The Scorecrow Dynasty Fantasy Team | May 9th, 2020
The 2020 NFL draft is in the rearview mirror and dynasty fantasy owners are having their rookie drafts. During these drafts, dynasty owners have either helped or hurt the future of their teams. To help dynasty owners with their rookie drafts, six of The Scorecrow’s fantasy football writers have put together a list of their top rookies.
In addition to the list, each writer will give a quick explanation of a player at each position they are targeting and a player they are avoiding. In the final part of our four-part series, our writers list off their top seven tight ends. Without further ado, let’s get started!
For all of our rookie rankings click here.
Player I’m Targeting
Mike – Adam Trautman, New Orleans Saints
The truth is this tight end class was awful. With that said, I will end a lot of my rookie drafts with no tight end, especially if I don’t have a taxi squad. However, the one tight end I really like is Trautman. He won’t start right away with Jared Cook on the roster but the Saints have a good history with raw tight ends that they drafted in the third round. This is all based on the landing spot but if Trautman can develop, he will be a steal in a year or two from now and you can get him in the early fourth round of your rookie drafts.
Josh – Thaddeus Moss, Washington Redskins
Even though he shouldn’t be, Moss is my sleeper due to the fact he, unfortunately, went undrafted in the draft. He has the chance to make an immediate impact for the Redskins as their tight end position is very thin right now. Moss has big play potential and someone quarterback Dwayne Haskins can lean on.
Connor – Jacob Breeland, Baltimore Ravens
Breeland was signed by the Ravens as an undrafted free agent. However, the Ravens love utilizing their tight ends. With Hayden Hurst now gone, the only tight ends on the roster are Mark Andrews and Nick Boyle. Breeland should be able to comfortably make the Ravens roster as their tight end three and eventually move up to after he develops.
Brady – Devin Asiasi, New England Patriots
It’s not often that the Patriots trade up for a tight end who has size and is a downfield threat. Asiasi isn’t going to be good his first year, but I suspect he’ll make a big year two jump. His body control and long speed are really impressive and are what make him such a high upside pick. In dynasty, he’s a great addition for a Patriots team which doesn’t have a lot of players on offense.
Frank – Albert Okwuegbunam, Denver Broncos
Okwuegbunam is an athletic tight end who has been reunited with his former college quarterback, Drew Lock. While the team already has a stud at tight end in Noah Fant, that doesn’t mean that you should dismiss Okwuegbunam’s potential. Both players can co-exist in this passing game. We could see Okwuegbunam emerge as Lock’s favorite target in the red-zone. After all, this is a huge target at 6’5, 258 lbs with 4.49 speed. Don’t dismiss Okwuegbunam just because of Fant – bet on the already established rapport with Lock.
J.R. – Hunter Bryant, Detroit Lions
The Lions sign Bryant as an undrafted free agent. Bryant was a top-seven tight end talent on most of the major draft boards and has the potential to be a great tight end. It’s hard to deny that, and it would be hard to pass on Bryant in the later rounds of the draft. The main concern is that the Lions spent on a first-round pick on T.J. Hockenson last year and his job as the starter is secured.
Player I’m Avoiding
Mike – Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears
I got three words for you: Bears’ tight end. When was the last time the Bears had a fantasy productive tight end? Furthermore, they gave Jimmy Graham a lot of money and he will be their starter. They also have another half dozen tight ends on the roster including free agent signee Demetrius Harris and former second-round pick Adam Shaheen. Between all the competition and the messy at best quarterback room, I’m not drafting Kmet at his current ADP and would rather try trading for Irv Smith Jr.
Josh – Albert Okwuegbunam, Denver Broncos
The Broncos added depth to an already stacked receiving core with additions Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler with their top two picks. Then with Fant already slated at the starting tight end role, it would seem the Okwuegbunam would be in for a reserve role unless and injury would occur.
Connor – Brycen Hopkins, Los Angeles Rams
Hopkins got one of the worst landing spots for a tight end. The Rams already have two capable starters in Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett. On top of Higbee and Everett, the Rams rarely utilize their tight ends. If you ask me, the talent of Hopkins is going to get wasted on the bench.
Brady – Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears
There is a lack of opportunity for the Bears tight ends right now, as Graham will command a significant amount of targets. There are some concerns about Kmet’s route running and if he can make the transition from to the NFL. Finally, while Kmet is 6 ‘6″ and 262 lbs, there are times he gets out-muscled at the catch point. I think Kmet has value in the late rounds but isn’t worth a pick in the first three rounds.
Frank – Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears
Kmet was mostly considered as the best tight end in this draft, but he’s a player to avoid right now. The Bears have a crowded depth chart at this position, having recently signed Graham to a two-year, $16 million dollar deal. While Kmet will likely receive similar targets to Graham, the cost will be much higher than it will for Okwuegbunam, so I would prefer to wait on a tight end in rookie drafts. Kmet has the bigger name, but I don’t think that his upside is worth paying up for the best tight end in the draft.
J.R. – Harrison Bryant, Cleveland Browns
Bryant is on a Browns team that’s stacked with talented wideouts, two good tight ends in Austin Hooper and David Njoku, and a pair of pass-catching running backs in Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Exactly how Bryant gets his catches is going to be a mystery. That being said, Bryant won the John Mackey Award, which is given to the best tight end in the nation. However, the Mackey Award is a crapshoot when it comes to predicting NFL talent. At the end of the day, there are too many mouths to feed for Bryant to get consistent targets.
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