Football season is right around the corner and fans all over the country are salivating to watch meaningful gridiron play again. Even more than that, co-workers and friend groups are trying to nail down their fantasy football leagues (including our own office). One of the most important positions always perplexes most players and that is: the Tight End.
When should you draft a tight end? What is the ‘sweet spot’ in each round to get the most production for the draft slot? Who will be Tight End Number 1 when the year is over? Will the reign of Kansas City Chiefs Travis Kelce being TE1 finally end?
All valid questions, none of them with clear-cut answers. However, there is hope out there for the many loyal readers of the SportsCollectibles.com blog. Within the Kansas City Chiefs offense, Kelce looks like he should take a step forward even further from the pack losing a weapon like Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins. However, there is something being overlooked about him and that is the fact he will be double and triple-teamed even more in the upcoming season.
While Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes has had the luxury of both Kelce and Hill giving nightmares to opposing defenses about how to match up with them, he won’t have that same abundance of firepower at his disposal this season. Tyreek Hill always made defenses match his deep speed, and with Mahomes’ cannon-like arm strength 70-yard throws could happen at any time. This would usually give Travis Kelce a lot more room to operate with the rest of the field. With Tyreek getting traded to the Miami Dolphins, the Chiefs looked to free-agency and the 2022 NFL Draft to improve the weaponry surrounding Patrick Mahomes with Western Michigan Broncos rookie receiver Skyy Moore and former Green Bay Packers speedster Marquez Valdes-Scantling. These guys are solid, but won’t help Travis Kelce get as open as Tyreek Hill did while he was playing in Kansas City.
Enter Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews into the Tight End 1 chat. With Lamar Jackson losing Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to the Arizona Cardinals, the offensive skill players might look light to some fans. True NFL fans know about #89 Mark Andrews’ true dominance in the Greg Roman-led Ravens offense. A great blocker in the run game, Andrews can parlay this into getting wide-open in the play action game because defenders don’t want to get blocked by him and get sucked into the run action. This automatically gives Andrews a leg-up on his competition with how many targets he will have this season with no defenders around, giving him ample room to get plenty of yard after the catch (YAC).
Jackson is also fighting for a generational-wealth type of contract and will come out this season firing on all cylinders to prove the doubters wrong and show that he is more than a “running back playing quarterback”. Lamar also has the accolades to back up his performance come contract negotiating time led by his amazing agent- his mom. This all plays into Mark Andrews having a record-breaking 2022 season being Lamar Jackson’s safety blanket and number 1 target. It will also help if former first-round pick Rashod Bateman can demand some coverage and be another target for Lamar to throw to and another player that defenses must respect.
Most fantasy players can get Andrews a round or two after Kelce and could very well accumulate a considerable number of points this season. Make Andrews a top priority when drafting this year and you can also win your league and have bragging rights over your friends, family and co-workers. Good Luck Fantasy Players!
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