Tag: Adam Trautman fantasy football

Denver has three notable TEs, so does that mean the Broncos have none?

Even if one TE shakes out, will he even have fantasy value?

At this time last year, people were wondering if the acquisition of quarterback Russell Wilson would turn the Denver Broncos into Super Bowl contenders. Twelve months later, the question is whether the hiring of Sean Payton can salvage things following a disastrous season that saw Denver finish dead last in scoring while ending with a 5-12 mark.

Even if we don’t see a full resurrection of Wilson’s career, it’s hard to imagine he won’t improve on last year’s disaster when he passed for 3,524 yards and 16 touchdowns. For reference, over his final five seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, Wilson averaged 3,773 yards, 33 TDs, and eight INTs.

More success would equal more opportunities, and while the tight end position was an afterthought under former head coach Nathaniel Hackett, we could see it rebound under Payton, who oversaw the golden years of tight end Jimmy Graham, a former teammate of Wilson in Seattle. So, is there anyone for fantasy owners to pay attention to in the Mile High City?

Fantasy football: Will the New Orleans Saints offer utility at tight end?

It’s hard to see much TE worth in the Big Easy.

One year after making the transition from longtime franchise quarterback Drew Brees, the New Orleans Saints will enter 2022 with head coach Dennis Allen replacing Sean Payton after the latter spent 15 years on the job (not including his one-year suspension in 2012). The team will bring back Jameis Winston (knee) as its starting quarterback, though, after the former No. 1 overall pick had to outlast Taysom Hill for the top job a year ago. Veteran Andy Dalton will be Winston’s backup.

New Orleans will have a new look on the outside with wide receiver Michael Thomas set to return after missing all of 2021 with an ankle injury. He’ll be joined by Ohio State’s Chris Olave, the team’s No. 1 draft pick, and veteran Jarvis Landry, who comes over from the Cleveland Browns. All that extra talent outside could open things up inside, which brings us to the tight ends. Other than Hill (foot) theoretically making the full-time switch to the position upon his return from Lisfranc injury, the Saints decided to run it back and hope Adam Trautman and/or Juwan Johnson elevate their game.

We have more than a quarter-century track record of creating fantasy football champs. Sign up for The Huddle today to gain an award-winning edge on the competition!

The best fantasy football gamble of Week 11

Will this tight end’s Week 11 outing go swimmingly vs. Philly?

Every week, at least one player becomes my fascination of whether he’s worthy of a fantasy football start or bench. The decision can be a mental wrestling match, but for the purpose of brevity, only one player can be chosen as the fantasy football gamble of the week.

The best fantasy football gamble for Week 11

Tracking my predictions: 3-7-0
Win: Player produces ≥ 75% of projected fantasy points
Loss: Player produces >75% of projected fantasy points
Tie: Player is ejected or leaves with an injury

I’ve had a few close ones that didn’t break in my favor this year, along with a couple of outright misses, but none were worse than last week’s recommendation of Trevor Lawrence. He had a fantastic matchup and definitely enough weapons to do something worthwhile, but the rookie was an unmitigated fantasy disaster.

That’s why this article is about gambles and not locks, but that was tough to swallow. The upcoming slate of games has only two teams on bye, both of those starting tight ends are in the weekly lineup conversation. However, the position is loaded with volatility and has a few notable injuries to watch, too.

TE Adam Trautman, New Orleans Saints at Philadelphia Eagles

In the last three games, Trautman has been targeted at least six times in each contest and has finally started to show signs of life after early-offseason sleeper hype was derailed by a late-summer ankle injury.

The loss of Jameis Winston (knee) for the season actually works in Trautman’s favor. He isn’t going to be stretching the field too often, and Winston has not exactly been known for going through his reads and settling for a boring checkdown. Trevor Siemian starting is a huge win for the young tight end, and the absence of Alvin Kamara (knee) last week helped lead to a career-high in catches (five) for Trautman. Taysom Hill has thrown four passes in the last two games, divided evenly, and half of them went to Trautman in the most recent outing. Both quarterbacks survive as short- to intermediate-area passers, and it’s unclear if Kamara will be ready to return for Week 11.

Additionally, the Saints don’t exactly have an inspiring cast of receivers, and the are in which the Eagles are strongest is vs. wideouts. Deep threats Marquez Callaway and Deonte Harris face the most difficult cornerback duo to exploit in Darius Slay and Steven Nelson, which should redirect a few passes Trautman’s way.

While Trautman doesn’t have a TD this year and has scored only once in his 23 career games played, he profiles as a legitimate weapon in the red zone at 6-foot-5, 255 pounds, with the collegiate pedigree as a prolific scorer. The second-year tight end was a touchdown machine at Dayton, even if it came against inferior competition.

Eight different TEs have scored 10-plus PPR points on the year vs. Philadelphia, and all but one happened in the last five weeks. Of the eight TDs scored, five have come in the last six games, and this is among the best matchups available for the week.

My projection: 5 catches, 56 yards, 1 TD (16.6 PPR fantasy points)

Saints starter Jameis Winston faces uphill climb in fantasy football

Despite being named the starter, Winston’s outlook is far from pretty.

The New Orleans Saints have named Jameis Winston the starting quarterback for Week 1. What are the ensuing ramifications to know entering upcoming fantasy football drafts?

Following 15 seasons of mostly elite-level play from Drew Brees, the Saints will hang their 2021 fortunes on the right arm of Winston after he beat out Taysom Hill.

When Brees went down last season, the Saints turned to Hill, who went 3-1 in his four starts, albeit against teams that finished a combined 13-34-1. That didn’t stop New Orleans from re-signing Winston, and the general vibe most of the offseason has been that the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer was the slight favorite to start all along.

It makes sense as Winston is four years younger and boasts a stronger arm. He also features a more comparable skill set to Brees as a pocket passer and has more experience — Winston has thrown 2,559 career passes to Hill’s 134. Moreover, the 31-year-old Hill is just not that talented of a thrower in comparison to Winston.

What are you waiting for?!? It’s time to get into The Huddle! Sign up today.

Individual skill has never been in doubt when it comes to Winston. Ball security is sure to be a major focal point after Brees averaged a paltry 8.2 interceptions over his final eight seasons, which is an area that Winston has struggled in the past. Not every throw needs to be a hero ball, and head coach Sean Payton won’t have much patience for this kind of play.

Of course, if Winston is asked to operate the same type of quick-hitting passing attack as Brees, turnovers figure to be less of an issue. To a large degree, Payton can manipulate Winston into favorable situations.

He will play behind a strong offensive line and has among the league’s best one-two punches at running back in Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray to lean on.

The receiving corps will be patchwork to begin the year, however. All-star wideout Michael Thomas (ankle) may not return until close to midseason after surgery, although he professes to be ahead of his rehab schedule. This leaves mostly unproven preseason darling Marquez Callaway as the likely WR1, followed by an amalgamation of Tre’Quan Smith (hamstring), who once again is injured and may be in doubt for Week 1, Deonte Harris, and Lil’Jordan Humphrey. The trio of Callaway, Harris and Humphrey generated 49 combined career catches in the regular season. It felt like Thomas caught that many balls by halftime some weeks.

Winston starting drastically raises the floor for all of his weapons, though. His arm talent will make players around him better, particularly the deep threats, such as Callaway.

Starting tight end Adam Trautman (foot) has been widely pegged as a breakout candidate, but he was carted off in the season preseason game with a foot injury and doesn’t have a clear prognosis just yet. Media reports say he escaped serious injury but is week-to-week. To further complicate things, his backup, Nick Vannett, is out up to a month, which puts the first two games of the season in doubt.

Jameis Winston fantasy football outlook

Winston will be asked to do very little in the first couple of games. Play smart football, hand it off, check it down to Kamara, and then take the occasional deep shot to Callaway. Look for Harris to be a creatively used gadget weapon early on, while Humphrey is somewhat of an X-factor.

The Saints open vs. Green Bay, Carolina, and New England, followed by the New York Giants and Washington before a Week 6 bye. Thomas is likely to return in Week 7. The early-season expectations for Winston should be rather low. All of those teams but Carolina have high-end pass defenses, and the Panthers’ improved pass rush could mask their deficiencies.

Even after the bye, life doesn’t get much easier, so Winston profiles as more of a spot-starter than a set-and-forget option. Some of the matchups could create more passing by necessity, and it will be a double-edged sword. Until we consistently see him protect the ball, increased passing from Winston is bound to lead to more mistakes than what you’d see from most other starters.

[lawrence-related id=458784]

Speculatively, he could become a victim of circumstance and lose his starting job through little fault of his own. With pretty close to a murderer’s row of a first five-game slate, coupled with limited weaponry, a 1-4 start, give or take, could compel Payton to make the move to Hill coming out of the Week 6 break. Be aware of this possibility if for some reason Winston is pegged to be your full-time starter.

Draft Winston as a low-end QB2 with marginal upside. He will use this opportunity as an audition to prove he can play intelligent football. His long-term fantasy worth is directly tied to the ability to make wise choices and show he isn’t a turnover vending machine.

Taysom Hill fantasy football outlook

Hill should be used in the same hybrid role he has filled the past couple of years, only with more snaps at QB. Payton had no qualms about pulling Brees in favor of Hill at pivotal times in the past few seasons, so one can bet that won’t change with Winston. If anything, we should see even more of Hill. As a standalone player, unless Winston implodes, no one should be playing Hill in 2021 leagues.