New Orleans Saints tight end Coby Fleener was one of the most hotly debated players at this year’s ESPN fantasy football rankings summit. Should you be concerned by his pedestrian history as a fantasy tight end during his first four years with the Indianapolis Colts? Or should you believe in the Saints’ track record of turning tight ends into fantasy stars?
Here is my analysis of how the Saints’ tight ends will fare against ESPN’s projections for 2016:
Coby Fleener
ESPN fantasy projection: 74 catches, 848 yards, 7 TDs
Over or under: I was thinking 900 yards and 7 TDs, so I’ll go slightly over. But this is a perfect expectation that places Fleener among the top fantasy tight ends -- without getting carried away.
Fleener hasn’t been lighting it up yet in the preseason and he has never caught more than 54 passes, 774 yards or 8 TDs in a season. But the two main selling points with the 6-foot-6, 251-pound Fleener are New Orleans’ history with tight ends – and the fact that the Saints targeted him so aggressively in free agency. They signed him on the first day to a deal worth a surprising $7.2 million per year. And they didn’t bring him in to be a blocker, as that’s not what Fleener is known for.
Since coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees arrived in 2006, the Saints rank second in the NFL in TE targets, behind only the Dallas Cowboys, according to ESPN Stats and Information. Of course, a lot of that has to do with Jimmy Graham. But last year, after Graham was traded away, veteran Benjamin Watson posted the best numbers of his 12-year career (74-825-6).
Who else could see time: If Fleener gets hurt, the value goes up on backup tight ends Josh Hill and Michael Hoomanawanui. And they could be worth considering during those bye weeks in really deep leagues. But you shouldn’t expect much more than 200 yards or 3 TDs from either one of them.
