2020 Noah Fant Fantasy Football Player Profile

noah fant denver broncos

As we gear up to the start of the NFL season, Football Absurdity is going to bring you a comprehensive breakdown of every notable player that will be available in fantasy football drafts. The Denver Broncos drafted Noah Fant in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He had the usual rookie year you would expect from a rookie tight end, but did he flash anything to make him useful for 2020 fantasy football leagues?

Noah Fant ADP and AAV:
Standard Scoring ADP: TE11, 99 overall
PPR Scoring ADP: TE12, 111 overall
Average Auction Value: $1

Noah Fant Statistics:
Year 2019
G 16
GS 11
Tgt 66
Rec 40
Yards 562
TD 3
Tgt/G 4.1
Rec/G 2.50
Rec% 35.1
Yds/Tgt 8.52
Yds/Rec 8.515
Year 2019
Std Pts 71
HPPR Pts 102.5
PPR Pts 111
Pts/G 4.4
HPPR Pts/G 6.4
PPR Pts/G 6.9
Pts/Tgt 1.08
Pts/Tgt (HPPR) 1.55
Pts/Tgt (HPPR) 1.68
Year 2019
Air Yards 518
aDOT 7.8
YAC 330
YAC/Tgt 5.00
YAC/Rec 8.25
YAC% 58.7%
AYMS 14%
Tgt MS 13%
Noah Fant Overview:

It’s hard to overstate how little rookie tight ends usually do for fantasy football in their first season in the league. Noah Fant had just 66 targets last season, which doesn’t really sound like a lot, especially when you consider that you need to be among the league leaders at the statistic to turn in a quality fantasy football season. But, let’s reframe those targets: Noah Fant’s 66 targets were the second-most for any rookie tight end in the last five years. Granted, Evan Engram’s 117 in 2017 blows everyone out of the water, but 66 targets is a good threshold. Only Engram, Fant, Will Tye (???), and George Kittle have over 60 targets their rookie year over the last half-decade.

It wasn’t just targets and draft stock that put Noah Fant on our radar. He did something no other rookie tight end has ever done: multiple games with over 100 yards and a touchdown. Think of your favorite tight end. He never did that, and Noah Fant did. Only five other rookie tight ends have ever done it once, let alone twice. Only fifteen tight ends pulled that off more than twice in their whole career, so if Fant does it again this season, he’s already in rarified air among the all-timers.

If there was a fire douser for Fant’s 2020 season, it’s that the Broncos got crowded in a hurry. They added Melvin Gordon in free agency, as well as Jerry Jeudy, K.J. Hamler, and Albert Okwuegbunam in the draft. There might not be enough targets to go around, but if I had to dole out targets, I’m giving some to the already-historic tight end before the gadget speedster and the depth tight end. But that’s just me.

Noah Fant Draft Strategy:

Noah Fant Auction Value: $3
Draft Ranking: Find out for your league settings in a Beersheet! (coming late June)

I feel like a broken record because my strategy for Fant is the same as my strategy for Mike Gesicki is the same as my strategy for Hayden Hurst is the same as my strategy for T.J. Hockenson is… you get the picture. There’s a class of tight ends going in the latter part of the middle third of the draft (call it around round ten or so) where I am going to pluck one-or-two tight ends. My priorities in that group are Gesicki and Fant, but any mix of those guys will do. I’m talking about the already mentioned fellas as well as Jonnu Smith and Dallas Goedert in that group of targeted tight ends.

Best Case Scenario:

Next year pundits are asking if TE5 should be Noah Fant, Hunter Henry, or Mike Gesicki after he shoves the pretenders aside to lead the Broncos in receiving touchdowns.

Worst Case Scenario:

The offense is too cluttered, Drew Lock is too inexperienced, and Albert Okwuegbunam is too cool of a name to get Noah Fant any consistent targets. He falls off the earth entirely for fantasy football purposes.

 

[Statistics are sourced from pro-football-reference.com and airyards.com]

About Jeff Krisko

You can follow me on twitter, @jeffkrisko for the same lukewarm takes you read here.

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