Fantasy Football Draft: 2019 studs, sleepers and busts

Tight End – Stud, Bust and Sleeper

*Note – Since Tight End is a thin portion, we’re rolling this all into one spot

Stud 

Hunter Henry, Los Angeles Chargers – ADP of 65th overall, TE4 

The last time we saw Henry healthy was in 2017, when he finished as the TE14 in .5PPR with 45 receptions, 579 yards and four touchdowns. What is really interesting is if you added in the stats that Antonio Gates accumulated that year, that would have bumped up Henry to about 168 points. That would have placed him third at tight end, behind only Gronk and Travis Kelce.

I really want to target one of the big three at the position this year. All of Kelce, Zach Ertz and George Kittle averaged at least 13.4 points per game and no other tight end eclipsed 12. Eric Ebron got the closest at 11.8 but he’s due for regression with Jack Doyle coming back and additions Indy made. There’s also near a 40 pick gap between Kittle at 28th overall and Henry and 65th.

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That’s significant and Henry is tied to quarterback Philip Rivers, who is a metronome of consistency. Since 2013, Rivers has never been below 4,286 yards or 28 touchdowns. Henry should be full recovered from his ACL tear last year.

Other Fantasy Football Draft Targets – The Big Three, David Njoku, Cleveland Browns

Bust

Eric Ebron, Indianapolis Colts – ADP of 82nd overall, TE7 

Ebron had a big season last year and found the end zone a whopping 13 times through the air and even tacked on a rushing touchdown. That’s all well and god, but the games with fellow tight end Jack Doyle paint a different picture.

When they played together(five games that Doyle finished), Ebron never played more than 45 percent of the snaps. In those five games, Ebron saw 5, 4, 3, 3 and zero targets. They only totaled 13 receptions for 183 yards and five touchdowns. None of these stats scream “sustainable” coming into the season, and I would expect Devin Funchess to take up some of the team leading 22 targets inside the red zone for Ebron. He’s a player I have very little interest in this season.

Other Fantasy Football Draft Avoids – Evan Engram, New York Giants

Sleeper

Delanie Walker, Tennessee Titans – ADP of 145th overall, TE15 

The veteran tight end suffered a terrible ankle injury in Week 1 of last season and he had his entire season go by the wayside. Before that injury, he had a four year run with at least 63 receptions, 800 yards and three touchdowns.

At that low of a pace(entirely possible given his age returning from injury) would have put him at about 129 fantasy points, good for TE6. The Titans did add receiver Adam Humphries and drafted A.J. Brown for the offense, but this season for quarterback Marcus Mariota is make or break.

You can bet as long as Walker is healthy, he’ll still be a vital part of the offense. If you miss on other big names, Walker seems to be a very nice fallback option to start the year.

Other Fantasy Football Draft Targets – Austin Hooper, Atlanta Falcons – Vance McDonald, Pittsburgh Steelers

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