-Albert Okwuegbunam
Albert O was one of the most exciting breakout candidates coming into the 2022 season. That promise never came to fruition as the Broncos had a historically bad scoring offense and he eventually fell out of favor with the coaching staff.
While Greg Dulcich is the incumbent and is probably a more well-rounded player, can we say definitively that he’s a better player?
That’s a question for new head coach, Sean Payton…a coach who has an impressive history of tight-end production. Jimmy Graham is the obvious one, but Jeremy Shockey was on pace for 70 + catches in back-to-back years to start Payton’s New Orleans tenure. Ben Watson caught 74 balls in 2015, and Coby Fleener caught 54 balls that same season and followed up with 50 in 2016. Payton is notorious for taking a healthy amount of shots down the seam to TEs…I would imagine once we get to training camp and he sees a 6’5’’ dude running 4.49 that his reaction could be very similar to Jerry Rosburg’s when he took over as interim coach last season, why isn’t he playing more?
Albert O probably hit waivers in your league when dynasty managers got into roster pinches, and if he didn’t he could probably be had for roster fodder or a late pick. He’s a lottery ticket worth taking because the upside is even higher than it was last year.
-Foster Moreau
Coaches love a TE that can block like Kel loves orange soda, and that’s Moreau’s calling card. The 25-year-old UFA will have no shortage of suitors on the open market. Now it’s very possible that Moreau winds up in a situation like the one he’s played his entire career, a sub-package blocker with more limited pass-catching opportunities but there is a chance he finds a new home with more of a fantasy-friendly role.
While he is a classic Y tight end, Moreau doesn’t lack for athleticism. At the NFL combine he ran a 95th percentile 20-yard shuttle, had a 36 ½ inch vert, and ran a 4.66 forty. His 12 yards per catch average the last 2 seasons lends credence to the idea that he could be a legit producer if given more of a chance to do so.
The Dolphins, Texans, and Titans all come to mind as teams that could use an inline presence and if he’s playing a decisive number of the snaps he could sneak his way into the low-end TE1/TE2 borderline if the TDs break right.
If your dynasty roster is hurting at TE that could be appealing to you. If you’re stacked at the position, he offers you the opportunity to stash him and flip him for a late-round pick or another bench asset if he lands in a good spot in free agency and gets a couple of favorable off-season coach quotes.
-James Mitchell
The in-season trade of TJ Hockenson leaves the Lions with a hole at TE this off-season. One of only 2 holdovers currently on the roster, James Mitchell is an interesting prospect with a lot of natural ability. Because of the torn ACL, he suffered as a senior at Virginia Tech, we weren’t able to get athletic testing numbers during the draft process, but the tape shows an athletic player with some catch-point ability and open-field speed.
After the Hockenson trade, Mitchell’s playing time picked up, nothing substantial but that could have been by design considering the injury. With a healthy offseason to further adjust to NFL life, Mitchell could show himself worthy of a more defined role on offense. An offense in Detroit that we can now consider bankable.
Working against Mitchell is the fact that the Lions have 5 selections in the first 81 picks of this coming draft, a draft that is thought to be one of the most talented TE drafts in recent memory. It’s easy to see a scenario where he’s a relative fantasy afterthought by May, but if the Lions have decided they’d rather save money/draft capital at TE, Mitchell makes for an interesting deep league stash.
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