Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Early Top 10 Tight Ends, Fantasy News

And there's such an advantage that Reed has because they line him up in the slot, even sometimes out wide. And he runs up against generally linebackers, but he's an excellent route runner. So he toasts the coverage in that way. And Jordan Reed is closer to a hundred catch potential guy than 80. So you close the gap there a little bit with PPR. Big difference between the two in terms of yards per.

Reception. You know, Grancowski led the league with 16.33 yards per reception. That was the best of his career. And the most yards per game. Now, we're kind of, number two on our list is Jordan Reed. I'm just going to say that because we're talking about these two guys as it stands right now. Jason and Mike have Jordan Reed slotted in as their number two tight end in their rankings. I actually have Jordan Reed number four. He's essentially in a three-way tie.

between my two, three, and four in terms of how the projections worked out. I think there's a four-point-something point difference between them. Now, on that, though, am I correct in telling our listeners, you statted him out as not playing 16 games, right? I statted him out with an estimation of about a 14-15 game season. So per game, he would be your number two then, I would imagine? Yeah, I think per game he ends up there, yeah, because of how close they are in the total points. Because Jordan Reed, like you were saying, the difference between Grunk and Reed is

Reed is more of a possession type of a guy, you know, that 10 to 11 yards per catch where Gronk has the ability to be a 14 to 16 yard per catch. Big plays from Gronk. Yeah, but what Reed gives you highest catch percentage in the NFL for any wide receiver tied in a running back with over 100 targets at over 76%. I mean, that's a connection with your quarterback for sure.

There's nothing negative to say about Jordan Reed. Jordan Reed is awesome. We love Jordan Reed. Well, yes. I'll throw in injuries. I was going to say there's plenty of you could say on injuries. Concussion, shoulder contusion, strain hamstring, strain hamstring, strain thumb, concussion, bruised hip, strain quadriceps. That was, I think that was last year.

Well, I, look, before the episode began, we always have like a picture that we put up in association with the web on the website. And I was searching. I figured Jordan Reed was appropriate. He's kind of the hotness from last year. Which funny, by the way, I looked up his average drop position. And it's actually over the last two months, it's dropped. Really? He's actually like the second pick of the fourth round right now. Hey.

But I searched for Jordan Reed wallpaper. You know, I'm looking for a high resolution picture of Jordan Reed. And it was like, I found a good picture, a good picture. The third picture was him face down on the ground, writhing in pain. That's about right. And really, we were having some fun discussions in the studio about the way the rankings work and the risks and things like that. Jordan Reed, for me, I don't want to sour on him from a potential standpoint, much like Travis Kelsey last year. I think Kelsey is a pretty good example.

In my mind, actually he's a really, I hadn't thought about this until now. This wasn't premeditated. Travis Kelsey is the perfect example of what could happen to Jordan Reed this year and how I have him projected. I think 11 touchdowns is pretty darn high for Jordan Reed, what he pulled in last year. I think that Travis Kelsey was coming off at the end of the year and nothing about Travis Kelsey's year last year said, boy, Travis Kelsey sucks. Nothing he did. Yeah, fair. Says Travis Kelsey sucks. It's hyper talented, really good.

just wasn't locked in as this, like, catch guy in the offense that we thought he could be. Reed could be. I totally give a percentage chance that Jordan Reed could be awesome. I think the big difference there, though, is that we saw that Kelsey could be. Last year, we saw that Reed was. Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to say. How do you mean that you saw that he was? Reed was the first option. 87 receptions for 952 yards. In 14 games, he got 87 receptions.

So I think we know he's locked in as a predominant target of Kirk Cousin. So you got a big, we definitely got a bigger sample of his elite play than we did Kelsey when we projected Kelsey High. Yes. But they both were third, fourth round picks last year. I guess Kelsey was fourth five. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. But they, I think they ended up both right now, fourth round is about where they're at. So I guess my whole point is that when you mix in the injuries and about, you know, 10 games worth of elite, elite play, it just,

I don't put him as close to Gronk as you guys do, and that's the way it goes. Sure, in PPR. What do you mean? I'm just saying when you say he's close to Grong. Even in Standard League's, the point gap between how I have him and you have them is very much different. Okay. So number three in our consensus list is actually... This will be the most shocking name of the episode, I think, for people as far as our consensus rankings. Nobody sees him this high in other analysts, I don't believe.

And he's not actually number three in any of our rankings, right? Nobody of the group of us actually happened that. He'll be the consensus number three because of the disparity we have in the other guys. But number three, I think Jason should announce this since he's kind of been touting this guy for a while. I appreciate that, Mike. That's true. This is my boy. This is pretty much my favorite guy so far. 54 catches, 490 receptions and three touchdowns last year. That's right. Sounds...

Sounds pretty below average. It is my boy Kobe Fleener. And let me just start this off by saying Kobe Fleener stinks. Kobe Fleener sucks. That is what I want you and everyone listening to say, I want to drive down that value, man. Because the reason I like Kobe Fleener is he's available late in drafts. And I want him to stay there. Look, he's not that good. He's never had more than, you know, 50 receptions in the last 30s in the 50s.

So you tell your friends when they say Kobe Fleener's a good value, you go, I don't know about that. He's never really done it. Okay? Were you all in agreement? Cool. Because I want him on my team. He's fourth in both of your guys' rankings. He's fifth in my rankings. And obviously his ADP is going to massively climb from his ninth round ranking. And it should. You're going to have, and while we are the highest maybe at this moment, we've heard some other analysts that have put him in the category of top five. And look, this is the reason why.

Not once since 2010 as Drew Brees allowed his number one tight end to not amass over 100 targets. That's ridiculous. And well under 100, not like 101, but I think last year was his lowest to the tight end position in several years because he lost Jimmy Graham. And that was 100 and what, 15 or so to Ben Watson? Yeah. I mean, this is a crucial part of the offense and you don't have some.

Other big touchdown threat, big guy in the offense. Colston has retired. You don't have other options. And Kobe Fleener is more than capable of being what he is, which is a pass catching tied in. He is not a stay in and block tied in. He's been signed to be a pass catcher. And so it's inevitable that his hype train will begin to... It'll pick up some steam. My favorite thing, what I'm thinking about Kobe Fleener,

in the Saints offense. Okay, well, you got a big guy, very, very athletic. I mean, he ran a, he's 6-6. He ran a 4-5-6. I mean, that's just absolutely ridiculous. His measurables are off the charts. But, you know, what's the complaints? Well, he's soft. All he can do really is catch. Across the middle, maybe he's a little weak. You're like, who does that sound like? Jimmy Graham. That's Jimmy Graham.

That's exactly Jimmy Graham. So you put Kobe Fleener in, maybe it takes a little bit of time. I'm not expecting Jimmy Graham immediately, or he would be our number two tied in, but I expect very big things for Kobe Flea. And the truth, the reason why I'm so excited is that...

ADP, whereas we're talking about first round for Gronk, and we're talking about third, hey, maybe fourth for Jordan Reed. But I think it's very realistic that Kobe Fleener, because of all the tight ends, people are going to fall in love with any number of guys. You just don't know how the drafts are going to go. Very realistic that you can get him in the eighth round. And if I can get seven guys who aren't in the tight-in position and then fill in my eighth round, a guy that I am very confident finishes in the top five. I'm very, very confident because...

With tight-ins, you're so touchdown-dependent because there's very few tight-ins that get well over 100 targets a year. But those guys, they're not going to drop out. Kobe Fleener, barring injury, is not going to be the 10th best tight-in next year. He's going to be a top-five guy. On top of that, Marcus Colston's gone. I know he wasn't a huge... It's almost like I said that about one minute ago. Well, but the point is... Sorry, I was trying to look his numbers things up. But like you said... You're...

I was researching. So he wasn't a huge part of the offense. But those targets, I mean, Coleman, are we going to do that again? Brian, buy into Brandon Coleman. Not for me. It's Kobe Fleener or bust. Number four on our consensus ranking. So we had Grant Caskey Reed and Fleener. Number four is Gary Barnage. Now, this is almost entirely because of Mike. Yeah. And Mike has Barnage at three, Jason, five. I have them at eight. We all in this top ten that we're talking about today.

However, I mean, I think there's a pretty strong difference of opinion here. And a lot of why I think Jason and I don't have him as high is because of the fact he's a Cleveland Brown. He's got one-year track record and he's got Robert Griffin the third throwing in the ball now. One of the amazing things, and I mean amazing about him is he doesn't have a one-year track record.

Gary Barnage has been in the league more years than you could possibly imagine. And this is what scares me about him. So I'm going to make the counter argument for Gary Barnage here. And then, Mike, you can tell us why he's so high. Let me read you. Let's go with his targets. Okay, these are the targets for Gary Barnage since he entered the league year by year. One. Okay, well, that was his rookie year. So whatever. 21, nine, five. Twelve. Twelve.

targets two uh the 25 oh that's not good one hundred and 25 one of those things is not like the other and that was last year clearly he was able to do it he was capable of doing it but which is the real gary barnage and and like and he said that the the faith that you put in the bronze i was shocked

I was doing my research on Gary Barnage. I statted him out, and I thought I was down on him, and I was shocked to see that where did you say I had him five? You have a five, yeah. So I was shocked that he was that high because I don't love Gary Barnage this year. But again, it's when you get that volume of targets, it's hard to not be in the top five. New head coach, new quarterback, bad team. Those three things have me hesitant about him. He's still in my top 10.

Yeah, and that's very fair. Like Jason said, though, for Gary Barnes, 125 targets. So there are some other factors for the Cleveland Browns. Travis Benjamin, 125 targets. He is out of town. Now, I will concede that those targets could immediately go to Josh Gordon, who may or may not be reinstated into the league. But let's say that Gordon is not like all the news are saying, the Browns are preparing.

for life without Josh Gordon. Who are you left with? I mean, they'll probably add someone in the draft, but Heartline, Brian Hartline, Andrew Hawkins, Taylor Gabriel, I mean, even Duke Johnson. So let's say Duke Johnson gets a huge increase in his targets. He already had 74 last year. So I just think that the volume is safe.

For Gary Barnage, if you watch the Browns play, he was a huge part of their game plan. It wasn't just, oh, hey, Gary happens to be open. They schemes. And they gave him a contract. They paid him and said, you're a part of this team going forward. And sure, it's pretty wild and out there that a guy like Gary Barnage is tight and so late in his career can break out. But it does. It happens. It happens from time to time.

And I just, I'm buying into him because of, like we said with Fleener where you can pay a later ADP for him. I believe before, before the drafts are happening, that Fleener will pass Barnage in the ADP. And you'll be able to get him around the eighth, ninth round a little bit after Fleener. I'd prefer.

I mean, I would say Fleener has more upside. I have Barnage just slightly had, but it's because of the targets. I think that the target volume is very dependable again for next year. That's why he ended up when I didn't like him as high as number five in my rankings, because the truth is, they have to pass the ball to someone. And I do think last year was, you asked, is that the real Gary Barnage? I think, yeah. I think last year's the real Gary Barnage. He was reliable. You know, he had enough quantity.