Start or Sit Trey Burton?
This is the part where I’m supposed to pretend to be shocked that tight ends have been an absolute mess for fantasy football so far this season. This is where I feign disgust for the problems that have befallen the position. This definitely isn’t where I remind you that all tight ends are bad (except Gronk & Kelce) and that drafting them high is a farcical pursuit. Year over year, we convince ourselves that drafting tight ends outside of the bottom five rounds will pay positive dividends. Annually, we look back in contempt at our high-drafted tight end. Whether they’re hurt (Delanie Walker, Greg Olsen), merely ineffective (Jimmy Graham, Trey Burton) or both (Evan Engram), tight end has been a dreadful position to try to figure out in fantasy football (just like every year). This week, we try to help you figure out which of these trash garbage tight ends we want to try to begrudgingly trust this week. First, let’s tackle the question: should you start or sit Trey Burton this week as the Chicago Bears host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
For those among us who hoped that Trey Burton would take a huge step forward with Matt Nagy and Mitchell Trubisky, “disappointed” does not even begin to express our frustrations. He has one touchdown in his first three games and hasn’t topped 55 yards. The Chicago Bears and their constipated offense has stifled Burton’s potential breakout, though it’s not for a lack of trying. While Burton has fewer targets per game than Geoff Swaim, and he has only two red zone targets, he uh… has fewer receiving yards than Mark Andrews? But hey, at least his air yards are ridiculously low. Look, the point here is that the Bears offense has not been good, and Burton is a symptom of that suck. Here’s the rub: the Bears have played the Packers, Seahawks, and Cardinals thus far. The Seahawks hold the #1 DVOA against opposing tight ends, and the Packers have a negative DVOA (that is a bad matchup for tight ends). The team he did best against, not counting touchdowns (Arizona) ranks #28 in the league.
You know who is in the same ballpark as the Cardinals? The #25 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They stink out loud against tight ends and will stink doubly so now that Vance McDonald put Chris Conte into the earth. They let Ben Watson catch all four of his targets in week one, then Zach Ertz shellacked them for 11 catches for 94 yards, before Vance McDonald went for 4/112 and a score against them. They’re very bad at defending the tight end, and the next tight end on the docket has done well in his lone good matchup this year.
Trey Burton has mostly been a dud for his fantasy football owners this year, but he faces a positive matchup, which he has already shown he can exploit. The Buccaneers defense’s seas should part, allowing for Burton to run free for Mitchell Trubisky. While Chicago’s bad offense has me wary, this weekend should see the matchup overcoming offensive constipation. If you’re wondering if you should start or sit Trey Burton, it’s unlikely you have a better player, and I wouldn’t want to start a waiver wire guy over him… so he’s a tentative start.
Looking for more advice like this start or sit Trey Burton article? Try these:
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