Tight End is a tough position this year. There are about ten good options coming into the season, making sleepers a bit less important than in years past, but there are also a number with injury concerns, making busts all the more dangerous. Trying to replace your starting tight end in Week 4 or 5 of the fantasy season is a task that I cringe thinking about. However, here are two sleepers and two busts for you to consider as you approach your fantasy drafts.
Sleepers
Ryan
Clive Walford, Oakland Raiders. For a rookie tight end, it wasn’t a bad 2015 for Walford. As the season progressed, it seemed like he was a little more involved in the offense. Surpassing Mychal Rivera on the depth chart, Walford has even made Rivera expendable. He is definitely the best option the Raiders have to catch passes at the tight end, and this offense is certainly going to revolve around the pass. Further maturity of quarterback Derek Carr can do nothing but help Walford, and if you have a tight end who gets hurt early on or are looking to carry two on your team, Walford is the perfect option as a guy to take a chance on with a high ceiling.
Raiders tight end Clive Walford a rising fantasy player https://t.co/gX0y2kZyKv #Raiders #NFL pic.twitter.com/6LpqlNlMIZ
— Raider Nation UK (@RAIDERNATlON) August 18, 2016
Steve
Martellus Bennett, New England Patriots. Martellus Bennett has been a very nice fantasy tight end in recent years. This year he moves from being “the guy” in Chicago, to playing second fiddle to superstar, tight end Rob Gronkowski in New England. This has caused his draft price to drop and he’s currently being drafted as a TE2 in most leagues. However, I think there’s value in trying to get Bennett on your roster this season.
Word out of camp is that the Patriots are running a lot of two tight end sets in practice this year, particularly in plays in the red zone and Bennett is drawing high praise from coaches and beat writers. The Patriots have shown in the past that their offense can support two tight ends for fantasy production when both Gronk and the notorious, Aaron Hernandez where both top five fantasy tight ends. That was several years ago, but Bill Belichick was around back then and likes to get the ball into the hands of his tight ends. Not only that, but Dion Lewis is already going to be out likely the first few months of the season, Gronk hasn’t played and a full 16 games in the last four years and Julian Edelman has only played in 16 games one time in his seven NFL seasons. That could mean more potential targets for Bennett and if Gronk in particular misses any time, Bennett could automatically become a top five fantasy tight end. The Patriots pass the ball a lot, so there should be a lot of targets to go around, so feel good about drafting Martellus Bennett in 2016.
Busts
Ryan
Jimmy Graham, Seattle Seahawks. A ruptured patellar tendon in Week 12 ended Graham’s season early, but it was certainly one to forget for this former first round fantasy pick. The move to Seattle had devastating effects on his fantasy value, and now with this terrible injury, Graham’s stock drops even further. The Seahawks just don’t feature the tight end in their offense, and Graham seemed to drop more passes than usual as well. He is highly questionable for Week 1 of the regular season, and who knows who long this injury will linger. The tight end position isn’t exactly deep, but I’m going to stay away from Graham in drafts this season.
Steve
ummmm, he’s not catching that one, and Steve thinks Barnidge will be catching even fewer balls this season!
Gary Barnidge, Cleveland Browns. Gary Barnidge came out of nowhere last season to have a career year. At 30 years old, Barnidge had never had more than 13 receptions in a season and had a grand total of three career touchdowns through 2014. Then he exploded last year as he had 79 catches for over 1,000 yards with nine touchdowns. No one saw that coming including likely Barnidge himself. Without a history of production, it’s hard for me to think that a nine year veteran will be able to easily replicate his success from 2015.
Not only does he not have the history of success, but he has a new head coach this season in Hue Jackson as well as a new quarterback in Robert Griffin III throwing him the ball. A new system and a new quarterback could mean much less reliance on the tight end position this year. Not only that, but the Browns drafted wide receiver, Corey Coleman with their first round pick in the draft this year and Josh Gordon is back in the fold as well. Gordon will miss the first four games of the season due to a suspension, but should resume a prominent role in the offense after he serves his time. I still think Barnidge will have a decent season, but instead of finishing as the TE4 like he finished last year, I can see him more as a low end TE1 in 2016.
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