As we round out our fantasy football overdrafted/underdrafted series, we finally turn to sleeper tight ends who are primed and positioned to significantly out-produce their draft position. The beauty of sleeper tight ends is that there are so many to choose from. Not included on this list are higher drafted TEs, like Jared Cook and Martellus Bennett. For this, we’ll only be discussing tight ends that have an ADP as TE25 or later. These are true deep dives who are likely sitting on the waiver wire in your fantasy league at this very moment.
Virgil Green (TE25, 261st overall)
It makes sense, ultimately. The Gary Kubiak offense and the tight end are copacetic, and Trevor Siemian/Paxton Lynch will likely have to dump off to their tight ends a lot. With the power struggle between Kubiak and Peyton Manning in the past, hyper-athletic Green will have his breakout party this season.Throughout the preseason, he had ten catches, three were for touchdowns. Green was targeted a ton, as very few starters received enough targets to rack up ten catches this preseason. The tea leaves are pointing to a Virgil Green breakout. You can go snatch him up off your waiver wire this very moment. That alone makes him worth a look, especially for those of us unfortunate enough to get Tyler Eifert.
Throughout the preseason, he had ten catches; three were for touchdowns. Green was targeted a ton, as very few starters received enough targets to rack up ten catches this preseason. The tea leaves are pointing to a Virgil Green breakout. You can go snatch him up off your waiver wire this very moment. That alone makes him worth a look, especially for those of us unfortunate enough to get Tyler Eifert.
Clive Walford (TE26, 239th overall)
Last season, the rookie Walford split targets with veteran Mychal Rivera, but that opportunity split will likely go by the wayside in 2016. Last season, Walford and Rivera split 96 targets, with 50 going towards Walford. He turned that into 329 yards and three touchdowns. The overall production is not all that impressive, but he and Carr developed serious rapport down the stretch, with Walford averaging over five targets per game in the last five games of the season. He didn’t turn that into much, but the developing rapport with Carr will have him going towards the athletic Walford more and the JAG-gy Rivera less. He’ll be getting more targets, and he will do more with those targets in 2016, and he’s going
The overall production is not all that impressive, but he and Carr developed serious rapport down the stretch, with Walford averaging over five targets per game in the last five games of the season. He didn’t turn that into much, but the developing rapport with Carr will have him going towards the athletic Walford more and the JAG-gy Rivera less. He’ll be getting more targets, and he will do more with those targets in 2016, and he’s going behind Ladarius Green, who isn’t even a lock to play this season. Walford is free, going undrafted by ADP unless your 12-team league has 20 rounds.
Vance McDonald (TE28, 268th overall)
It is with a heavy heart that I end my anti-Vance McDonald campaign that I waged all offseason. The tight end has had an eternal struggle with his hands, but he made several impressive contested catches this preseason that show that his hands issues may be a thing of the past. He was Blaine Gabbert’s favorite target, as the tight end is the focus of Chip Kelly’s offense.With a receiving corps whose top four pass catchers consist of Torrey Smith, Quinton Patton and two guys who weren’t even on the squad this time last week, McDonald will get plenty of opportunity to succeed. With his hands issues behind him, McDonald is poised for a breakout campaign due to the Chip Kelly offense, the dearth of pass catching talent around him and his budding relationship with Blaine Gabbert.
With a receiving corps whose top four pass catchers consist of Torrey Smith, Quinton Patton and two guys who weren’t even on the squad this time last week, McDonald will get plenty of opportunity to succeed. With his hands issues behind him, McDonald is poised for a breakout campaign due to the Chip Kelly offense, the dearth of pass catching talent around him and his budding relationship with Blaine Gabbert.
There you have it, with the under drafted tight ends, we conclude our look around the positions and their ADP during draft season. With this information in mind, those of you still drafting can go out and ensure you side-step trouble and dive towards potential. Good luck out there this season, but if you follow these guides, you won’t need luck.