Early RSO Contracts: TEs
Knowing the types of contracts given out by other fantasy teams can give the alert reader a big advantage when your own RSO free agency auction arrives. Your league settings and available players will have a big impact on the size of contracts given out at various positions, but looking at the relative contracts within position groups provides some useful information. We move to the tight end position, probably the shallowest group in fantasy football. There are few teams in the NFL who feature the tight end position in the passing game and many of the top options at the position have struggled staying on the field. Let us take a deeper look at the position to sort out where we can find value.
When they are Healthy…
Two players stand out from the rest in the tight end fantasy landscape when on the field, Rob Gronkowski and Jordan Reed. The problem for each player over their career is staying on the field. Reed has never played a full season and Gronkowski has not played a full season in 6 years.
“Gronk” dominates in a way that is almost indescribable when on the field and he is used in ways unlike other players at the position. He is a true downfield threat and incredibly difficult to tackle one-on-one by defensive backs. The New England powerhouse leads active tight ends in yards per reception at 15.0 (the next highest is Travis Kelce at 12.8) and receiving yards per game at 69.3 (the next highest is Travis Kelce at 58.4) while also accumulating 68 touchdowns. Antonio Gates, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Brandon Marshall are the only active players with more touchdowns and each has played 10+ seasons in the league. Remarkably, Gronkowski accumulated his touchdown total in only 88 career games or 5.5 full seasons.
Not to be outdone, Jordan Reed firmly placed his name in contention for best at the position with his performance over the last two seasons. The Washington tight end produces in a different manner than Gronkowski as a classic move tight end relying on beautiful separation skills and tremendous ball skills in the short game. He owns a high 76% catch rate over his career. Reed finished as the overall TE1 in fantasy points per game for PPR leagues each of the last two seasons despite being used as a decoy in multiple games last year after separating his shoulder (which he amazingly played with in multiple games). Taking out those shoulder injury games last year, Reed’s 16-game average in 23 games played over the last two seasons looks like this:
102 receptions / 136 targets / 1101 yards / 11 touchdowns Those are WR1 numbers in PPR leagues.
While not on the level of Gronkowski and Reed for fantasy purposes, Tyler Eifert is another player worth mentioning in the oft-injured group. The Cincinnati tight end offers tremendous weekly upside as one of the premier red zone threats in the entire league. The former first round pick scored 18 touchdowns over the last two seasons in only 21 games.
Even when taking into account the additional injury risk associated with each of these players, they are all well worth their current costs. Each of these players displayed the ability in past seasons to make up the current average cost in only half a year’s worth of play and each will be a huge value-win if they play close to a full season.
Best of the Rest
Travis Kelce finished as the overall TE1 last season. His reception and yardage total have increased each season in the league and he is the de facto top receiver in Kansas City with a bunch of unknowns at wide receiver. The limitations of Alex Smith and the Chiefs offense limit his upside, particularly in the touchdown department, but he is a safe high-end starter for your RSO team.
Greg Olsen remains as one of the only reliable targets in Carolina. There is a lot of unknown as to what the Panthers’ offense will look like after drafting two offensive weapons in the first two rounds of the NFL draft, running back Christian McCaffrey and wide receiver Curtis Samuel. Similarly to Kelce, Olsen is limited by his quarterback play which caps his upside to a certain degree.
One of the more surprising stories from 2016 was the quick return of Jimmy Graham from a patellar tear, historically one of the worst injuries for NFL players. Graham faded in the second half of the season and will never see the target load that he saw in New Orleans, but is still a dynamic receiving threat for the Seahawks. Look for a nice season as he moves farther from his injury and is more incorporated into the Seattle offense.
Expect some Regression
Kyle Rudolf is not what one would call a dynamic receiving weapon. He is a slow (4.88 forty time) un-athletic tight end who averages just under 10 yards per reception and only 6.3 yards per target for his career. Rudolf demolished his career highs in yardage (840, previous high: 495) and receptions (83, previous high: 53) thanks to a massive increase in targets (132, previous high: 93) which lead to his overall TE2 finish in PPR leagues. This big usage increase was largely the result of an awful offensive line which could not pass protect or run block. With limited weapons at both receiver and running back, quarterback Sam Bradford was forced to dink and dunk at Rudolf throughout the year. The Vikings addressed both deficient areas in the offseason adding offensive linemen Riley Reiff and Mike Renners, running back Latavius Murray, and wide receiver Michael Floyd in free agency. Minnesota also drafted 2nd round running back Dalvin Cook. With last year’s first round wide receiver Laquon Treadwell likely seeing more action, look for a significant step back from Rudolf.
The Tennessee massively upgraded the receiving core drafting Corey Davis with the 5th overall pick and taking Taiwan Taylor in the 3rd round, while also adding Eric Decker in free agency thanks to the New York Jets overhaul. These moves are great for Marcus Mariota and the Titans offense but not so good for Delanie Walker’s fantasy prospects in a run-first scheme.
Streamers and Matchup Plays
There are some names RSO owners should keep in mind for those who like to stream the tight end position in shallow leagues or employ a cheap multi-tight end matchup based system from week to week. Few players disappointed as much as Coby Fleener last season given his sky-high expectations last season. He still finished as the TE15 last season. With Brandin Cooks gone, Fleener could see 100 targets in the high-volume Saints passing attack. He is a bargain at his TE22 cost as one of the only players in this range with legitimate TE1 upside. Charles Clay (TE29) performed as a mid range TE2 each of the last two seasons and finished last season on a strong note as the overall TE3 in the last month. Clay does not possess much upside but he is a useful player on a team without much in receiving weapons. When you are looking at weekly plays an RSO owner wants touchdown upside and nobody on the low-cost list has as much as Jesse James (TE27). He is a massive target and could see lots of red-zone looks on a Pittsburg offense which could be among the league’s best.
Average RSO Tight End Contracts
Bio: Bernard Faller has degrees in engineering and economics. He currently lives in Las Vegas and enjoys athletics, poker, and fantasy football in his free time. Send your questions and comments (both good and bad) on Twitter @BernardFaller1.
