Transcript
Speaker: Let's go. Let's go. I'm loving the new intro guys. If you're paying attention and looking and you, but you better be, you better be paying attention. Maybe looking at this, this, this is a, this is a serious intro for a serious podcast. Thank you very much roger for putting this together. This is ah this is legit. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back. Welcome back to another episode of the Bush league huddle fantasy football podcast. I'm Fab and I'm joined as always with Raj and Nak. And today we are diving deep into the tight end position. Pause for the 2026 fantasy football season.
Speaker: We haven't had a pause in a while. i thought it was a good one. And so guys, please pull up a chair. We got 30 minutes of therapeutic draft mapping ahead. There's a joke in there somewhere for Deshaun Watson. I'm going to leave it out.
Speaker: But for real though, honestly, the tight end position like has never been a better place in my opinion. Like it's it's super, super deep. but We talk about it very often. it's It's younger. It's more athletic. It's more diverse than ever. um And you have your traditional tight ends that, you know, really do all the stuff. Like you have your traditional receiving tight ends. And then you have the ones that,
Speaker: are just tight ends in name only, right? Like they go by, what's what's what's it called now? they go by Tinos. Tinos. Is that the kids are calling them? Tight ends in name only. So the guys like ah your Cal Pitts and Cal Pitts Senior, excuse me, and you are Randy Gatson the second. um So, you know, those guys are just more of your wide receivers with like eligible tight end numbers on them, you know?
Speaker: So that's sort of what we're going to be going through right now. Like the the tier system that we're going to have in this episode is going to go through really these different different types of tight end architects, if you will, ah different types of fancy profiles and knowing which one you should be drafting and why.
Speaker: But before we begin, quick plug. If you miss our post-hype sleeper breakdown episode and the offenses that we trust and fade, both are in the description and available to download, to watch, to stream, to share, and all that fun stuff. So please, please, please follow us on excuse me follow us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter.
Speaker: We drop content, like we said, you know we drop content every single week and we answer all of your pre-draft questions. ah there's a draft Draft season's here, guys. It's right around the corner. like Training camp is days away and we're all very, very excited.
Speaker: and None of us are losing our job here, unlike the people at the ESPN and NFL Network. oh We're going to be here for for the ride. We've got to pay McAfee. it is iary There it is. it got be well that's ryan We're not getting paid for this?
Speaker: we're getting We're getting paid in love and admiration from our fans. That's what it is. This is a thankless job. Anyways, enough of that. So five tiers, plenty of hot takes as usual, and and strict no blockers allowed policy.
Speaker: ah We're going to kick it off with Knack tier one. Take it away. Tier one. Yes. so We call this tier the elite tier. Obviously ah not the biggest tier out there. And and it's it's pretty ah self-explanatory. But these are the ones you draft with complete confidence. You build your roster around them. But you also pay the price.
Speaker: So we have... that Consensus between us, this is we we just to explain to the the the fans here, we each ranked, we each did a ranking and we took our consensus ranking here altogether. So consensus, we have Trey McBride as the number one rated tight end. So locked in Alpha, who caught everything in in sight, playing behind, um bank playing from behind, excuse me, all season in Arizona.
Speaker: He is the locked and loaded tight end one here, guys. And then we've got Brock Bowers. Two years ago, he was the most hyped TD prospect in a generation. And last year, obviously, was injury riddled. Now he gets Kirk Cousins, potentially Fernando Mendoza and Kubiak as the OC. So the ceiling is definitely back. We're expecting big things from Brock Bowers. But as I said, these are the the type of guys that you're going have to pick up either late second round or early third.
Speaker: Sometimes someone people get crazy and you go one of these guys will go late first round. um Especially in Bush League every year. Oh, yeah. yeah We love us some tight ends. Every someone always goes for these monsters. Look, you're you you're paying the price, but you are getting you are getting some value. i mean I mean, some of us will definitely disagree and we could have ah a huge discussion on that, but...
Speaker: um I don't know. For me, Raj, I ask you, I mean, for me, ty Bowers was the is the tight end number one this year, and it's not really close, especially with that QB situation going on there in Arizona.
Speaker: ah The Raiders seem to have fixed the situation. i'm i be I'm okay with Cousins starting and then maybe even you know Mendoza coming in, but The talent was always there with McBride, and he's being drafted like like he plays on like a great offense. When Arizona has about, what what's the win total? Four and a half wins, that total. In the QB room right now, Brissette and... Am I wrong? Are the people just drafted McBride on autopilot?
Speaker: Yeah, i mean, for me, I had McBride number one because of what he did last year. Like, look, I know Brissett has a contract situation, but it sounds like that's going to get done sometime soon. So he gets paid at least like somewhat of a market value as he's going to be a starting quarterback and not just a backup quarterback. um I think another big thing is a lot of not a lot of people are talking about this, but if you look at the Cardinals early season schedule, it is absolutely brutal. They face the Chargers in week one, the Seahawks in week two, the 49ers in week three, the Giants week four, Lions week five, Rams week six.
Speaker: Broncos week seven, ah week eight, Cowboys. i could go on and on. like It is an insane schedule, which is why their win total is so low. And we saw what McBride did and Brissette did and Michael Wilson did when they were playing from behind. And according to the schedule, they will be playing from behind a lot this year. And look, I do like the fact that they brought in Matt LaFleur.
Speaker: um Michael LaFleur, excuse me, michael for Matt LaFleur's brother. He came from the Rams. I think there's they're going to... bring that Shanahan-style offense, I think it's going to free him up. I think it's going to allow McBride to further eat. And he's just been a target monster in Arizona. So either way, I think you're splitting hairs between this.
Speaker: If you go went Bowers one, that's fine. If you went McBride one, won that's more than fine as well. But I'm kind of leaning in on the fact that tough schedule and they're going to be playing but from behind literally every single game. And there's proof of concept of how good they were doing that last year.
Speaker: Lots of garbage time points coming from Arizona this year. Lots of garbage time points. Uh, Rog, if you want to keep this, um, train moving with tier two, tier one was a very short and sweet, but those are definitely your lock and loaded stars.
Speaker: Yes. Thanks, Nax. So this second tier is the set it and forget it tier. So these are guys that high confidence starters with clear paths to volume, draft them, start them, stop thinking about it. So, uh,
Speaker: At tight end three now in the in the first, in the tier two, we have Colston Loveland. So he averaged 16 and a half points per game. In the playoffs, he steps in into a potential alpha role with DJ Moore gone to Buffalo. We saw the further chemistry developing between him and Caleb Williams as the season went on.
Speaker: Then at tight end four, again, these are composite rankings, a combination of all three of us. So tight end four, we have Tucker Craft. So we averaged tight end four numbers before his injury last season. Fab actually had him as his tier one tight end. No one else had um Tucker Craft as a tier one tight end except for Fab. That's something maybe we could explore after. at Titan 5, we had Harold Fannin Jr., elite talent, very, very strong rookie year. He's walking to the worst fantasy environment in the league or one of the worst in the league with a QB situation that isn't currently settled. But he had a very, excuse me, very, very strong rookie year.
Speaker: ah Then we have six, Tyler Warren, tight end six, Tyler Warren. and He averaged tight end six numbers before Jones went down, but he only got relegated to tight end 26 after Jones was down. And then the offense with the Colts is sputtering a little bit. So the talent is real. i think the question, the QB is the question on that front.
Speaker: And then at tight end seven, we have Kyle Pitts. He finished as the tight end number two last year. I've been very critical of Kyle Pitts in the past. think he finally redeemed himself. I'm the only one who's fading him into tier three. a big part of that is due to the lack of touchdowns. But either way, I think he's pretty much a set it and forget it tight end in this tier.
Speaker: ah Fab, Pitts finished tight end two last year and the market has him going as the tight end seven. So around 69th overall, which feels like a discount. I also think Warren is a bit of a trap at 66 considering Daniel Jones, considering the injury history with Daniel Jones, considering how he faded last year and the the Colts collapse. So do you trust any of these guys as true weekly anchors or we are we all just hoping here?
Speaker: but I definitely trust Kyle Pitts. I think Kyle Pitts has earned your trust. I think at this point in his career, this is five seasons in he's played a full slate of games in every single season except for one in the sophomore year.
Speaker: His touchdowns have only increased year over year over year, albeit small margins, but still. Uh, last year he had 900 yards and had like 125 targets for 90 receptions or something like, like that.
Speaker: He's a focal point of the offense. He is. And I think at this point now, like Cal, Cal pits, deserves a little bit of weekly trust on a day in day out basis. And he did finish his tight end two last year. Am I expecting the same numbers to replicate? No.
Speaker: But then again, rewind 12 months ago, I wasn't expecting to finish tight end two last time either. You know what i mean? So. I think it's still a very functional offense from a tight end perspective.
Speaker: I think Kyle Pitts and, you know, Kevin Stefanski being there now, it's gonna be very interesting too. And you you saw what they did with Harold Fennin Jr. last year as well. Right? So it's, it's very, very tight end friendly. So I don't see why like Nike hasn't ranked as tight end five, but that's, that's a good spot for me too. You know, like I was a little bit, maybe cheaper at tight end seven, but you can't go wrong. Kyle Pitts is a weekly stutter starter, in my opinion. I don't even think it's, it's up for debate anymore.
Speaker: I think it's the good season, bad season, good season, bad season trend with pits. I think to your point, we talked about the Falcons last week, Zach Robinson's coming in. He runs a ton of two tight end sets last year with, who was he?
Speaker: Sorry, no, not Zach Rob. No, it's ah it's going to be Tommy Reese. It's going to be Tommy Reese. But again, coming with the Kall Stefanski offense, he also, the Browns ran most two tight end sets last year. So they're going feature Cal Pitts a lot. know who the backup tight end is. And another thing we talked about is just the wide receiver room. It's going to be Drake London, Jahan Dotson, Olamide Zakiris. It's going very empty. Fab, before we move on, I just want to get your take on Tucker Craft.
Speaker: why What was your case for him being a Tier 1 tight end? Well, we spoke about last week on our Offenses to Fade. And I think one of the questions was, ah ah is it the wide receiver room, a socialistic wide receiver room like it always is? And the answer is, yeah, because the wide receiver one is Tucker Craft. And the guy was putting up bonkers numbers in the first two months of the season last year.
Speaker: And he's the only guy, in my opinion, that deserves to be so in the same sentence, in the same phrase, in the same tier. as Brock Bowers and Trey McBride. And you saw it last year too. The guy at the very beginning of the season, and I know like it's a very small sample size, but he was Jordan Love's go-to guy. He was he had super deep average depth of target.
Speaker: He had great touchdowns. numbers He had great reception numbers. He was the motor in the offense. And it's just really unfortunate that he had the injury that he did. You would assume that he comes back to full strength at the beginning of of the season. I think that's yet to be determined right now. You know, we're still very early out from, from training camps and everything. But for me, Tucker Kraft, like I have him ranked as third. You guys have him as four. The market has him at six.
Speaker: I'm, If he's there for me at that spot, like if people are scared of drafting him and he drops a little bit, a let's go. Your garbage is my is my treasure, you know? So that that's how I see Tucker Craft.
Speaker: Yeah, hard to hard to argue. And um i think the infrastructure there, like ah i think a lot of times we complicate things with regards to fantasy. But if you factor in the QB is still very solid.
Speaker: Say what you'll about Jordan Love, very solid. The play caller is good. The infrastructure is good. There's a running back. I think this is a mix makes a ton of sense on that front. fa ah We'll move on to tier three fab lead it lead the way for tier three, please.
Speaker: Yeah, thank you, Roger. So tier three startable. So these are your viable weekly starters with the real question mark attached to them. How situation or target shared. So just know what you're getting into, right? So the the first guy we're going to start off with is ah is the most likeliest of candidates, Mr. Isaiah Likely. So he is now playing for the New York Giants. And so Mark Andrews is gone. He's still in is still in Baltimore. It's more Isaiah Likely is gone. but So Andrews is not there anymore. Likely is now full time with the Giants in a Matt Nagy system that historically targets tight ends, uh, 29% of passes, which is a nice, nice chunk.
Speaker: So full-time role for this first time in his career is, is very encouraging. Uh, ranked at nine is Travis Kelsey who finished as tight end three last year. So he still continues to defy father time. It seems, uh, the market, the market has messed tight in 10 at 95th overall, which is just crazy considering the guy finished as tight end three last year.
Speaker: Uh, Roger actually has a ranked 13th. It drops him into tier four. So the biggest individual fate on the board. Roger has a thing against Taylor Swift, and I guess Travis Kelsey is just, you know. He hates Travis Kelsey. actually don't. I i really, I'm really starting like her music. I'm kidding. I'm really starting like her music.
Speaker: I'm kidding. is that Everyone does as they get older. It's funny. It's insane. Sam Laporta, ah ah Bushley Huddle ranked number 10. So he finished his tight end three as a rookie.
Speaker: Send me the door. Tight end eight in 2024 and just nine games in 2025. The new OC, Petsing, historically feeds tight end. And so this could be interesting over there, too. The tight end market has them ranked as tight end eight.
Speaker: And George Kittle, George Kittle, man, this is probably tight end university's very own and the most, like, we can say well-rounded tight end of the entire tight end ranking. I think we can all agree on that.
Speaker: Tore his Achilles in the wildcard round against the Eagles. The talent is elite, but the health is the only reason why anyone's fading him. But according to him, he'll be ready for week one, which is miraculous. The guy just tore his Achilles in the wildcard.
Speaker: So just watch camp reports very, very closely. So, Knack, let's throw it out there. Kelsey finished his tight end three last year. And the market has him going 95th overall and has him ranked as tight end 10th.
Speaker: Roger's completely written them off of, as you just mentioned, and someone, I think he might, I think he might eat his words later on in the season. Mahomes is coming back motivated and Kelsey at that price could be the seal the draft in my opinion, but on the flip side, as a likely is going seventy fifth overall, but the market has ranked as tight in 13, but the market is massively undervalued.
Speaker: We, in my opinion, my ranking perspective, and you have Laporta in tier four, where he's going 96 overall. overall And the market has him ranked as tight end eight with a new OC who loves feeding tight ends.
Speaker: So do you fade Travis Kelsey or do you buy the opportunities that exist?
Speaker: For me, it's going to come down to ceiling versus value. And Kelsey, out of all the guys we just mentioned here, I think is the safest bet of the group. Everyone seems to be assuming that he's washed, but like you just said, he finished as tight end three last year in his year 35 season or 36 season.
Speaker: And now you're getting him around the 95th pick. I mean, if he gives you one more vintage season with Mahomes, like that's league winning value. Even if he finishes top five, like,
Speaker: we were just we were We were just saying a few pods ago how like Harold Fannin Jr.'s numbers were like off the charts, but he went 72 for 731 and six touchdowns. Travis Kelsey went 76 for 851 and five touchdowns.
Speaker: Yes, he's rookie, but we were like crowning this guy and um just you're looking You're comparing these numbers to to tight ends that you know are are going above him and just slightly behind him. And I think everyone is just the really, really, really devaluing big time. If you're getting Travis Kelsey at pick 95, that is league winner potential for set.
Speaker: Now, that said, if I'm swinging for upside, it's Isaiah Likely. He's finally getting the chance to be the unquestioned starter and in an offense that has, like you mentioned, historically featured you know tight ends and the real path for him finishing above his tight end 13 ADP.
Speaker: So it's definitely the kind of profile that I'm going to bet on. And Laporta, like, look, Laporta is is a buy for me too, but people seem to forget how dominant, like we said, he was in his rookie season because last season was, you know interrupted by injuries.
Speaker: But a new coordinator that, like you said, and but has a track record of involving tight ends, you know, it adds a little bit of optimism. So I'm definitely not fading Kelsey. And I think it's, like I said it's one of the best values at the position. And if I'm planting my flag on on a player that can dramatically outperform where he's being drafted, it's definitely likely.
Speaker: But look, let's just say Kersi offers the floor, likely offers a ceiling, and Laporta sits somewhere in the middle of that. So with a realistic chance to to bounce back. yeah yes sir go ahead can i counter quickly um it's it's not that i have travis kelsey hate it's just i look through his game log there's about five six games where he's barely he barely crosses five fantasy points right like look it's normal he's older homes wasn't there for what is it like the last few games of the season i believe
Speaker: But still, to me, he just he looked slow. He looked old. We talked about in the last episode for our fade offenses, the the Chiefs offense, it just feels very, very stale. They haven't really brought any new concepts or new innovations, which I think that's where i really agree with your point, Nak. I'd much rather go for the upside play, even the up some of the upside plays in the next year that we're going to talk about over a Travis Kelsey, personally.
Speaker: sure but i'm just like For me, the way I look at it as, He doesn't need the money, obviously. He just married a billionaire. And he probably has to know that his team is not championship caliber. So, like, why come back if you think you couldn't do it? You know, like, you're he's got to know that he doesn't have a realistic shot at winning this year. You know, so that's what gives me the optimism to say. If I'm getting him at the 95th pick as as tight end 10 or 13, like, i'm I'm grabbing that every day of the week.
Speaker: Yeah, i I really agree with NAC on this one there. I think the value associated with Travis Kelsey right now is just bonkers because you can even argue that Travis Kelsey's floor will won't be much lower than Isaiah Likely's ceiling. And the only reason I say that is because, and that's not, not going say likely, it's because Travis Kelsey has been tight end one or at worst tight end three for the last 10 years.
Speaker: This guy's getting 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns every other year. And only now we're starting to see him fall off. And the numbers he's falling off with in quotation marks are the higher end numbers that you would get from most of these guys that are ranked in around the the middle to the end of this tier.
Speaker: Right? So you're getting You're getting bona fide like mid-tier tight end numbers like 10 and 5, 10 and 6 for like tight end 10 value. I think it's huge. and And again, you know, like no knock on Isaiah Likely, but this is the this the the ceiling for for Kelsey for me is sorry. The floor for Kelsey for me is way safer than the ceiling of of Isaiah Likely. And this is coming from a Giants fan.
Speaker: But with that being said, We are going to move it on to tier four. Nak, I think this is your tier to take care of. that's me, baby. So they're tier four. It's, you know, solid flex. They're useful in in deeper leagues. You know, upside exists, but the floor is really inconsistent. It's really stream.
Speaker: I wouldn't, you know, anchor anchor towards them. At number 12, we've got Mark Andrews. Declan Doyle arrives as the OC after running the Chicago offense last year, which used the sixth highest two tight end set rate in the n NFL. excuse me So Andrews is the third option behind Lamar and Henry. But this if if the scheme fits, you know, they re-signed him. They've got to see something good in this guy, right? They re re-signed him to that massive deal when everyone thought they were crazy. Yeah.
Speaker: at Number 13, we've got Dalton Kincaid. He led all the tight ends in yards per route last season. The efficiency is elite, but the consistent but he consistently keeps him out of the conversation. The inconsistency, excuse me, keeps him out of the conversation. Also was um very injured injured last year as well. So getting that a tag dropped on him. 14, we've got Dallas Goddard.
Speaker: I have him actually dropped down to tier five, but Eli Stowers coming in and the age regression is definitely real. At number 15, we've got Jake Ferguson. So Cowboys are the number one fantasy environment per draft Sharks. And the situation does keep them relevant. Although when Lamb and Pickens were both on the field, that Jake Ferguson did take a back seat ah last year.
Speaker: And then rounding out tier four, we've got at number 16, Orande Gatston II, 18.4. eighteen point four points per game over a four-game stretch last season. Markit has him, excuse me, a tight end 16 121st overall.
Speaker: bradamm has Roger has him in Tier 3. Nak has him, myself, has him in Tier 5. So that's the biggest gap on the board. Njoku also signed with the Chargers, which is one thing keeping his price suppressed.
Speaker: So now, Raj, I ask you... Hot take on Gaston at tight end 16 and 121st overall. um Clearly, it's going to be the steal of the entire tight end draft.
Speaker: McDaniels has never had a tight end at this athletic before. Obviously, forget John O'Smith. And Njoku's signing is a little bit of a smokescreen. He's more of a blocker, not really big, big pass catcher. But I definitely want you to defend your Gauder pick there at tight end 14 and 117th overall in Tier 4 when I have them down in Tier 5.
Speaker: um Storrs is coming up for his targets, and I think it's one of the most dangerous names on the roster this year. So who are you buying and who are you fading? Yeah, so I have to to defend Gadsden. I had him at 10th.
Speaker: I talked about it, I think, early on ah in the offseason where Mike McDaniel is coming in as offensive coordinator. When he was off offensive coordinator and Jonu Smith was the tight end with Miami, Jonu Smith was tight end for Miami. 88 catches, 884 yards, eight touchdowns. He was absolutely electric. And I could see Gadsden, the same type of move tight end who can, you know, tight end in name only.
Speaker: He'll play a little bit in line, but he'll line up at wide receiver. And McDaniel will play a ton of two tight end sets. So it'll allow for some huge matchup matchup exploitations for them. So I'm very, very high on Gadsden.
Speaker: And as you mentioned, 18 points per game over the four-game stretch last year was cut due due to injur injuries. And I know, look, Njoku has had some history as being a relatively good pass-catching tight end, but I really think they brought him in more for blocking. he's He's a decent block. He's not one of the most elite blockers, but I think he's come in more as as a blocking tight end. For Dallas Goddard, for me, it's more like...
Speaker: I he had 11 touchdowns last year. For me, the Eli Stowers draft pick, it's I'm a bit concerned about that. I know there's a new offense coordinator, Sean Mannion. So we'll see on on that front. But for me, it's more the fact that they drafted it a tight end. And believe Stowers in the second round, he's more of the Tino, tight end name only, where they're going to use him more in ah as like ah another wide receiver, another slot type of type of player. But...
Speaker: and I think Godair last year of contract, definitely is not going to be back next year. There was some words that, you know, he might not even be back this year. they finally re-signed him. don't know. i just I just think that they're going to want to get more Mekhi Lemon involved. They're going to want to get obviously, Devante Smith really involved. And I think Steyer is going to eat into into what Godair does.
Speaker: Great. ah I'll ill i agree. yeah I guess you backed it up pretty pretty well. i i'm I'm definitely scared on Godair. That's 100%. Gadsden, I'll take your word for it. I'll definitely, um and honestly, they didn't really sign. They lost Keenan Island. They didn't really sign anyone else um to come in. So maybe he is a sneaky yeah sneaky good late draft play.
Speaker: That will do it for tier four. Raj, let's keep this party rolling excuse me with the tier five. Yeah, so ah tier five, these these are the streamers. so late round darts and waiver wire targets. So the situation has to be right before you roster these guys. So at tight end 17, we have Breton Strange. Knack has him at 15th in tier four. Nobody else really agrees, but Liam Cole Moffins in Jacksonville, I think it creates a role rule worth watching.
Speaker: At tight end 18, you have Jawan Johnson. So in Kellen Moore's system, obviously we saw Tyler's show. Chuck emerged late last season. He's going to be, i think Jawan Johnson going to be a solid streamer and it had a sneaky good year with 77 catches and 800 yards. Then you have Chig Okonkwo at tight end 19. My guy Chig, 50 plus catches, three straight seasons. He steps into the Zachary's role and we've talked about this, but The commanders really didn't add anyone in the offseason ah aside from a con quo. So that leads me to really think that he is primed for a finally primed for his breakout season. At 10 and 20, we have AJ Barner. So Barner was a really big revelation. He went from about 30 catches, 245 yards and four touchdowns to 54, 52, 519 and six and a Super Bowl ah touchdown. The new OC Brian Fleury is concerned with Clint Kubiak gone. But I think he can be the second quarterback
Speaker: or at the very least third option in Seattle. At Titan 21, we have Dalton Schultz. ah Elite weapons around him. We talked about it last year last week. The O-line is better. Jaden Higgins, Xavier Hutchinson, Tank Dell may be back, Jalen Noel. Knack has him as 18, Titan 18. Fab actually has him at 23.
Speaker: The rookie Kenyan Sadiq looks like a cyborg first rookie out of Oregon who looks like he was built in the lab. um The Jets ecosystem is brutal, but there could be opportunity for him with Gino Smith. He's going as tight in terms of market.
Speaker: We have the Enigma, which is tight end 23 with Hunter Henry. So McDaniels historically does feature tight ends, but with AJ Brown drawing coverage, Drake Mayor year two, the market has him tight end 17 at 126 overall.
Speaker: And then it rounds out with tight end 24, TJ Hawkinson. tight end 25 Gunnar Helm and we didn't we didn't really rank him because we wanted to do only top 25 tight but I think Pratt Friermuth is going to be an interesting one to look at with Mike McCarthy in at the helm Mike McCarthy offenses have always featured the tight ends will be interesting to see if Friermuth could carve out a bigger role as well as Darnell Washington So Fab, want ask you, Akwanko going tight end 20 at 138th overall.
Speaker: i You guys know I'm very bull bullish about him. i think he finishes as a top 12 tight end. Jaden Daniels excuse me is already calling him his favorite target, and he has caught 50-plus passes three straight years. Is this the most obvious late-round dart on the board?
Speaker: And make the case for why Sadiq at tight end 21 and 135th overall is worth rostering on one of the worst offenses in football. It's absolutely the most obvious late round pick on the board. I do want to just shout out to Juwan Johnson because having 800 yards and seven touchdowns and finishing as tight end eight last year, and the guy's being ranked right now as tight end 18 or the market has him as a tight end 19. I think it's, it's absolutely bonkers in my opinion.
Speaker: But then again, you know, you think about the whole offensive ecosystem that exists there and the, And they drafted that wide receiver. So you would imagine there's a little bit less to go around for Juwan Johnson and in the Saints ah offense, but he's another guy too that I think is a little bit more respect. But yeah, Chico Conco, like easily.
Speaker: it's For all the reasons that we've mentioned the last few episodes where the commanders have done nothing to help their ah offense, they've done nothing to help Jaden Daniels apart from get Chig. And Chig is a very good tight end and he's a very good pass catching tight end. And I think there's a serious opportunity for him and a serious path for him to have weekly streaming, um, stream, uh, streaming appeal, but also to be like a weekly starter as well too. Like depending on who you have as your other, like let's say you draft, uh, don't know. So you draft a Travis Kelsey and he gets injured and Chig is your second tight end, right?
Speaker: Well, you can slot Chig in up until Travis Kelsey comes back. And it's as if nothing's go like, it you're not, you're not missing all that much. So I think, I think there's a lot of respect needs to be put on Chig's name at 10 and 20.
Speaker: And to make the case for Kenyan Sadiq, so Gino Smith, if he does one thing, well, it's he throws the ball. He throws it a lot to the opponent, to the, a little bit to the opponent, but also to his players as well. Jets don't have a horrible girlfriend or his girlfriend.
Speaker: That's well done. Comedic timing. That's your forte. I lost my train of thought. Yeah. So the Jets don't have a horrible offensive line, very much middle of the pack. So I think a little bit better than what he dealt with in Oakland last year. Sorry, in Las Vegas last year.
Speaker: So, and he is a phenom in the sense that, you know, like you mentioned, there's a built in a lab and all that stuff and they drafted him, but they drafted a lot of pass catchers, the jets. Right. So I don't know how much is goingnna be able to go around. And there's still Garrett Wilson that really commands a lot of targets too. So it's, it's, can you see the going aside in 21 for me, he won't finish much higher.
Speaker: I think he'll have some weekly streaming appeals, but it's going to be tough to trust on a, on a weekly basis. But I do think that there is some opportunity for him to be in somebody's roster. And I think he is worth a flyer towards the very end of the rounds, just because he does have that high upside fantasy appeal from a tight end perspective. And and if you look at all the other guys that are ranked over here,
Speaker: Like, I'm sorry, Brenton Strange doesn't interest me. AJ Barnett. Okay. AJ Barnett. Cool. Nice story. But you know, Dalton Schultz um doesn't interest me. Hunter Henry. You're going to, you're going draft him so you can start that one game of the year that goes off. Like we said it several times. TJ Hawkinson.
Speaker: He is a relic of the past. Unfortunately, I think we could all move on from TJ as much as like, I was great for Detroit and good for a few seasons and with the Vikings. Gunner Helm. I've never heard of him. So like all of these players over here, like ah out of all of them that you that you heard, it's like, you know what?
Speaker: I would rather take a flyer on Kenny Sadiq. And this is this is obviously as my tenant, too. If you're drafting Kenny Sadiq as your tight end one, you better have a you better have a monster roster. So can we can we double click on Strange? Because I think Fab, you, sorry, Nak. Nak, you were higher way higher on Strange than Fab and I. You had him as Titan 15. Fab had him at 20. I had him at 19. So maybe make the case, Nak, why you had Strange a bit higher than us.
Speaker: Yeah, look, I think... besides maybe kenyan sadiq i think he's the best athlete out of this bunch uh even go back to his penn state tape tape like he was a freak athlete and it's really like it's it's not about what he's done but it's the situation he he's in right now liam cohen has consistently found ways to get the tight ends involved and i think strange is is he's definitely the the full-time guy at the tight end so i think at tight end 15 i'm betting on him I'm betting on the increased volume and the breakout rather than chasing a player that we've seen peak.
Speaker: Like, this is a guy that was injured last year. he had all that potential coming in, and he was he battled injuries, quad, hip. So he was never really right over there. And it seems that Trevor Lawrence with Cohen has finally figured it out, and I think now coming yeah with Liam Cohen figured it out. So now they're going to have another season under their belt, another offseason. So I think we we were going to see...
Speaker: a breakout year from from brenton strange 100 yeah just to add on that nac nac did bring up a very good point like he was injured for a period of the time last year and he came back and played objectively better than how he played in the beginning of the season when he was healthy before he got injured so yeah like i mean um i don't want to poopoo on brenton strange altogether but just that
Speaker: I'm ready to like miss me a little bit on this, you know, and I'd rather chase the upside elsewhere. that's That's sort of where I'm at right now. I think, I think I agree with Nak. The talent's there. i think maybe what concerns me is more, there's a lot of, lot of mouths to feed in in Jacksonville.
Speaker: Like, and I think everyone's forgetting about Travis Hunter this summer, rightfully so. but it doesn't sound like he's it sounds like he's going to be playing more isn't he playing more defense he's still gonna play more defense but it sounds like he's still play some wide receiver which uh i think is unfortunate but i i don't think they have a choice like you've trade that much draft capital because you assume that player is going to play two positions um you have to give it a shot to to try to get him at at two positions so um i think that'll do it for us that's that's all five tiers we we kind of you know went through those relatively quickly but it was just to kind of give an an understanding high level view of the tight end position i think fab you said it very well the position is in very good hands more and more teams are running two tight end sets three tight end sets even so i think we're going to see more and more tight ends be a focal point and fantasy lineup so um
Speaker: That's it for us. Next week, we're going to dive into QB tiers. So follow us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. Send us any questions you have on the pre-draft process. We're going to be locked and loaded on pre-draft content in the coming weeks. So stick to the Bush League Huddle Fantasy Football po Podcast.
Speaker: For NAC and Fab, I'm Raj, and we will see you next time. Woo!
