By: Jake Rajala

There are a plethora of under-the-radar tight ends that are worth discussing heading into Week 3. With that said, I’m going to dive right into five TE sleepers to target.

David Njoku

The man of the hour, David Njoku, ousted nine grabs (on 10 targets) for 89 yards and a touchdown last night. Meanwhile, Donovan Peoples-Jones and David Bell combined for three catches against the Steelers. The scary part is that Njoku doesn’t even have Deshaun Watson at the helm. The Browns TE is owned in 33% of ESPN leagues & 51% of Yahoo leagues.

Tyler Higbee

There may still be room for the illustrious Rams TE Tyler Higbee on your roster (owned in 50% of ESPN leagues). Higbee garnered nine targets (after a whopping 11 targets in Week 1 against a deadly Bills defense) and ousted several receptions in Week 2. Ultimately, he’s second in TE targets at this point. Fantasy Pros has slotted him as the seventh-best TE moving forward.

Logan Thomas

Logan Thomas, also known as Taysom Hill before Taysom Hill, dazzled with a touchdown grab last week. He also had had 11 targets in the past two contests. Thomas registered 110 targets, 72 receptions, 670 yds, and six TDs in 2020. With Carson Wentz, he could certainly be in line to have a season at least as similar as his 2020 campaign. He is owned in 33% of Yahoo leagues & 39% of ESPN leagues, so there’s more than an “only hope” to get him off the bench.

Irv Smith Jr.

The Minnesota Vikings TE Irv Smith Jr. is only owned in 35% of ESPN leagues, but he’s starting to climb the ladder. He impressively hauled in a touchdown and three catches on eight targets last week. Don’t sleep on him due to his complete in-action in Week 1. The Vikings TE will feast when opponents focus on the potential OPOY Justin Jefferson.

Juwan Johnson

The New Orleans Saints TE Juwan Johnson (who is a bit of a deep sleeper) edged out Adam Trautman for the keys to the starting TE spot. Last week, he grabbed four catches for 40 yards. ESPN has projected Johnson to reel in 706 yards & 102 targets this season. At this point, Johnson has garnered a 69.2 grade by PFF for his work. It may be wise to target the TE in a week against a dreadful pass defense.

The post Fantasy: 5 TE sleepers entering Week 3 appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Brady Akins

NFL TEs are among the most confusing positions in all of fantasy football.

It’s far from glamorous. Just about every player at the position, with the exception of Kansas City’s Travis Kelce and Las Vegas’ Darren Waller on a good day, can’t come close to matching the production of other skill position players.

And yet, if you miss out on the top two or three players at the position, you’ll likely spend your season frustrated at inconsistent play and repeated low-scoring weeks. This is why finding sleepers is crucial when it comes to tight end.

Load up on running backs and receivers, wait until Round 12 or 13 to draft either of these two sleeper superstars and watch their surprisingly strong play reward your patience. 

Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams (Average Draft Position — TE10)

As if the Rams’ offense wasn’t spoiled for skill position riches with their running backs and wide receivers in 2020, Los Angeles also had a deep and talented cast of tight ends, with Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett headlining a bunch that was difficult to comfortably bet on last season due to their tendency to take targets from each other. 

Between Higbee and Everett, the tight end duo combined for 122 targets last season– with the target share being nearly 50/50 (Everett with 62 targets, Higbee with 60). 

In a cruel twist of fantasy football fate, the tight end-dependent passing game of the Rams didn’t have a star fantasy player at the position. But two major changes in the status quo should change that.

The most important factor being, that once deep group of tight ends has significantly shallowed up. Higbee remains, but Everett is gone– leaving 62 targets and 41 catches unclaimed. Higbee will only benefit from having less talent around him at the position.

And, of course, the headline-grabbing factor, Los Angeles’ starting quarterback from last season is out, traded along with a handful of draft picks for the Lions’ Matthew Stafford, who should, in theory, be an upgrade at the position.

Between the absence of Everett and the addition of Stafford, Higbee should be in line for a masterpiece fantasy football season. One that exceeds the expectations of a TE10.

Irv Smith Jr, Minnesota Vikings (Average Draft Position — TE13)

Similar to Higbee, Minnesota’s Irv Smith Jr should be in line for a massive bump in production, thanks to some competition being drained from the Vikings’ tight end pool.

Gone from the Vikings roster this season is the Pro Bowl veteran anchor of the offense, Kyle Rudolph. Rudolph was the go-to for Minnesota in the games he played in 2020. Really, Rudolph has been the go-to at the Vikings’ tight end position since 2011. Now, he’s on the Giants roster, leaving the door open for Smith Jr. to take full control.

Smith Jr. has earned the ire of a few in the fantasy football community for not breaking out sooner. Between his high second-round draft status and his strong showing in college playing for the NFL skill-position factory Alabama Crimson Tide, many thought that Smith Jr. would be a star from the moment he stepped onto the field.

But Smith Jr’s 36 catches in his rookie season weren’t impressive to many, nor were his 30 catches in his sophomore season. And now, the Vikings’ tight end has fallen down draft boards– despite his newly favorable offensive situation. 

But this could be the breakout year that Smith Jr has needed, as the former Alabama star has set a precedent for thriving without Rudolph in the mix. Through the final four weeks of 2020, the only four games that Rudolph has been inactive since Smith Jr arrived in 2019, the current Minnesota TE1 thrived to the tune of finishing as the overall TE4 in PPR leagues, and the TE3 in standard-scoring formats. 

In those final four games, Smith Jr. recorded half of his total catches for the season, more than half of his yards, and saw a career-high for targets in a game with nine in Week 16 against the Saints, where the Vikings tight end rewarded his offense for the increased opportunity with two receiving touchdowns.

All is set for Smith Jr. to finally reach his potential of a definitive TE1 in any fantasy scoring format– and you could add him to your roster in the very late rounds of your league’s draft.

The post Two sleeper TEs to target in fantasy appeared first on Pro Football Mania.