Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Here are some of the top sleepers to consider for fantasy football in Week 10.
Amid a season full of injuries and surprise performances, finding the right fantasy football sleepers continues to be a major part of the process toward building a competitive team.
There are four teams on a bye in Week 10, including the Green Bay Packers, Las Vegas Raiders, Cleveland Browns and Seattle Seahawks.
Be sure to check out The Huddle’s weekly PPR projections and rankings as well as the start/bench list to help formulate the best lineup possible.
Is there a realistic chance Gesicki bounces back in 2024?
A second-round pick of the Miami Dolphins in 2018, tight end Mike Gesicki looked like a player on the rise, posting a 73-780-2 line in 2021 to give him a total of 177 receptions, 2,053 yards, and 13 touchdowns over a three-year stretch. Miami thought enough of Gesicki to slap the franchise tag on him. Heading into Year 5 with new head coach Mike McDaniel arriving, the future looked bright for Gesicki.
Instead, McDaniel brought an offensive attack predicated on speed and vertical shots, built around wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, and the result was a marginalized role for Gesicki. After seeing an average of 95 targets over his previous three seasons, the Penn State alum had just 52 in 2022, and — outside of his five touchdowns — his numbers fell to non-rookie lows (32-362-5).
Coming off a down year, Gesicki inked a one-year deal with the New England Patriots. The thought process was clear: give new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien another talented tight end to pair with TE Hunter Henry and watch as that duo recreates the magic seen during O’Brien’s previous run with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. It didn’t work out that way.
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The Pats scuffled offensively throughout 2023 as quarterback Mac Jones regressed, and QB Bailey Zappe showed none of the promise he’d flashed the previous year. When the dust settled, Gesicki was targeted just 45 times, catching 29 of them for 244 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It was another disappointing year for the talented pass catcher.
Gesicki signed another one-year deal this offseason, this time with the Cincinnati Bengals, in hope of reigniting his flagging career. It follows Cincinnati’s recent trend, having brought in veteran TEs Hayden Hurst in 2022 and Irv Smith Jr. last year. Hurst (52-414-2 in ‘22) was a far more productive signing than Smith (18-115-1), but the Bengals will be hoping for more from Gesicki.
While tight end hasn’t been a featured position since quarterback Joe Burrow arrived in 2020, the winds of change are blowing in Cincinnati. WR Tyler Boyd is gone, having signed with the Tennessee Titans, and wideout Tee Higgins has demanded a trade after receiving the franchise tag, leaving WR Ja’Marr Chase as the one sure thing in the Bengals’ passing attack.
In terms of competition, TE Drew Sample (22-163-2) returns, and the team spent fourth- and sixth-round picks on TEs Erick All (knee) and Tanner McLachlan, respectively. On paper, nobody in that group is a threat to challenge Gesicki for the top job in 2024. All has the talent over the long term, though he’s recovering from a torn ACL.
Coming off two disappointing seasons, Gesicki is unlikely to garner much attention in fantasy drafts this time around. While that’s a valid approach, he shouldn’t be dismissed entirely. Depending on how things shake out with Higgins, Gesicki has a chance to fill a bigger role than he has since 2021, and Burrow is easily the best quarterback with whom he’s played. He’s someone to add to your watch list as a possible TE2, provided Higgins is indeed dealt.
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Which TE — if either — should gamers be drafting in 2023?
If you read our breakdown of the New England Patriots’ receivers last month, you know that the team finished 20th in passing offense (208.0 yards per game) and tied for 19th in passing touchdowns (19) as part of a unit that ranked 26th overall. While the Pats made some moves on the outside, their biggest change to the overall structure figures to come from the hiring of Bill O’Brien, who spent four years calling the plays in New England before embarking on his head coaching career.
Perhaps what’s most interesting from O’Brien’s tenure under head coach Bill Belichick is his heavy usage of two-tight end sets, most famously with the duo of TEs Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, who confounded defenses during three seasons together under O’Brien. While no one should expect the second coming of that pairing, the Patriots have two starting-caliber tight ends in Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki to challenge defenses.
If you play fantasy football, you should be keeping an eye on these Patriots players in 2023
With training camp approaching, it’s that time of the year to start finalizing plans for the fantasy football season. That means taking a look at some potential breakout candidates for the 2023 fantasy season.
The Patriots had a top finisher in Rhamondre Stevenson last season. So that will obviously be a name to continue keeping an eye on. This list will focus on the players in 2023 you need to pay attention to on your big board leading up to your draft.
One piece of advice is to not pick all of the players from this list, as its never a good idea to stack your team with players competing for targets. With that said, here are three fantasy football breakout candidates for the Patriots in 2023:
These tight ends could be sleepers in fantasy football this season.
Fantasy football managers love finding sleepers – players who are going toward the end of drafts despite having high upside for the upcoming season.
At tight end specifically, Pat Freiermuth and Cole Kmet are too well known to really be considered sleepers at this point, so this list is made up of deeper sleepers for the 2022 NFL season.
How does this trio of tight ends stack up against each other?
For those who choose to wait on drafting tight ends to fill other positions first in fantasy football drafts, there are still quality players available once the shelves begin to empty, but they aren’t viewed as “can’t miss” fantasy prospects. They all have some concerns keeping them from being one of the top guys.
We take a look at three of those prospects at the bottom end of the TE1 grouping and where to rank them – Dallas Goedert (Philadelphia Eagles), Mike Gesicki, of the Miami Dolphins, and the Buffalo Bills‘ Dawson Knox. Each has some strong selling points, but they also have some cause for pause on draft day.
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Risers and fallers of the late-stage fantasy football season
At the start of the 2021 season, I made the bold prediction that I thought all four teams in the NFC West had the potential to finish the season with winning records, which is why I was bullish on drafting fantasy players from the division. Barring the Seattle Seahawks running the table, that isn’t going to happen, but another division has stepped up to live out the big talk I had for the NFC West.
The AFC North has found itself in a situation where all four teams control their own destiny to win the division and make the playoffs in the final three games. All four teams have looked dominant at times and awful at others, but their fantasy players are all filling up playoff lineups. When you’re fighting for a fantasy championship you need to have all your players in games that mean something. It would appear every game the teams from the AFC North play from here on through are going to have playoff implications, which is all fantasy owners can ask for with titles on the line.
Here is the Week 16 Fantasy Football Market Report:
When the Titans lost Derrick Henry, the organization’s first idea was to dust off Adrian Peterson. After three weeks, they gave up on that theory and went to Plan B. Foreman was signed in the days after Henry went down and, over the last three games, he has looked a little like the franchise – and played like him as well. In those three games, he has rushed 54 times for 264 yards and a touchdown – topping 100 yards in two of them and scoring a TD in the other. He won’t make fantasy owners forget Henry, but he likely won’t be a journeyman after this season.
The Falcons have been an offense in transition. Future Hall of Famer Julio Jones was allowed to leave. Calvin Ridley left the team for personal issues. All-World Kyle Pitts has been up and down. The most consistent player over the last month has been Gage. He has help keep the Falcons’ dim playoff hopes alive over the last four games, catching 29 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns. He has become a go-to flex option and still is affordable in daily play as he makes his case moving forward on a Falcons team in transition.
You don’t look to Detroit for fantasy players, especially in the playoffs, but Reynolds is making the most of his opportunity. The Lions are his fourth team in three years, and he has been little more than a practice squad live body. But with D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams both down, he has been thrust into the mix against a pair of good defenses (Denver and Arizona). He has responded with 37 carries for 195 yards. Like Foreman and Gage, Reynolds is making his statement to his current team and the rest of the league that he has the skills to be a factor in the NFL.
The rookie QB hasn’t been flashy and doesn’t bring a lot in the run game, but he has started putting together some solid fantasy numbers. In huge games with playoff implications against the Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts, he has thrown for seven touchdowns and, in the last two of those games, he has 310 and 299 passing yards. They aren’t the kind of numbers that have him in fantasy playoff lineups, but his stock is on the rise heading into 2022.
The time share between Ezekiel Elliott and Pollard is getting less all the time. Pollard has 119 carries to Zeke’s 201, but Pollard’s rushing average (5.7 yards) is 1.4 more than Elliott’s (4.3), and he had a better rushing average in eight of the last nine games both have played. Anyone who has Elliott isn’t going to bench him, but the Cowboys are consistently getting more yardage out of Pollard. As games increase in importance, he may be seeing even time as the Cowboys season gets more intense and impactful with each coming week.
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Few players run as hot and cold as Cooper. Over the last seven games, he has played in five of them and, in those games, he has just 15 catches for 188 yards and one touchdown. An average of three catches for 37 yards over five games (technically seven) isn’t what fantasy owners bought into, and there has to be legitimate concern about continuing to play him with a fantasy season on the line.
With all the weapons Burrow has, huge numbers are expected every week. Over his last six games, he has accounted for just eight touchdowns (six passing, two rushing) and has thrown for 190 yards or less in three of his last five games. Considering that he never had fewer than two touchdowns in his first eight games and 20 TD passes in those contests, his drop-off has been pronounced. He isn’t the must-start player he was the first half of the season.
Through his first five games of the season, Williams was averaging 95 yards and scored six touchdowns, making him one of the breakthrough players of the early season. However, in his last nine games, he has more than 61 receiving yards just twice, less than 50 yards in five of them, and has scored just one touchdown. The Chargers offense has been lighting things up, but Williams hasn’t been a part of it enough to warrant staying in fantasy lineups.
It’s been the tale of two seasons for Gesicki. He is among a growing number of fantasy tight ends those of whom without one of the Big 3 are looking to step up and make a statement to be a TE that plays every week. Over his first seven games, Gesicki had three games with 85 or more receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns. Over his last seven games, he has fallen flat, registering 54 or fewer receiving yards in every game and scoring no touchdowns. Considering Miami has gone a six-game winning streak in that stretch, it has become apparent that the Dolphins don’t need Gesicki to come up big for them to win.
The fact Golladay hasn’t scored a touchdown for the Giants after signing a big free-agent contract is bad enough, but his production has completely flat-lined. In his first four games, he was productive, catching 17 passes for 282 yards. In his last seven games, he has caught just 14 passes for 195 yards and no TDs – an average of just two catches for 28 yards a game, which not only will get you benched on a fantasy team, it will get you waived.
