in 5 games

Last 1.1 week 5 vs NYG

Δ Proj --

This season 2026, PPR, through week 5

John Bates week by week, 2026
Wk	Opp	the week's projection	PPR points	targets	catches	receiving yards	receiving touchdowns	carries	rushing yards	rushing touchdowns	share of snaps
1	at PHI	--	3.3	3	2	13	0	0	0	0	49%
2	at DAL	--	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	31%
3	vs SEA	--	1.9	1	1	9	0	0	0	0	54%
4	vs IND	--	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	42%
5	vs NYG	--	1.1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	45%
Season5 games, 1.3 a game			6.3	5	4	23	0	0	0	0	44%

202515 games, 1.8 a game			27.3	16	11	103	1	0	0	0	51%
202417 games, 0.8 a game			14.4	13	8	84	0	0	0	0	44%
202317 games, 2.0 a game			34.1	28	19	151	0	0	0	0	45%

Still to play

Wk 6 at SF Mon Oct 19
Wk 7 Bye
Wk 8 vs PHI Sun Nov 1
Wk 9 vs LAR Sun Nov 8
Wk 10 at NYG Thu Nov 12
Wk 11 vs CIN Mon Nov 23
Wk 12 at ARI Sun Nov 29
Wk 13 at TEN Sun Dec 6
Wk 14 vs HOU Sun Dec 13
Wk 15 vs ATL Sun Dec 20
Wk 16 at MIN Sun Dec 27
Wk 17 at JAX Sun Jan 3
Wk 18 vs DAL Sun Jan 10

Our read

Written Sun 12:01 am Central, for week 6

John Bates has no injury designation on Sunday's report, but the role in Washington is the problem. He sits second among Commanders tight ends behind Chig Okonkwo and has managed 1.3 PPR points a game over 5 games this season without a touchdown. In PPR scoring, the week's published projection for him stands at 2 points. Monday in San Francisco won't help, since the 49ers give up 8 PPR points a game to tight ends, 4th of 32. Leave him out of your lineup this week.

Written Oct 17, from his facts through last season

The numbers this season are bleak even by blocking-tight-end standards: 1.3 points a game through five weeks of 2026, five targets total, no touchdowns, and two weeks with a literal zero. Week 2 of 2026 and week 4 of 2026 gave him nothing. That is not a slow start, it is a full picture of what he is in this offense.

Rest of season27.0PPR points from week 6

Preseason projection70projected PPR points

The role never supported hope anyway. Last year he ran 51.0% of the snaps but held a 4.1% target share on a Washington passing game that funneled 48% of its targets to Deebo Samuel Sr. and Terry McLaurin. His average depth of target was 3.0 yards, near the very bottom of qualifying tight ends, which tells you exactly how he is used. The scoring chances were just as thin: 2 red-zone touches all of 2025, TE70 among 126 qualifying tight ends, and 2 inside the ten. He never cracked 15 points in any of his 10 games last season, and his worst week was a zero in week 14 of 2025. He scored above the position's weekly median in 2 of those 10 games. Now he is second at his own position behind Chig Okonkwo, with Ben Sinnott behind him, and David Blough taking over the play calling gives no signal that any of this changes.

The season arc is flat and falling: 34.1 points in 2023, 14.4 in 2024, 27.3 last year. Even our preseason number, 70 points, looks generous against what has actually happened. The bye lands in week 7 of 2026, so there is not even a fill-in week to squeeze out of him. This is not a roster worth keeping at tight end, and the spot is better spent on a player with an actual passing-game role.