Owners who missed advice in tight spot
YOU CAN’T say you weren’t warned. “Don’t invest too high a pick in a tight end,” they said. The red flags and injury history for the top-five tight ends have been mounting over the years, and fantasy analysts everywhere explained that the juice just wasn’t worth the squeeze. Using a third- or fourth-round pick on the position had the potential of leaving you short-handed at running back and wide receiver and the edge you think you might be getting is nothing of the sort.
By the end of Week 2, only two of the preseason top-five tight ends finished in the top 10 of scoring at the position and a combined look at the points from Weeks 1 and 2 certainly don’t reveal any sort of edge over the competition. In addition to that, those who failed to heed the warning are now left scraping the bottom of the waiver-wire barrel in search of help as Rob Gronkowski and Greg Olsen both left their respective games with injuries. Two others, Jordan Reed and Jimmy Graham, have been so underwhelming that fantasy owners already are looking to replace them.
Not to twist the knife even more, but in addition to the warnings you received, the red flags were staring yo u right in the face. Gronk’s injury history is longer than his wingspan. Graham has been a bust since leaving New Orleans. Reed gets hurt every year and already was dealing with a broken toe before adding a shoulder problem to the list. And Olsen’s production has been on a two-year decline. Travis Kelce is the only healthy body, but his dysfunctional personality leaves little to be desired. Regular unsportsmanlike penalties could have him bounced early if he isn’t careful.
The problem, however, is that there is no replacing that value. Nowhere on your waiver wire is there a tight end capable of offering thirdround production. There isn’t one out there who can even offer legitimate eighth-round production.
With the Gronk injury, fantasy owners will be falling all over themselves looking to add Dwayne Allen. Those who miss out on him will turn their attention where? Ed Dickson, who will be the Panthers starting tight end for the next 6-8 weeks? There is a good reason as to why names like Julius Thomas, Jesse James and Zach Miller are sitting out there. None of them can offer even a respectable week’s worth of production let alone consistency over an extended period of time.
Do yourself a favor and just pick up a warm body to fill out your roster. Do not invest heavily. There is no upside. There is no potential. You cannot undo the mistake. Just ride it out and chalk it up to a lesson learned for next season.