Fantasy Football 2017 - Top 12 Tight Ends + Sleepers

Summary

Fantasy Football 2017 - Top 12 Tight Ends + Sleepers

Episode Release Date: August 17, 2017
Podcast: Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

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Overview

In this episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, the expert trio—Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright—delve deep into the tight end position for the upcoming 2017 NFL season. They present their consensus rankings for the top 12 tight ends, discuss the impact of injuries, evaluate player performances, and highlight potential sleeper picks that could provide significant value to fantasy football managers.

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Top 12 Tight Ends Rankings

The hosts collaboratively rank the top 12 tight ends, offering insights into each player's strengths, weaknesses, and potential fantasy impact.

1. Rob Gronkowski

• Consensus Ranking: Number 1
• Performance Analysis: Gronkowski's dominance remains unparalleled despite his injury history. Last season, he amassed 540 yards in eight games, showcasing his elite talent.
• Notable Quote:
  "Rob Gronkowski finished the number one tight end in 2011, number four in 2012, number one in 2014, and number one in 2015. In eight games last year, he had 540 yards."
  — Mike Wright [21:26]

2. Jordan Reed

• Consensus Ranking: Number 2
• Performance Analysis: Reed is highlighted as a top-tier tight end with significant upside. However, his injury history, particularly concussions, raises concerns about his reliability throughout the season.
• Notable Quotes:
  "Jordan Reed is absolutely right up there with [Rob] Gronkowski."
  — Al Robinson [26:05]
  "Jordan Reed every bit as talented for fantasy football purposes but his injury risk is significant."
  — Andy Holloway [28:11]

3. Travis Kelce

• Consensus Ranking: Number 3
• Performance Analysis: Kelce is lauded for his consistency and high ceiling, though questions remain about his touchdown production without Jeremy Maclin.
• Notable Quote:
  "Travis Kelsey is a lock for a thousand yards."
  — Al Robinson [30:54]

4. Greg Olsen

• Consensus Ranking: Number 4
• Performance Analysis: Olsen is praised for his consistency, making him a reliable option in late drafts. His ability to rack up yards without being overly reliant on touchdowns makes him a valuable asset.
• Notable Quote:
  "Greg Olson is the first tight end ever to have 1,000 yards three consecutive seasons."
  — Al Robinson [33:35]

5. Tyler Eifert

• Consensus Ranking: Number 5
• Performance Analysis: Eifert is recognized for his red-zone threat, making him particularly valuable in standard leagues where touchdowns are paramount. However, his injury risk poses a significant downside.
• Notable Quote:
  "Tyler Eifert is a threat for double-digit touchdowns. That's something very interesting in my play draft best ball leagues."
  — Al Robinson [35:08]

6. Jimmy Graham

• Consensus Ranking: Number 6
• Performance Analysis: Graham's move to Seattle paired with Russell Wilson could reignite his fantasy value. His potential to be a top-tier tight end remains contingent on his health and role in the offense.
• Notable Quote:
  "Jimmy Graham will catch enough touchdowns to be relevant."
  — Al Robinson [35:39]

7. Zach Ertz

• Consensus Ranking: Number 7
• Performance Analysis: Ertz has shown flashes of brilliance, especially in the latter half of the previous season. His chemistry with Carson Wentz could lead to a surge in production, making him a valuable mid-round pick.
• Notable Quote:
  "Ertz has been a dominant force in fantasy football in the latter half of the last two years."
  — Jason Moore [40:27]

8. Kyle Rudolph

• Consensus Ranking: Number 8
• Performance Analysis: While sometimes labeled as "boring," Rudolph offers steady production with potential for red-zone targets. His value increases as his involvement in the offense grows.
• Notable Quote:
  "Kyle Rudolph is very similar to Greg Olson in terms of being highly talented and physically gifted."
  — Andy Holloway [44:08]

9. Eric Ebron

• Consensus Ranking: Number 9
• Performance Analysis: Ebron remains a high-upside pick if he can stay healthy. His past performances indicate potential, but his injury history makes him a risky investment.
• Notable Quote:
  "Eric Ebron could be my absolute guy this year if it wasn't for the fact that I'm starting to not believe he can stay healthy."
  — Andy Holloway [46:35]

10. Hunter Henry

• Consensus Ranking: Number 10
• Performance Analysis: Henry is a talented player whose value hinges on his role in the offense and his ability to secure red-zone targets. His draft position has normalized after an overly hyped offseason.
• Notable Quote:
  "Hunter Henry will emerge as a significant contributor with Philip Rivers looking to throw towards tight ends in the end zone."
  — Al Robinson [48:34]

11. Martellus Bennett

• Consensus Ranking: Number 11
• Performance Analysis: Bennett offers explosive potential in specific weeks but lacks consistency. His usage by Aaron Rodgers will determine his weekly fantasy reliability.
• Notable Quote:
  "Martellus Bennett might have weeks where he disappears, making him unreliable despite his touchdown potential."
  — Jason Moore [51:53]

12. Jack Doyle

• Consensus Ranking: Number 12
• Performance Analysis: Doyle is viewed as a low-end tight end who can provide solid production with some week-to-week upside. His role in the Indianapolis Colts' offense makes him a viable late-round pick.
• Notable Quote:
  "Jack Doyle is a fine low-end tight end one with some week-to-week upside."
  — Jason Moore [54:27]

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Injury Impact and Player Evaluations

The hosts emphasize the significant impact injuries can have on a tight end's fantasy value. Players like Jordan Reed and Tyler Eifert are highlighted for their high injury risks, which could derail their potential seasons. Conversely, more durable players like Travis Kelce are recommended for their consistent output.

• Notable Quote:
  "You are playing with fire to a degree. If you want to play to win and you're willing to take that risk and play with fire late second, early third, I say it's worth it."
  — Andy Holloway [22:14] (Referring to drafting Rob Gronkowski)

Sleeper Tight Ends

The podcast also explores potential sleeper tight ends who may not be top draft targets but could emerge as valuable assets during the season.

1. Vance McDonald

• Evaluation: McDonald is underrated and expected to see increased involvement in the offense, making him a hidden gem for fantasy managers.
• Notable Quote:
  "Vance McDonald is their second-best pass catcher on the roster and they need someone to catch these passes."
  — Andy Holloway [55:04]

2. Austin Safarian Jenkins

• Evaluation: Despite a suspension and weight loss issues, Jenkins is considered the best pass catcher for the Jets and has the potential to make an immediate impact.
• Notable Quote:
  "Austin Safarian Jenkins, suspended for the first two weeks, is my sleeper pick."
  — Jason Moore [56:48]

3. Austin Hooper

• Evaluation: Hooper is expected to take a significant role in the Falcons' offense, especially in the red zone, making him a valuable late-round pick.
• Notable Quote:
  "Austin Hooper has the potential and the talent physically to catch touchdowns."
  — Andy Holloway [58:13]

4. Charles Clay and Kobe Fleener

• Evaluation: Both players are mentioned as undervalued options who could provide solid production if given the opportunity.
• Notable Quote:
  "Charles Clay and Kobe Fleener are being quietly considered as potential contributors."
  — Jason Moore [58:30]

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Conclusions and Recommendations

The Fantasy Footballers recommend drafting top-tier tight ends like Rob Gronkowski and Jordan Reed early for their high ceilings, despite injury risks. Consistent performers like Travis Kelce and Greg Olsen are valuable for their reliability. Mid to late-round picks such as Zach Ertz, Kyle Rudolph, and Tyler Eifert offer a balance between upside and consistent production, depending on league settings (PPR vs. standard).

For managers looking to maximize value, targeting sleeper tight ends like Vance McDonald and Austin Jenkins in the later rounds could provide significant returns without early draft capital investment.

• Notable Quote:
  "If you can make the decision to play to win with the tight end position and hope that the guy you take is healthy, it's a coin flip."
  — Jason Moore [28:21]

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Key Takeaways

• Injury Risk vs. Upside: Balancing a tight end's injury history with their potential for high-scoring games is crucial.
• Consistency Matters: Reliable performers who batch up consistent points are preferable in most fantasy settings.
• Sleeper Potential: Late-round tight ends with untapped potential or increased roles can be league-winners.
• League Settings Influence Value: Players might shift in value based on whether the league is PPR or standard.

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By the end of the episode, listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of the tight end landscape for the 2017 fantasy football season, equipped with expert rankings and strategic insights to optimize their drafts and in-season management.

Transcript

[Mike Wright]

It's been said that the foolish man built his house upon the sand and the wise man built his house upon the rock. Well, the wise fantasy football player builds their house upon the ultimate draft kit from the Fantasy Footballers. Full projections, video profiles, tier breakdowns, risk ratings. While you watch other teams comically topple over like a clown with poor balance, your foundation for an incredible season will be solidified. You are the mighty redwood. Your opponents are one ply toilet paper. You are iron alloyed with carbon. Your opponents are a soggy leaf of lettuce. Go to www.ultimatedraftkit.com and get out of the sand today.

[Al Robinson]

Hey, this is Al Robinson from the Jacksonville Jaguars and you're listening to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast coming to you from the Play Draft Studios with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Jason Moore]

Ah, welcome to Thursday. Welcome in one and all. Got a great show for you today. It is August 17th, and we are fastly approaching the start of the regular season. Some important preseason games. So fastly, fastly approaching.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure, sure.

[Jason Moore]

Quickly yesterday. I guess it is fast. That's not a word.

[Al Robinson]

I don't think that's a word.

[Jason Moore]

Wow. Yeah. It took me, like saying it five times.

[Al Robinson]

We know what you meant. So that's really what matters when you're communicating, is that the message gets across.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Well, welcome in. That's all you need to know about us. We're the fantasy footballers. Back again. Top 12 tight end episode. Great. Quick question. Excited to get into it. One final reminder for you. We are doing a live show in Phoenix, Arizona at the Crescent Ballroom. You can get [e-mail] if you want to come hang out with us. It's gonna be a lot of fun. We're gonna give away an autograph. David Johnson frame jersey from Pristine Auction.

[Al Robinson]

It's framed. It's ready to go.

[Jason Moore]

It is nice. Very nice.

[Al Robinson]

And guess what? If you got a ticket, you're at the show.

[Jason Moore]

You're in.

[Al Robinson]

You're in, man. You're eligible.

[Jason Moore]

We'll probably figure out some other cool stuff to do as well. Have some exciting things that Mike is working out. And then next week, heads up, the My Guys episode is coming.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah, that's all I got. But the My Guys, I mean, that's. That is a yearly treat where we plant our flags on those, you know, a player at each position. Or normally we go three. Three My guys. Yeah, I don't have mine complete. I think I know who.

[Jason Moore]

I've got some candidates, but I'm working on it. Yeah, I'm working through the primaries here. We're going to get some candidates for those my guys.

[Al Robinson]

I'll be staring in the fire over the weekend.

[Jason Moore]

Are you going to do it fastly?

[Al Robinson]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

You gotta figure it out. All right. Footclang giveaway.com A signed David Johnson helmet over there that you can get in on. Free to enter. We're giving that one.

[Al Robinson]

It feels like we have David Johnson locked in a room. Just. Just sign just things for us to give away.

[Jason Moore]

Just wait. I'm still working on it. All right, guys, quick question of the day for the podcast. What is the most or. I'm sorry, who is the most talented player in the worst situation? The most talented player in the worst situation. And another way to think about that might be take them out of this bad situation, drop them somewhere else and they'd be fantasy gold. But right now they're a talented player and it's tough in a tough situation.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll hop in here because I believe that Derek Henry is one of the 10 most talented running backs in football. I think when, when he gets the chance, he will be an absolute elite option. And he's not in the. In the worst of all possible positions.

[Al Robinson]

Right?

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, good offensive line, good offense, but he is. He's going to, you know, get 150 touches at the most. Barring injury to DeMarco Murray, he is not in an equal timeshare with DeMarco Murray. He is a clear backup because DeMarco Murray is there. And if, you know, I think he's every bit as talented, maybe not as a pass catcher, but as a pure runner, even more talented than DeMarco Murray. So he's the one guy I would love to see a situation change for based strictly on talent.

[Jason Moore]

Did you get a chance to watch him in the preseason week one?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Well, yes, of course.

[Jason Moore]

I'm just asking because some people had said he looked slow.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean, he did not. He did not electrify this preseason. But I believe we have enough film from last year and enough reports from camp that and college that say he is elite. He just didn't have the best week one preseason, few drives.

[Jason Moore]

Alan Robinson is my pick. Alan Robinson is attached to Blake Bortles right now. That is a bad situation. Last year, Bortles threw the ball 626 times, fourth most in the league. And Alan Robinson still disappointed fantasy owners with the production. You want talent and opportunity and yet that opportunity is being hamstrung by Blake Bortles. If the attempts come down, you have to hope for efficiency from Blake Bortles and the offense. And while he was better under Doug Marone, I still think it is a bad situation for who I think is a very, very talented wide receiver who has flashed upper echelon talent at times. So I'll go with Alan Robinson as the most talented in the worst situation.

[Al Robinson]

The nice thing about Alan Robinson, he's in a contract year, which we always like for fantasy football. A guy who's going to go that extra mile, maybe they're a bit dinged up, but they know they got to play for that cash money so they're going to stay out there. And on top of that, then he can go somewhere else when this season is over, if things don't work out for Jacksonville, if Blake Bortles can't return to form, I'm going to cheat a little bit on this because I'm just going to say the Rams, I was.

[Andy Holloway]

Thinking Sammy Watkins in my short list.

[Al Robinson]

I'm doing a combo package here of Todd Gurley and Sammy Watkins who are wasting away on the Los Angeles Rams currently because I don't see Jared Goff ever evolving into a franchise quarterback. He certainly can improve over last year, but that's not saying a whole lot that he can prove over last year. And Sammy Watkins is an elite talent. I hope he does not resign in Los Angeles. Hope he goes somewhere where they can fully utilize his skills and Todd Gurley is For all the grief I put onto to Todd Gurley, I still believe in him as an NFL player. I think that he is a great running back, but he's just in a bad, he's on a bad team. He's got a bad offensive line, he's got a bad quarterback. There's only so many, so many things.

[Jason Moore]

I don't think you're, I don't think you're right on that whole take there. I mean he does not have a. I think they've improved their offensive line a ton this off season. Okay so and I think people people here all over the Rams, but there is a lot of change that has happened on this roster. Not just Sean McVeigh, but with the offensive line. I still understand it's still situation and it's all hopeful.

[Andy Holloway]

We, you know.

[Al Robinson]

Yeah, it's from your tolls and dreams, kisses and creams.

[Andy Holloway]

The offensive line did not, you know, I mean again, only one game in the preseason but offensive line did not look especially great in their preseason action in the first quarter.

[Al Robinson]

We know that an offensive line as much as we want to just say drag and drop a new piece into.

[Andy Holloway]

Here and everything is fixed.

[Al Robinson]

It's.

[Andy Holloway]

They're a, they're a group.

[Al Robinson]

It's not just individual guys. They have to be able to play with each other.

[Andy Holloway]

Can we just have Sammy Watkins next year when he's finished his contract year go sign to replace the 33 year old then Jordy Nelson. Can I dream a little bit?

[Al Robinson]

Oh my goodness.

[Andy Holloway]

Dream a little dream. Dreamed. Dream.

[Jason Moore]

Sammy Watkins in Green Bay of Sammy and Green Bay. Yeah, that would be.

[Andy Holloway]

My dynasty team would be pleased.

[Jason Moore]

I've got all those like fantasy points just rolling through my brain right now. That'll be a great one game a year Sammy with Aaron Rodgers. Follow us on twitter @the ffballers. We're also on YouTube, the YouTube channel. Mike is waving to you over there. Double wave YouTube.com the fantasy footballers and we're on the Fantasy sports network as well. You can find us [e-mail] if you want to get into the community. Join 3,000 plus Foot Clan members over there and hang out with us. Join a foot can't Foot clan league. Let's talk some news.

[Andy Holloway]

News and notes from around the league.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Not a ton of news to go through, but some things to keep you informed about. Ty Montgomery working through a lower leg injury that sidelined him the last two days at practice. He's going to miss the second preseason game. Smells like opportunity for Jamal Williams to show what he's got.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean that's exactly what it is. It's great news for a rookie to be able to showcase with the ones and get the start. And really even I would say for the Green Bay packers, obviously it's not good news to have your starting running back working through a lower leg issue, but it is kind of nice to force their hand to see what they have a little bit more in Jamal Williams working with the ones should that need arise later in the season. And I'm worried that this might bump Jamal Williams up a lot if he shows. If he shows.

[Jason Moore]

Well, yeah, an opportunity. That's one of the things I'm definitely looking forward to seeing in week two. Emmanuel Sanders and Eric Decker suffered minor injuries. Shoulder injury for Emmanuel Sanders left practice early and then Decker twisted ankle. At least Mike Malarkey is saying it is not serious. When I read this report earlier, I read it as Malarkey is not serious. Like it was a joke. Like ah, I got you. He didn't really twist his ankle. John Brown news We need to talk about this, we brought it up yesterday. Jaron Brown is the quote, unquote, for now, number two receiver in Arizona, Bruce Arians. He does not mince words.

[Andy Holloway]

He's not nice.

[Al Robinson]

He got bodied.

[Jason Moore]

And he basically said, look, Brown sickle cell trait still an issue. They both acknowledged it, Brown and Arians, and then said, look, if he can't get through it, he's going to be replaced. I mean, it was like. And you can tell there's frustration there from Bruce Arians with the wide receiver core in general. We've been so excited about John Brown because all the early reports, early this offseason where they figured it out, they've worked through it, but this is something that seems to rear its head repeatedly and it equates to not being able to recover from soft tissue issues in any frame of time that, you know, works for this offense and for this team. It's a downgrade for Carson Palmer if John Brown's not there because he's more talented than Jaron Brown. He's been more consistent, and he has a rapport and a chemistry with Carson Palmer that you cannot replicate overnight.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I agree. I mean, when you look at Carson Palmer's success, it lines up with the success of John Brown last year. Carson Palmer threw the, you know, a ton of passes somewhere around 640 passes last year. And you don't view him as a uber successful fantasy quarterback. So I, you know, if John Brown is not able to get over this, and I think it's fair to already say he's not going to be able to get over this. They knew this starting, you know, middle of last year. They had through the season, they had the entire off season. I don't know that they're going to all of a sudden magic some new solution, which says to me, John Brown has to go down in every ranking. I don't know how much you can trust him. And you'll have to recalibrate the Cardinals offense. It's just not good news for the Cardinals.

[Al Robinson]

597 attempts for Palmer.

[Andy Holloway]

597. Okay. Almost 600.

[Al Robinson]

Yeah, that is 40 sound a little high. So it's funny.

[Andy Holloway]

It did.

[Al Robinson]

They wanted to correct that.

[Jason Moore]

The risk rating of John Brown is a 10.

[Al Robinson]

That's probably too low, right?

[Jason Moore]

Out of 10. Out of 10. And that's probably too low.

[Andy Holloway]

You know what it was, Carson Palmer didn't play one of the games. Right. He only played 15, I believe. I was shocked to see that the Arizona Cardinals as a team had more passing attempts than the Jaguars. I was Looking that up this morning. I believe the Cardinals were successful.

[Al Robinson]

Yeah, he had the concussion and then the short week against San Francisco, he didn't make it through.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, some more happy news. 3rd round pick Kenny Golladay.

[Al Robinson]

So smooth.

[Jason Moore]

Kenny G. Worked primarily with the first tank offense for the first time now in training camp.

[Al Robinson]

We need to be a little careful here with Kenny Golladay because he's, he's coming up a lot on the show. I don't want people to overreact.

[Jason Moore]

Now, I saw you on Twitter, Mike. You were tempering those expectations. You still said late round.

[Al Robinson]

Yes, he's still a late round, he's still a flyer. But I mean, the. Just following that, that stock, it's, it's going up.

[Jason Moore]

Here's what you need to understand about that situation. It's not a locked and loaded two outside receiver situation in Detroit where there's not room for Galladay. Like Golden Tate's a slot receiver. I mean, he just comes inside and you line up three wide and you've got Marvin Jones, Kenny Golladay and Golden Tate with Riddick and Abdullah. And this is why we talk so much about Matthew Stafford and liking the opportunity there, especially if Golladay can be a red zone contributor. Eric Ebron, he's banged up again, but if he can make a contribution. So it is something to pay attention to, another player to watch in the preseason and a player that I would certainly, if I was drafting today, be taking a late round shot on because you could see his stock and actual playing time escalate quickly. And if you can steal him right now, that'd be great.

[Al Robinson]

And I wanted to bring up Mike Gillisle, who has been not, not practicing with a hamstring injury for quite some time now. And there was not good there. I saw a report earlier that he was not traveling with the team for a practice, but I can't find the report anymore. Do you guys have any information on that? Was that report pulled down?

[Andy Holloway]

I did.

[Al Robinson]

I got pinged on sleeper.

[Andy Holloway]

But I will say this. The length of time that has been missing, you know, it was expected to be a couple days. Now we're going into multiple weeks. That's worrisome. Not just from a standpoint of, okay, it's a serious injury, which, you know, a more serious injury than just, you know, a little tweak which says, okay, it can, it can be re aggravated in the season. But also he's new on this team and missing important, you know, training camp time while the other backs there, Deon Lewis, Rex Burkhead. They are. They are not missing time. They're getting plugged in.

[Jason Moore]

This is turning into a puzzle. And the puzzle pieces are flipped over like you can't even find the colors backwards. Gillisley's not the only hand picked running back there. I mean, Dion Lewis was handpicked by Belichick, James White is a favorite, and Rex Burkhead was handpicked by Belichick. So all of a sudden you're in a situation where I think all the stock was rising on Gillislee. Now I'm certainly more apprehensive.

[Al Robinson]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

And I think that that makes it a very risky high upside, but high down, high downside, low.

[Andy Holloway]

This is the.

[Jason Moore]

Hi, I'm Jason Moore. I'm taking over today. Between fastly and high downside, high down. Goodness.

[Andy Holloway]

You don't want players with a high downside.

[Al Robinson]

And Andy, I'm going to ask you about this Colt center Ryan Kelly.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, not good.

[Al Robinson]

He's going to miss six to eight weeks. He's not been placed on the ir. Designated to return with foot surgery.

[Jason Moore]

That's what you want coming back injured. Andrew Luck, no center.

[Al Robinson]

So, I mean, that's.

[Andy Holloway]

If you look at.

[Al Robinson]

That's trouble.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I mean, really, it's not good news for the entire offense. Obviously bad news for Andrew Luck coming back when he was already sacked as much as he was, but bad news for Frank Gore as well. Granted, it's only going to be the beginning of the season, but I believe I saw the RB scout tweeting out the success that Frank Gore had came most of the time when it was, you know, going to holes that were affected by Kelly. So that, that's going.

[Jason Moore]

We've, we've seen Pouncy and the impact he's had.

[Al Robinson]

We are big proponents of. You need to know about centers in football. They are a huge, huge asset to not, not just the running game, but, I mean, but the good centers are calling out protections, pointing out who the blitzer is going to be. I mean, they're, they're a really important part of the offense.

[Jason Moore]

Good friend of the show, Nick Mangold. Yeah, once one of the best, Alex.

[Al Robinson]

Mack goes to Atlanta and all of a sudden the Falcons are one of the best running teams in the league.

[Jason Moore]

Now. Alex Mack is a great case study there. All right, we're going to talk tight ends, top 12 tight ends on the show today. We're also going to share some sleeper tight ends that I'm excited to talk about. And before we do that, look, not every show we get Itunes, reviews, and they say things like, love the show, love the sponsors, and we take pride in that as we do right now. We're going to take a second to thank sponsor the show, Pristine Auction. Now, we had. We finally announced our listener league picks. We went through over 500 entries and only, what, 11 of you were able to get into the listener league. So there are so many people that are. If you didn't make it, it wasn't because you weren't deserving. There were a lot of deserving people.

[Andy Holloway]

Absolutely. I was going to say, if you feel like you deserved to get in, you're probably right. Yeah, you're probably right.

[Jason Moore]

And we were so thankful for those entries. There were. I will tell you this. There were several people who got in this year with an entry that also had entered last year with a great entry. And we didn't let them in because of that, but they were persistent. They sent in another great, unique entry. We got them in. But a couple of them poked fun at our love of Pristine Auction and for good reason. We love Pristine Auction and their autograph memorabilia. We love the fact that they keep advancing in this area where now you can get autographed jerseys and instantly have them framed. And you don't have to, like, go down to your local store and pay a bunch of money to have them framed. You can order the jersey and then just, boom, it shows up framed as well. There are hundreds of daily auctions every single day. And you can go grab your favorite player for the upcoming draft for your football room, whatever you're doing. Pristine Auction has the gear you need, so check them [e-mail]. that's P R I S T I N E auction.com and we want to thank Barkbox.

[Al Robinson]

And for those of you out there, pet owners, you're saying, what's this Bark Box all about? Get your life in order. This is what Barkbox is. It's a delivery of four to six natural treats and fun toys curated around a surprise theme each month. And I got a shocker for you. Dogs love it. People love getting stuff in the mail. You know who else likes it? The dog. Right? And you got to keep the dog happy. You head over to the website, you tell them how big your dog is by weight. Then you choose a plan. One, six or 12 months. You can cancel anytime. It's free shipping, and then the box is shipped out on the 15th. It is that easy. All the edibles are made in the US Or Canada. It's a great way to try a variety of treats and toys from local and small businesses that you may not be able to find. If your dog isn't happy with something in the box. That's pretty rare. But Barkbox will find something they love for free. They're all about dogs being happy. I have my mom hooked on Barkbox. Her two little dachshunds. These look, they're living the life, they're living the dream out there and they are spoiled each and every month with Barkbox. This is what we need you to do. Foot clan. You head over to barkbox.com footballers. You can get a free extra month when you sign up for the six or 12 month plan. That's barkbox.com footballers.

[Jason Moore]

Tight ends, let's talk tight ends.

[Al Robinson]

I like that drop.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's a good one. Gets you got the.

[Al Robinson]

Tom, work on the drums.

[Andy Holloway]

Who made that drop? Mike.

[Al Robinson]

So it's really, really good.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Tight end rankings top 12. Number one. Consensus number one. We all got him there and he deserves it. Rob Gronkowski finished the number one tight end in 2011, number four in 2012, number one in 2014 and number one in 2015. And in spite of the injury history, in eight games last year he had 540 yards. So very good season for Rob Gronkowski. Insane production. His career average this right is 14.5 yards per reception. And last year in basically six games because he was a. Yeah, do recall.

[Al Robinson]

That when he came back he was basically a. Didn't get a target. And then once Brady came back it was, it was domination.

[Jason Moore]

21.6 yards per reception. That's DeSean Jackson.

[Andy Holloway]

That's better than DeShaun.

[Jason Moore]

Better than DeSean Jackson. 106 yard per game average. There's not a lot you need to say about Gronkowski other than the fact that you are playing with fire to a degree. And I, I looked at, I think I went to ESPN this morning and they had their do not draft list and the headliner was Rob Gronkowski. So how do you feel about that, Mike?

[Al Robinson]

That is really funny because this is the first year I have ever recommended drafting Rob Gronkowski because the price is more palatable.

[Andy Holloway]

You can find him in the third.

[Al Robinson]

Round often when he's a first round pick. No, no, you do not spend your first round pick on a tight end on a replaceable position. There's only one of them that you have to play. There's only 12 active essentially each and every week. But if you can get Gronk at the back of the seconds because you're close to the turn or early in the third, I'm all about that life because he is such a difference maker and you already have two studs on your team that you're not. You're not blowing an opportunity cost by reaching for Rob Gronkowski. So I'm all in on it. I know. And it's playing is absolutely playing with fire. But I play to win and I play aggressively. So this year I'm in on Rob.

[Andy Holloway]

He is the one and only tight end that I am willing to draft early, you know, in those, you know, inside the first five rounds. I'm not going to take anyone else that's going inside the first five rounds because they aren't as big a difference maker as they need to be at a, at a position that you only start one at. Gronk right now is statted out in my personal rankings. People ask like, well, where would he be? Like, if he was a wide receiver, he'd be just behind Mike Evans and ahead of Ty Hilton at number eight in my rankings if he were a wide receiver and he gets to play in a slot where no one else comes really close to that. You look at his consistency when he does start, he is almost 20% higher than second place when it comes to finishes as a top 12 tight end. That consistency is huge. Obviously, there's the injury risk, but there are, you know, he's got several seasons finishing with 15 or more games and he has in the past won many, many fantasy teams, have won a championship on the back of Rob Gronkowski. So it's, it's like Mike said, if you want to play to win and you're willing to take that risk and play with fire late second, early third, I say it's worth it.

[Jason Moore]

Well, and this is, this is not a, this is a theme that runs throughout the tight end position with injury risk. There are players like number two here, Jordan Reed, Tyler Ifert that have had a history of injuries. So we're going to talk about that a lot. Number two, he's on the wall today, Jordan Reed. Rule 86.

[Al Robinson]

Oh, he's on the wall now.

[Jason Moore]

The injury to the foot of Jordan Reed has caused.

[Al Robinson]

He's got those orthodontists, right?

[Jason Moore]

He's got braces on his feet now and he's working through it now. He's got, look, he got some special orthotics for his cleats and he's loving.

[Al Robinson]

It, by the way.

[Jason Moore]

And he says he's loving it, but come on, I mean, no one's loving that everybody's fine, right? Until they're not. So his ADP though his average draft position has dropped into the late fifth round. Mike, you know Jason just said he wasn't messing around with any other tight ends in the first five rounds. But this seems like a price that if you do believe he'll be on the field. We know the impact he can make. He's never played 16 games but he's, he's very dominant as a force. Gruden said that. Look, everything runs through Jordan Reed. How do you feel about him in the back of the fifth right now knowing the injury situation?

[Al Robinson]

I actually disagree with Jason that Gronk's the only difference maker at the tight end. I think Jordan Reed is absolutely right up there with him. Went now last what Gronk was doing last year then he would, he'd be an unstoppable fantasy force. I don't think he's going to over the course of year do what he was doing last year of 100 yards per game. But Jordan Reed is right up there with Rob Gronkowski, especially if you are in a half or a full point PPR because they're different players. Gronk's getting you that ridiculous 21 yards per catch. That's not what Reed gives you. He gives you actually very little of those 20 plus yard. But he is a huge threat in the red zone. He's a huge threat to score.

[Andy Holloway]

He's the first read in the offense. Yeah, pun intended.

[Al Robinson]

What you did and if you had Reed early on last year you were, you were disappointed and that was because for whatever reason Washington was not targeting him in the end zone. They corrected that. But he is, he is equally, he is on par with Rob Gronkowski when it comes to injury risk.

[Andy Holloway]

But see that's where so joy.

[Al Robinson]

You don't think that they're the same.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't think they're the same. I think Jordan Reed is a significantly higher injury risk than Rob Gronkowski. Like you said, Reed has never finished, you know, with, with a season worth of games. Gronk's had two years where he's played 16, two years where he's played 15. I completely agree with you when you say that there are two difference making tight ends. Jordan Reed is up there with Gronk. My whole reason where I put Gronk by himself is injury risk. And that might sound hypocritical because Gronk has his own but I don't think it's as significant as Reed who is.

[Jason Moore]

Injured right now the difference between their injuries is Gronk has been more injury prone to major injury and Reed has been more prone to concussions, more prone to smaller injuries that keep him out and shoulder plays through a shoulder strain or pain. And that was not just pain.

[Al Robinson]

I mean his, his shoulder was removed from his body.

[Jason Moore]

Well that's not good.

[Al Robinson]

No. And the. The truth is Jordan Reed is likely. If we're. If you want to talk dynasty leagues for a second, Jordan Reed is probably one big concussion from done like I can't imagine that he will be back in the NFL if he sustains another concussion. And you. He's just. He seems to be more likely to get them.

[Andy Holloway]

Six documented cases dating back to college.

[Jason Moore]

That's yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Six in the last six years.

[Al Robinson]

Oh my.

[Andy Holloway]

Is not good. So yeah, that's where I say I just think Jordan Reed every bit as talented for fantasy football purposes but his injury risk is.

[Al Robinson]

But he's three rounds later.

[Andy Holloway]

I the way that I view it, I don't think Jordan Reed plays the majority of the season as in more than half of the games. I have a note to move him down.

[Jason Moore]

Why? If there's anything that's coming through these tight end discussions so far, it's that if you can make the decision to play to win with the tight end position and hope that the guy you take, if you take one of these top end guys is healthy and the odds of that being the case are maybe a coin flip. So let's talk about somebody who has been healthy the majority of the time. Travis Kelsey.

[Al Robinson]

Not when he came into the league.

[Jason Moore]

No, not when he came into the league. But the last three years he's finished in the top 10. He slowly put together this consistency that you hope for from a tight end, not a touchdown producer. But last year in 16 games, Kelsey 85 for 11, 25 and 4, I have him at 4. Mike and Jason both have him at that three spot. And I heard another fantasy expert talk about 1300 yards as a possibility for Travis Kelsey. Do you buy into that as a possibility in this offense without Jeremy Macklin? Because he's pretty much, you know, him and Tyree Kill are going to soak up passing targets. But what does that mean? What is his real ceiling and is he maybe the best balance of security in terms of health with draft position going in the fourth round or would you not touch him there?

[Al Robinson]

I would not grab him in the fourth round. But to speak to your point, possible. It's possible because the team when Macklin got injured last year For a stretch of games, they finally turned the offense over to Zeus and unleashed him. And that's when he started that reign of dominance where he finished with over 100 yards for four straight games. He, for the first half of the year was just. Was fine. It's really when that offense shift happens. So the question is, do you buy into the Chief saying, okay, we've proven this in concept. Maybe that's a part of why they were okay letting Macklin go. Not so much that Tyree Kill is ready to be the one. They say they think maybe Travis Kelsey is ready to be there one. But the problem with Kelsey is he doesn't score touchdowns. He had four last year. His number one season, which we always talk about end of season rankings can be misleading. But last year he was the number one tight end. But 2015, he would have been sixth with the points he had 2014, fourth, 2013, fourth. So it wasn't necessarily the rank.

[Jason Moore]

The rank kind of excused.

[Al Robinson]

The entire water level came down for tight ends last year and Travis Kelsey just happened to be the healthiest boat.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Al Robinson]

You have to stay at the top.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Al Robinson]

So it's not that I dislike him at all. I love Kelsey. I think he's a lock for a thousand yards. But if you're going to get that four to six touchdowns yet again from Kelsey, it's. You're going to be disappointed with that fourth round pick.

[Jason Moore]

Let me ask you this, Jason. Do you believe that the water level rises again this year or do we see another year like last year from the tight end position?

[Andy Holloway]

I think from tight ends as a whole, you're going to see it mostly the same. There are a couple guys that might raise the, you know, the, the feeling of the position. Raise the sewage that wasn't really water last, I think it. I think Rob Gronkowski will come back to form and I think Jimmy Graham has a chance to also take a step forward. If those two guys perform at their ability for 15 or 16 games, then at the end of the year we'll feel like the tight ends rose. But I believe the majority, you know, tight end three through 30, they're going to be what they were last year, which is. Yeah, not important.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Number four on our consensus rankings is my number three guy. Both of you guys have him at five. And I think my number three ranking is reflective of my feelings on this offense as a whole. It's Greg Olson. Look, if there was a player at the tight end position that we accidentally skipped, like Danny Woodhead from the running Back show it might have been Greg Olson because the respect paid Greg Olson. It's almost like he's boring with his levels of consistency. 6, 7, 4, 5, 3. That's his fantasy finishes since 2012. And if you want a player that will play all the time.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I was going to say here, let me read you the games played last few years. I'm not going to look 16, 16, 16, 16, 16,. 16, 16. And I just keep going and forever.

[Jason Moore]

So Jordan Reed and Greg Olsen are both in the fifth round. Polar opposites of risk in my opinion. And one guy has never played 16. One guy only plays 16. I like the. I like the Carolina offense. I like the schedule, I like the opportunity for Cam to bounce back and the weapons and I like Greg Olson and that's why he's here. I think you put Greg Olson into your lineup and you're going to be winning that tight end matchup against your opponent. You know, nine out of ten times.

[Andy Holloway]

He's very similar to Travis Kelsey in that he is an integral part to the offense. He will play the whole season, but he's not a touchdown high, you know, super high. Win you a week because he had that monster game type of player. But Greg Olson will go later in the drafts because he is older, because he wasn't the number one tight end last year. So if I only could pick between Travis Kelsey and Greg Olson, I'd be taking Greg Olson in my drafts now.

[Jason Moore]

Travis Kelsey and Greg olson, both top 12 tight ends, the same percentage of the time last year.

[Al Robinson]

Am I remembering this correctly, that Greg Olson is the first tight end ever to have 1,000 yards three consecutive seasons?

[Andy Holloway]

True. Ever.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Sorry, Ditka.

[Jason Moore]

That's why he's my number three tight end.

[Al Robinson]

And I get it, he's consistent, but he's. Yeah, he's like Travis Kelsey. The touchdowns, this just don't seem to be there for him.

[Andy Holloway]

You know who the touchdowns do seem to be there for is our number five tight end, which is Tyler Eiford. Oh, so handsome once again.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, we're bringing that back. Harking back to two years ago when you just complimented the appearance of Tyler.

[Andy Holloway]

If it's a man. Next on the tight end list is Jimmy Graham. Handsome Tyler Eifer is very similar to, you know, the high upside, high injury risk tight end mold that some of these guys are made in his per game basis is fantastic. You know, he was better than the number one Titan overall last year, Kelsey, on a per game basis. But the problem has always been with Eifert. His injury risk. So over under on games missed for Eifert, if it's, you know, 13, what are you taking?

[Al Robinson]

I'll take the under, probably.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I probably would too.

[Al Robinson]

But he's just. When he's on the field, he's dominant and unlike last year, he's healthy coming into the season. He didn't get hurt playing in the freaking Pro Bowl. And last year, from weeks eight through 14, he was the tight end one in points per game because he is, he is an unbelievable threat to score.

[Jason Moore]

Great on third down, great in the red zone.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Al Robinson]

And while the yardage may not be there, we at least have evidence. We've seen flashes that Tyler Ifer can take over a game and be 100 yard per game type of guy. Will the offense ever truly funnel through him? Unlikely. But for a position that is so skewed towards touchdowns, Tyler Ifert in the sixth, back of the sixth round, early seventh round, who is a threat for double digit touchdowns. That's, that's something that is very interesting to me in my play draft best ball leagues. I have him in probably 80% of those leagues.

[Andy Holloway]

He's one of those rare players to me that actually makes a difference in your, in your scoring format. You know, most of your time the scoring changes get over inflated and people are so worried about, well what about how do they rank in this. And the reality is rankings shift very little. But with the average draft position of Tyler Eifert, he's in the sixth round whether he's in standard or whether he's in ppr. To me he is a value if you're in a standard league where touchdowns range supreme for the tight end, but not a value at the same spot in a PPR league. So I shift my thoughts on him completely depending on which scoring format I'm in.

[Jason Moore]

We have an office league through the sleeper bot app that we just started up. We just finished that draft. It's only a six team league like with the people that are here in the studio with us.

[Andy Holloway]

So everyone's team pretty good.

[Jason Moore]

But I'm making this point because everybody's team's loaded and we all get a chance to draft a couple good tight ends generally. Mike sniped Tyler Ifert.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

But he only did it because the round before I took Jimmy Graham and I took Jimmy Graham ahead of Iford in that situation because I did not want to pair Rob Gronkowski with Tyler Ifert. Jimmy Graham is number six in our consensus top 12 tight end rankings and I'm with Jason. We cannot Forget the history of Jimmy Graham last year he's the fourth best tight end. He obviously had the injury the year before, had just moved to Seattle. But the years prior 312 going back to 2011.

[Al Robinson]

Was he the tight end 4 or tight end 9?

[Jason Moore]

I had him at 4.

[Al Robinson]

Okay, I have him at 4. Oh, you're saying you are projecting 4. I was thinking, well, last year.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think last year he was the tight end four.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he had a great year.

[Al Robinson]

I'm verifying, verifying.

[Jason Moore]

65 for 923 six on 95 targets coming back from the injury. In his first eight games he was tight end four. It looks like in the second half he was tight in 12. Okay, so that might have been.

[Andy Holloway]

But on the season he did finish as the tight end four.

[Al Robinson]

Okay, just verified.

[Jason Moore]

There you go.

[Andy Holloway]

Travis Kelsey, Greg Olson, Kyle Rudolph, then Jimmy Graham.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, talk about offenses funneling through a piece like Travis Kelsey. It could very easily funnel through Jimmy Graham this year. It's the Jimmy Graham, Doug Baldwin. We know what Russell Wilson can do and now he's a year healthier and he's the back of the fifth round. What do you need to say about Jimmy Graham other than upside potential is there for a top three finish?

[Al Robinson]

I see him on note just ahead of that. He's that he was actually the tight end nine on points per game. He did finish as or in that in a time stretch.

[Andy Holloway]

So yeah, that's confusing because of all your Jordan with my bad notations, Travis, your Tyler efforts and Gronks.

[Jason Moore]

Let's be clear, you weren't just confusing yourself. You confused all of us as well.

[Al Robinson]

Yeah, you're welcome.

[Andy Holloway]

Come along with me with Jimmy Graham when he went to Seattle, I was very worried about the way they utilize the tight end and whether or not any volume would be there for him compared to where he was coming from. People were like, oh, he's going to Russell Wilson, so he'll be a good pick. Then there was the injury, which was a horrific. Very difficult to come back from injury.

[Al Robinson]

Most people do.

[Andy Holloway]

Not all of those things stacked up very, you know, opposed to a successful Jimmy Graham season and Jimmy Graham.

[Jason Moore]

I believed.

[Andy Holloway]

I believed. Yeah, Andy. Andy did. Andy liked Jimmy Graham more than myself or Mike. Last year Jamie Graham showed that it is, you know, he is to be credited for his success more than just the system and more than just Drew Brees. He's an exceptionally talented tight end. We saw him trail off last year when he did not, you know, it looked like his gas tank ran out. He is one of the guys I alluded to earlier that I think, you know, if you're in a PPR league and he's back in the sixth round, then I can start considering a super high. If Jimmy Grant finished the year as the number one tight end, I wouldn't be shocked. He has that type of potential and very few other, you know, Greg Olson I don't think will do that.

[Jason Moore]

Seven and eight on our ranking. Seven and eight are Zach Ertz and Kyle Rudolph. We talked a lot about Zach Ertz earlier this week. I really like the fact that with Jordan Matthews out, Ertz, I think the volume will be there. He has been a dominant force in fantasy football at the back half of the last two years. Ended last year with performances of number four, number two 10. Then he was 34th against the Giants, but then came back in the last week, the often forgotten week of fantasy football, and was the number one tight end that week. And over the course of the last, what is that, nine weeks, he had seven top 12 performances. So we can't forget Zach Ertz and what he did over the last half of the year. Last five games, 40 receptions for 443 yards and three touchdowns. The tight end one.

[Al Robinson]

Ertz is a very difficult man to get a grasp on. What is, what is he going to do? Because this is now two years in a row where he has given you nothing.

[Jason Moore]

But you had a reason last year in the beginning, in the first half. So let's rewrite the narrative here. I'm going to write it for you. You tell me if you buy in.

[Al Robinson]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

He ended 2015 with On Fire, right?

[Andy Holloway]

I love Michael Keaton.

[Jason Moore]

Sam Bradford left.

[Al Robinson]

Is that the problem because that he was physically endowed?

[Jason Moore]

No, that's not the problem.

[Al Robinson]

Very injured.

[Jason Moore]

I'm not going that direction. That would be tough at the beginning of last year. Everybody's optimistic about him. With Sam Bradford, the rookie takes over just before the season and you have a slow acclimation period through the first seven weeks with Carson Wentz. Then he's back to normal over the back half. So you could argue that that little outlier six game stretch, mind you, week one he was number ten, so he. And then he missed a couple weeks. So he really only had four weeks of mediocrity with Carson Wentz before being on fire for the rest of the year.

[Al Robinson]

I'm just saying that in 2015, his first 11 games, he had 403 yards in those 11 games. And then the final four games, he had 450 total yards in four games. Then last year, the exact same thing happened where he, he, in the first nine games, 373 yards.

[Jason Moore]

And over the last five games though.

[Al Robinson]

But no, these are games played. He played 14 games. In his first nine games that he played, he had 373 yards. And then the last five, 443. Just. I'm just saying, like a jump of that proportion is. That's outlier to me. So that's where I like him. I defy him.

[Jason Moore]

I disagree completely because I think, I think you had a brand new quarterback and you basically had four weeks of mediocrity spanning a two season period of time.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Back half of 2015 all the way through to this year. I buy into car, I buy into Ertz. He's seven on my ranks.

[Andy Holloway]

I totally get the argument. I mean, he should be a polarizing player. When you look at what he's done, you can write the narrative. Either way. I tend to lean towards Andy's side, especially since the departure of Jordan Matthews. With Jordan Matthews out of the way.

[Al Robinson]

Yes, that helps.

[Andy Holloway]

And what I've seen, you know, the rapport between Wentz and Ertz. I am now a believer. I have been a strong supporter of Kyle Rudolph and in this aforementioned sleeperbot league, I chose to take Zach Ertz over Rudolph. I'm a believer. I am a believer in Zachary.

[Jason Moore]

What about Rudolph? Rudolph seems very boring to me. Rudolph. But he was the number two tight end. Yeah, I'm going to make that point.

[Al Robinson]

So that's, that's not boring.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. 83 for 840. So you're talking about 10. I mean, that's half the yard per reception of Rob Gronkowski.

[Andy Holloway]

Let me tell you why Rudolph is a great fantasy football pick this year. Better than most of the guys we've talked about. Okay. His average draft position is going to be lower than almost everybody we've been talking about. No, nobody loves Kyle Rudolph because like you said, he's boring. You don't want him. Last year was an outlier. The thought is, oh, he's. We've already seen him for a long time. Kyle Rudolph is Greg Olson in the sense that he was a highly drafted, talented player in college, very, you know, a great physical specimen. But in the beginning part of his career, he was not utilized, just like Greg Olson was not utilized when he was in Chicago. Then all of a sudden he gets more involved in the team. You've got a quarterback that comes and throws the ball a lot. I mean, do you remember your love early on in Kyle Rudolph's career for him because of his talent. Do you remember that?

[Jason Moore]

I do remember that. But I think the only comparison with Greg Olson that you can count on is underutilization to utilization.

[Andy Holloway]

That's all I'm counting.

[Jason Moore]

They're not similar players. This is. You know what the physical comparison for Kyle Rudolph is? It's Heath Miller. That's why he's boring. He's a guy that averages a low yards per carry. He's not a streaker down the middle of the field. You're not talking about the upper echelon guys here. You're talking about a. Stefan Diggs is hurt again. Chad, who am I thinking of? Charles Johnson is nothing last year and okay, we've got one guy left to throw the ball to and Sam Bradford has a 79% completion percentage. So we're going to throw it to. To Kyle Ruda. So if you, if you buy into Thielen and you buy into Floyd and Diggs and inclusion of these healthier aspects. Dalvin Cook in the passing game. I just don't want Kyle Ruda. If you told me he was 13th round, sure, he's my tight end, but he's a 9th round, 8th round pick in a PPR league. He's an 8th round pick. He's too boring for me.

[Andy Holloway]

He has the potential and the talent physically to catch touchdowns. He's done it before. It used to be called the red zone reindeer. The red zone reindeer. Now last year you saw the volume and the efficiency. I think he's got the whole package to me to where late in drafts. I mean, ninth round you can get a guy who last year finishes the number two tight end and was tied for Greg Olson with his consistency at that.

[Jason Moore]

Do you see yourself drafting him in the ninth round?

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, I really do.

[Jason Moore]

That's a good point.

[Al Robinson]

Yeah. Kyle Rudolph is one of my main tight end targets in this year.

[Jason Moore]

We've got some tight end division on the show. Might need to. Might need to get a little Judge Giamatti action going on later on. All right, nine and ten. Eric Ebron, Hunter Henry. Eric Ebron and Hunter Henry. Question marks aplenty. I think people surprised to see Ebron up there. He'll probably drop in my rankings if he cannot get himself healthy this preseason. Jason is sighing with frustration because we don't get to see what this guy is. He had weeks last year where, you know, number four tight end against Dallas, number two against Jacksonville, but there's been no consistency there and certainly no touchdowns.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. When it comes to the touchdowns last Year.

[Al Robinson]

Well, there was one he had.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's a. Plural touchdowns is plural. And so I stand.

[Al Robinson]

There was a touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

Correct.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, here's the deal. In his sophomore year, he had five touchdowns. As a second year tight end, I don't think that Eric Ebron can't score touchdowns the way that some of these other guys have.

[Jason Moore]

It's against the law.

[Andy Holloway]

That's just not what they do. That's not their forte. I think Eric Ebron could. Last year they went to Anquan Bolden. When you were down near the goal line, Anquan Bolden is gone. These are the reasons why Eric Ebron, who is still super young. This is a 24 year old at the tight end position which has the longest learning curve for getting involved. Every stat other than his touchdowns. Busted. Every stat other than his touchdowns have gone up every year that he's been there. And his involvement, his opportunity, everything. To me, I would, I would have him as my absolute, my guy this year if it wasn't for the fact that I'm starting to not believe he can stay healthy and get on the field right now. I'll take Ebron in the twelveth with an undisclosed injury. Yeah, Ebron in the twelfth over Rudolph in the ninth.

[Jason Moore]

I will do that.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I can see the argument for that. I just. With Ebron you have to, you have to wonder whether or not you're going to get 13 games out of them.

[Jason Moore]

Let's shed some light on number 10, Hunter Henry. People don't know what to do with Hunter Henry. I think they love being excited about Hunter Henry because he's a very talented player. But let's shed some light on how people should think about him because he's still going in the eighth round right now. And so you're talking about taking him ahead of a guy like Kyle Rudolph according to draft position. Shed some light on how people should think about Hunter Henry this year.

[Al Robinson]

What's nice about Hunter Henry is that the ADP has actually gone back to where it should be. Early in the off season he was.

[Andy Holloway]

Like the fifth tight end.

[Al Robinson]

Yeah, everyone was had the fever. They had Hunter Henry fever. He was being traded for ridiculous things in dynasty leagues in an ADP was like a six round pick. It was absolutely outrageous. Especially when you factor in that Antonio Gates is coming back and preseason game one, lo and behold there who's catching touchdowns. It's Antonio Gates.

[Andy Holloway]

The, it's what he does.

[Al Robinson]

Yeah, I, but I believe in Hunter Henry's talent. He was eight touchdowns as a rookie. That's the second most by a rookie tight end since the year 2000. Gronk had 10 his rookie year. But Gronk is, Gronk is hall of Fame level tight end. You can't compare people to Gronk. But I think Hunter Henry will emerge. And there was talk out of San Diego, the coaching staff and people whispered from the bushes. They admitted they were force feeding Antonio Gates the ball towards the end. That they wanted him to get that touchdown record to be to sit alone at the top as a tight end with the most touchdowns in NFL history and that Hunter Henry could have had like four more and that would have been just absolutely outrageous. So I am buying in to Hunter Henry taking a step forward. The Mike Williams injury certainly keeps his value more stable that they don't have another elite pass catcher to siphon off more targets. So I am, I am more than willing to take Hunter Henry as my tight end in the, in the ninth round. So you think that's good value.

[Andy Holloway]

Would you be happy in a, in a redraft league you leave the draft you had you spent a ninth round pick on Hunter Henry and he is your only tight end on your roster. You feel confident with that?

[Al Robinson]

Yes, I would, I would feel comfortable with that. And I get, I love Gates too. If you want to completely punt the tight end and only go with Gates, I just think that, that Henry's ceiling is higher. Philip Rivers is known for throwing touchdowns to the tight end. And we saw it again last year. We saw it the year before. That's a connection that Philip Rivers looks to, he looks for that huge dude. I mean who wouldn't want to throw to the big guy in the end zone?

[Andy Holloway]

That's what Phillip Rivers, he will throw touchdowns to the tight end for sure. The question and the worry is Antonio Gates, how many will he siphon off? And also to be honest, you know, coming out last year, Hunter Henry was great. So was Austin Hooper. Those two guys were pretty much about the same. I mean as far as you know, draft capital and pedigree. Draft pedigree coming into the league. And Hunter Henry only caught 36 receptions last year. It just so happened that he caught.

[Jason Moore]

A reception again that eight.

[Andy Holloway]

He only fired 36 receptions.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, there you go.

[Andy Holloway]

So the thing is, is since I can correct you so touchdown dependent that I just worry. I agree his, his upside is there. It's tremendous. But I think he's being overdrafted.

[Jason Moore]

If you get to a certain point though, in your tight ends and who you're picking, you're looking For a guy.

[Andy Holloway]

To score touchdowns, if he was 11th, 12th round, that's. Then I would take the shot at him.

[Jason Moore]

Mike, do you want Hunter Henry or Kyle Rudolph in the ninth round?

[Al Robinson]

I want Kyle Rudolph. If it's ADP is exactly the same, I'll take Kyle Rudolph.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. Martellus Bennett and Jack Doyle round out our top 12.

[Al Robinson]

I easily take Hunter Henry over Martellus Bennett.

[Jason Moore]

There you go. We all have Martellus Bennett. 10, 12 and 13. I think we've talked quite a bit about the fact that it has. Aaron Rodgers hasn't produced a top tight end very often. Now it has happened and I think Martellus Bennett is super talented, but he's not going to be as reliable as you'd hope from the tight end position. You're going to have weeks where, I don't know, Martell's Bennett might have a three touchdown week this year.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, certainly.

[Jason Moore]

But just like last year in New England, there were weeks that you could count on and then there were weeks where he disappeared. He had weeks last year in the 40s, many of them in the 30s. So he had weeks at number three, number one against Cleveland and Baltimore. So I don't think that changes very much in Green Bay where Aaron Rodgers spreads the ball around. And you're not going to be locked in on Martellus Bennett at the tight end position.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. On a per game basis back in the day when he had Jermichael Finley. Jermichael Finley usually was finishing around the sixth tight end, which is. Which is very good. So the question is, was it that he doesn't throw to the tight end that much, Aaron Rodgers, or was it he didn't have talented tight ends after Jamaica Finley left. And we're going to find that out this year. But we do know that Martellus Bennett will catch enough touchdowns to be relevant. But I don't know if he'll have enough receptions to be banked on as a starter on a weekly basis. You know, my worry with Martell's Bennett is not so much what does he do, but what does he do to the Devonte Adams and possibly Jordy Nelson. Jordy Nelson's if. If he ends up with eight or nine or ten touchdowns on the year.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, well, look, he's a seventh round pick right now in fantasy drafts, that's the problem.

[Al Robinson]

That's ridiculous. I mean it's.

[Jason Moore]

I'd rather just punt the position.

[Al Robinson]

Look back to Richard, right. The couple years ago when he was the main guy and now Martellus Bennett is A better tight end than Mr. Rogers. But my point is Richard Rodgers was a tight end. One that's. But he just ended up there.

[Andy Holloway]

A tight end one that you could never, never start.

[Al Robinson]

And it's Green Bay last year they threw under 17% of Aaron Rodgers targets were to the tight end. That's 23rd in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers just does not to be.

[Andy Holloway]

Fair, Jared Cook was as he does, missing quite often.

[Jason Moore]

All right, Jack Doyle at number 12 tight end for the Indianapolis Colts. I got him at 11. I think he has a chance to be very involved in the offense. You have some injury right now to Eric Swoop who will be the second tight end there. Indianapolis had the sixth highest percentage of targets to the tight end position last year. He was about 60 receptions for under 600 yards and five. So nothing spectacular Last season he was outside that top 12, just barely. He was 13. I think 12 is the right spot for Jack Doyle with some week to week upside. He's had some good games when he was the guy without Allen last year. So I don't know if we need to say anything else about there. I want to talk to sleepers.

[Al Robinson]

So For Jack Doyle, Indianapolis 38% of their touchdowns went to the tight end position. That's third highest. I mean this is. It's well documented that Andrew Log feeds his tight ends. He always has two, whether it's Fleen or and Dwayne Allen. And now it's going to be Doyle and Swoop or Swope, however you say it. But. So that's why that's the only thing holding Doyle back is that they split between two tight ends. Usually one will emerge as the predominant one and I believe that's Jack Doyle. So I think he is a fine low end tight end one.

[Jason Moore]

All right, I'm going to read back through these. Be thinking of a sleeper tight end you want to share with the Foot Clan one we have Rob Gronkowski, then Jordan Reed, Travis Kelsey, Greg Olson, Tyler Eifert, Jimmy Graham, Zach Ertz, Kyle Rudolph, Eric Ebron Hunter, Henry Martellus Bennett and Jack Doyle. Sleeper tight end pick one out that maybe you think you're not drafting them. Maybe. But you are looking at them in the first couple weeks of the season. If you're going to punt the position, maybe this guy's viable. You know, Dennis Pitta last year would have been an example of this where you could kind of pretty much just sign him off the waivers whenever you wanted and get a good week out of him. Jason, who's yours?

[Andy Holloway]

I think if we're going that deep a guy that you're not going to draft but you're going to pay attention to. Vance McDonald is a tight end that I was really excited for last year and on a per game basis he was good, but he has been completely discounted in the fantasy circus. His name is in the mud because it looked like he wasn't even going to be on the team. They didn't want him, they didn't like him. He is, I believe strongly that he is their second best pass catcher on the roster and they need someone to catch these passes. I think Vance McDonald will be more involved than we assume. If you look at the latest report from Roto world on Vance McDonald, it's, you know, a glowing report. The team is very pleased with him. So the news is changing on him the way it was on Carlos Hyde. We said several weeks ago when the question was will these guys be there?

[Jason Moore]

They know how to motivate their players in San Francisco. You just tell them that they're, you know, you suck. Spread a rumor that they're going to cut gone.

[Andy Holloway]

Does that work? So then, hey, go get John Brown because, oh, I thought you were going.

[Jason Moore]

To tell Mike he sucks.

[Al Robinson]

We all know that's not true.

[Jason Moore]

Austin Safarian Jenkins is my sleeper pick.

[Al Robinson]

Love it.

[Jason Moore]

Suspended for the first two weeks. Guy has lost 20 to 25 pounds. Always been an athletic freak. He had a problem with alcohol abuse and basically has cut that out of his life. And all the reports throughout camp, I think he's the best pass catcher on the jets and I think going into week three, four, five, so he is.

[Al Robinson]

Suspended for a few games.

[Jason Moore]

That's why I said he suspended for the first two games.

[Al Robinson]

I just want to emphasize this for.

[Andy Holloway]

People who don't draft him.

[Jason Moore]

No, none of these guys are drafting in the sleeper category here. So Austin Severian Jenkins, I think it'll be a very interesting play into the season.

[Al Robinson]

The name I'm going to throw out, Jason briefly mentioned him. That's Austin Hooper, second year tight end for the Atlanta Falcons who was worked in very slowly over the season. The first half he was. Over the first half he's averaging like a 20% SNAP share of for the team. And then the second half of the year it jumps up into the 70s. You saw what he can do in the super bowl when Matt Ryan went to him back to back plays in the end zone and ended up coming up with an excellent touchdown reception. And we know that Matt Ryan has history of using a tight end. Now that was a maybe the best tight end in the history of football and Tony Gonzalez. But Austin Hooper has talent, has draft pedigree. There's juice. There he is. He is a completely forgotten player right now.

[Andy Holloway]

I love that pick. That is. I mean, if you compare Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper right now and where they're going and what their seasons could turn out to be, it doesn't make sense.

[Jason Moore]

Honorable mention to Charles Clay in Buffalo, Kobe Fleener. Like I said, Charles, you have to.

[Andy Holloway]

Speak very quietly, but I would just say, you know, top 12 tight end last year and possibly really good this year.

[Jason Moore]

All right, Jason's favorite player is Kobe Fleener. And that is it for today's show. Great show tomorrow. Do not miss tomorrow's show. I'm telling you, it will be invaluable to your season. We're going top 10 tips and tricks to win your fantasy football league. We're going to dig deep on some stuff that you need to be paying attention to that no one else is going to tell you to do. If you're listening, keep it right here on the fantasy Footballers podcast. I'm telling you, you do not want to miss that episode. It's one of my favorites every single year. Brooks, do you like that episode? Are you going to be tuning in tomorrow for once? I think I'll make.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll catch it. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Finally going to. Okay. Judge Giamatti will be there. And check out playdraft.com ballers if you want to grab the draft app, take part in some basketball leagues and some regular season fun. Look, draft is great because it is a draft. You're not talking about spending salary on players. You get to draft players each and every week. You know what to do for DFS. So play draft.comballers and we are excited to be with you tomorrow. So thank you for your subscribes, your listens, your reviews. We appreciate them. You guys are awesome and we will talk to you very soon.

[Al Robinson]

Absolutely. See you later, foot gland. Goodbye.

[Andy Holloway]

Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on Twitter at theffballers.