Tag: Taysom Hill fantasy football

5 tight ends to consider if you miss out on the top guys

Several value buys at the tight end position to target on draft day.

For those who play in tight end-mandatory leagues, there is a clear sense of demarcation among the top fantasy football tight ends. Once Travis Kelce goes, it starts the clock when the other top tight ends come off the board. George Kittle, Mark Andrews and T.J. Hockenson make up the second tier. Not far behind are Dallas Goedert, Darren Waller and Kyle Pitts as the third tier.

Clearly, not every fantasy team is going to make the investment to land one of these players. For those fantasy teams, owners can hold off filling this roster need for a long time and still get value. Here are five tight ends to keep in mind if you don’t get one of the top guys.

Juwan Johnson is the Saints TE to own in 2023

Taysom Hill vs. Juwan Johnson has a clear winner in 2023 fantasy drafts.

After proving to be an asset for fantasy football owners in 2022, New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson is poised for even bigger and better things in 2023.

The 26-year-old racked up 42 catches, 508 yards and seven touchdowns last season, finishing as TE15 overall in full-point PPR. Those seven scores were the third most for a tight end, trailing only Travis Kelce and George Kittle.

Johnson really hit his stride from Week 6 on, when the Oregon product scored all of his touchdowns and averaged 10.2 fantasy points per game, earning him TE8 overall in that span.

Making Johnson’s season even more impressive is the fact that he managed to be productive despite a mess under center. Jameis Winston wasn’t good in the three games he played, and Andy Dalton wasn’t any better.

Johnson has a much-improved situation at quarterback going into his fourth year after the Saints inked Derek Carr this offseason. Granted, Carr has his own flaws and is coming off a rough campaign himself, but he’s still an upgrade over Winston and Dalton.

The veteran signal-caller is no stranger to elevating tight ends to elite status in fantasy. In 2019 and 2020, Carr helped Darren Waller finish as TE4 and TE2, respectively.

Of course, nobody is ready to proclaim Johnson the next Waller, but the two players do have a similar athletic profile thanks to the former having played wide receiver in college like the latter did.

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Perhaps the biggest concern for Johnson is the expected increase in competition for targets.

Along with guys like wide receiver Chris Olave and running back Alvin Kamara (if he doesn’t get suspended), Johnson is set to also contend with veteran wideout Michael Thomas for looks.

That said, Thomas first has to prove he can actually stay on the field and play at a high level before his presence over the middle becomes a concern. And, even if he can return to at least some semblance of what he was, that may end up benefiting Johnson, as defenses won’t be able to focus in on him as much.

As promising as things look for him, chances are Johnson will fly under the radar in most drafts and won’t get the same attention his teammate, Taysom Hill, will get after a finish of TE9.

However, Hill is a riskier bet than Johnson this year for multiple reasons.

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Again, assuming Kamara avoids a ban, Hill now has to contend with both he and free-agent acquisition Jamaal Williams near the goal line, an area where Hill thrived in 2022. Don’t forget about third-round pick, Kendre Miller, either.

If Hill sees a decline in goal-line work, he may just drop off the map entirely since the “tight end” doesn’t see much action through the air. There has been talk about Hill seeing more work as a receiver, but that has to be seen to be believed after he’s been almost completely ignored as a pass-catcher the last three years.

Fantasy football outlook

Even with the workload Hill had on the ground, he remained as inconsistent as they came and was capable of putting up a bagel just as easily as he was capable of winning a week.

And, lest we forget, Hill’s impressive finish from last season was inflated by a 34.1-point performance in Week 6, and so much as cutting that in half puts Hill behind Johnson for the year at TE16.

Johnson is a high-end TE2 on the road to becoming a TE1 and will provide tremendous value for fantasy owners who wait until the later rounds in drafts to address the position. Hill should be considered a TE2 for now, also, but is on much shakier ground.

Fantasy Football Market Report: Week 2

The most important risers and fallers entering Week 2.

It is amazing how an injury to one player can impact numerous fantasy football rosters. On Sunday night of Week 1, one such injury changed the landscape of the NFC East in general and the Dallas Cowboys in particular.

It has become common practice in the NFL for a team to save money by having a journeyman backup and pray their starter doesn’t get injured. For the Cowboys and QB Dak Prescott, that prayer went unanswered.

Prescott had surgery Monday to repair his throwing thumb with a six- to eight-week timetable for his return.

There were questions surrounding the fantasy stock of Cowboys players before Prescott went down after the team traded Amari Cooper and lost Michael Gallup and James Washington to injury.

Now, everyone’s value on the team comes into question. If the organization decides to go with backup Cooper Rush, who is a backup for a reason, what is CeeDee Lamb’s value? If defenses don’t have to respect the pass, what does that do to the value of Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard in the run game?

Even the Cowboys kicker is rendered moot.

It’s difficult to believe that one player can make that much of a difference to so many others, but the Cowboys may be dead in the water one game into the season – much to the delight of fans who don’t like the self-proclaimed America’s Team. For fantasy owners, the loss could have devastating implications.

Here is the Week 2 Fantasy Football Market Report.

Fantasy football: 5 sleeper tight ends for 2022 season

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.

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.

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Fantasy Football Market Report: Week 15

Fantasy football risers and fallers entering the playoffs.

It’s arrived a week later than usual, but the 2021 fantasy football playoffs are beginning for leagues across the country this week, and the reality of the matter is that only one team in each league is going to win it all and the rest will be resigned to wait until next year.

If you have played fantasy football for any period of time, you are familiar with the concept of the “bad beat” – a particularly gruesome end to a season. It can be a huge game against you on a Monday night or the classic bad beat of Brian Westbrook breaking loose for a touchdown only to slide to a stop at the 5-yard line so his team could kill the clock.

Here’s hoping your season doesn’t end until you’re hoisting a league championship trophy, but for those who lose along the way, hopefully you won’t be stricken by the bad beat that you remember for years to come.

Here is the Week 15 Fantasy Football Market Report:

Fantasy Football Risers

WR Hunter Renfrow, Las Vegas Raiders

Renfrow has been a popular selection in PPR leagues because of his consistent production – he only has two games this season with fewer than five receptions. But, since Darren Waller got injured on Thanksgiving Day, Renfrow has taken his game to a new level – the kind of production that would make Wes Welker or Percy Harvin blush. Over the last three games, he has been targeted 33 times, catching 30 passes for 353 yards and one touchdown. Derek Carr has locked in on him and transformed him from being a fantasy receiver you have on your roster to a player who has become a must-start in almost any format.

TE Dawson Knox, Buffalo Bills

Most people likely don’t know that Knox leads all tight ends in scoring with eight touchdowns, including three in his last three games – when fantasy owners needed him most. For owners who don’t have guys like Travis Kelce, George Kittle or Darren Waller as a lineup rubber stamp every week (when healthy), the goal is to find somebody who consistently catches four passes or more passes and can be counted on to give you a handful of touchdowns. Knox has been exactly that – leading the Bills will eight TDs despite missing two-and-a-half games due to injury.

WR Jalen Guyton, Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers have plenty of weapons, but Guyton has come on in the last two weeks as a deep-ball threat the Chargers haven’t consistently had this season. He came to the Chargers in the same draft class as Justin Herbert, and their rapport has been on display the last couple of weeks. After catching just 14 passes in the first 11 games of the season, over his last two games, Guyton has caught seven passes for 177 yards, including touchdowns of 44 and 59 yards. While more of a player to consider as a cheap option for daily fantasy play, he and Herbert have made a connection that looks to potentially have some big-play staying power.

WR K.J. Osborn, Minnesota Vikings

Osborn has been up and down with the Vikings this season as the No. 3 guy. He started extremely strong in his first two games (12 catches for 167 yards and a touchdown), but was hit-and-miss after that. He has made some big plays, including an overtime TD at Carolina and a touchdown Minnesota badly needed late in the Steelers game. With Adam Thielen injured, over the last two games, Osborn has caught seven passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns, showing he can do more than simply fill in for their starting wide receiver.

QB Taysom Hill, New Orleans Saints

Hill is still available on the waiver wire in a lot of leagues, but the Saints seem committed to him in the short-term as their QB and long-term as a Swiss Army knife type player fresh off signing an eight-figure-a-year contract extension. He can produce points in a lot of ways. In his two starts he has thrown for 439 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 22 times for 174 yards and two more TDs. When you look at his point production in each of the last two games, it’s better than a lot of quarterbacks viewed as “must-start” guys, and he has forced his way into the conversation for being a fantasy starter as the playoffs begin.

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Fantasy Football Fallers

RB Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys

There are some players that fantasy owners feel obligated to live and die with in the playoffs because they dread the potential of benching him in the game he blows up. Elliott has become one of those guys. In the first five games of the season, Elliott looked his normal self, posting three games with 95 or more rushing yards and scoring six touchdowns. However, in the eight games since, he has scored just three touchdowns and, over the last seven, has weekly rushing totals of 50, 51, 41, 32, 25, 45 and 45. He hasn’t averaged four yards a carry in any of the last five. Given the investment fantasy owners made in Zeke, it’s hard to imagine them just walking away from him, but he’s on the worst five-game stretch of his career, and he’s hurting a lot of owners’ chances of winning a title with his lack of production.

QB Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns

In the era of the dual threat quarterback, Mayfield brings next to nothing as a runner, so his value to a fantasy owner is strictly as a passer, and therein lies the problem. Mayfield has hit the 250 passing yard mark just twice this season (none in the last seven games) and, over his last four games, he has been limited to 190 or fewer passing yards in three of them. Compounding the problem is that he has thrown just 13 touchdown passes in 12 games – two TDs in four games, one in five games, and none in three games. Are those the kind of numbers you want to let your season ride on?

WR DK Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks

Last year I was kicking myself all season in my most important league (bloodsport for 20 years) by having the option of drafting Cooper Kupp or Metcalf and made the wrong call and took Kupp. Fortunately, I wasn’t posed with that conundrum this season because, if I had Metcalf, I would be experiencing the same pain I did with Kupp last year. It seemed like situation normal for Metcalf the first half of the season – topping 95 yards in three games and scoring eight touchdowns. However, in his last five games, he has all but disappeared. At a time when Tyler Locket has put up three games with more than 95 yards, Metcalf has disappeared, catching just 17 passes for 216 yards and no touchdowns. If three catches for 44 yards and no scores – his average over the last five games – is what you’re looking for, stick with him. Otherwise, difficult decisions may need to be considered.

QB Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans

Tannehill’s only saving grace is that he has six rushing touchdowns – almost all from the 1- or 2-yard line. As a passer, his numbers have been dismal, despite having a wealth of talent around him most of the season and the onus to win moving from Derrick Henry’s shoulders to his. In 13 games, he has thrown more than one touchdown just twice, over his last five games he has thrown for 191 yards or less three times and has just four TD passes. He’s never been a must-start player, but is nearing the point of being a must-bench after throwing for 191 yards and no TDs in a home win over Jacksonville.

RB Ronald Jones, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

There was a time when Jones was the starter and Leonard Fournette was the backup/change-of-pace guy. Those days are long since over. Fournette has almost three times as many carries as Jones, has 62 receptions and scored 10 touchdowns. In 13 games, Jones has 63 carries for just 274 yards, has caught only five passes and scored just three touchdowns. As Forunette thrives down the home stretch as a legitimate three-down back, Jones has been left on the Island of Misfit Toys, averaging less than five carries a game and being dropped from fantasy rosters looking to add depth at other positions from the waiver wire.

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.

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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.

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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.