It’s that time of year once again! Football Absurdity will bring you a breakdown of every notable fantasy football-relevant player throughout June, July, and August. We’ve run through 20 quarterbacks, 40 running backs, and 50 wide receivers! Let’s turn our attention to the position some hate so much they want to ditch it entirely. That’s right, it’s time for the tight end fantasy football previews! Today we take a look at 2021 Noah Fant, an extremely talented player on what might just be the most dysfunctional offense in the NFL in 2021.
Noah Fant ADP & AAV:
Average Draft Position (HPPR): TE7, Pick 76
Average Auction Value: $3.3 (TE8)
Noah Fant Statistics:
| Year | G | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yards | TD | Tgt/G | Rec/G | Rec% | Yds/Tgt | Yds/Rec |
| 2020 | 15 | 14 | 93 | 62 | 673 | 3 | 6.20 | 4.13 | 66.7% | 7.24 | 10.85 |
| 2019 | 16 | 11 | 66 | 40 | 562 | 3 | 4.13 | 2.50 | 60.6% | 8.52 | 14.05 |
| Year | Std Pts | HPPR Pts | PPR Pts | Pts/G | HPPR Pts/G | PPR Pts/G | Pts/Tgt | HPPR Pts/Tgt | PPR Pts/Tgt |
| 2020 | 87.3 | 118.3 | 149.3 | 5.8 | 7.9 | 10.0 | 0.94 | 1.27 | 1.61 |
| 2019 | 71 | 91 | 111 | 4.4 | 5.7 | 6.9 | 1.08 | 1.38 | 1.68 |
| Year | Air Yards | aDOT | YAC | YAC/Tgt | YAC/Rec | AYMS | Tgt MS |
| 2020 | 622 | 6.69 | 381 | 4.10 | 6.15 | 17% | 20% |
| 2019 | 518 | 7.8 | 330 | 5.00 | 8.25 | 14% | 13% |
2021 Noah Fant Fantasy Football Overview:
Noah Fant is extraordinarily talented and young. He went with the 20th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, became the first rookie tight end to have multiple games of 100 yards and a touchdown, and he will still be 23 when the fantasy football season starts. Last season, the Broncos sort of bottomed out (we hope). In 2020, the Broncos had the second-highest bad throw percentage, and this explains their truly dreadful air-yard conversion rate. They ended the year with the fifth-most air yards and ended the year with the seventh-lowest passing yardage. They ranked second-to-last in converting air yards to completed air yards. It was… bad.
But, Noah Fant still chugged right along. His touchdowns suffered, as he scored just three this season. Fant played in 15 games last season, but practice squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton started one of them due to COVID-19 protocols. So, functionally, Fant played 14 games last year. He finished as a top-12 TE just four times, and #13 to #24 nine times. Again, this comes down to the touchdown-or-bust nature of the position. Fant is one of the best young tight ends in the league, and his future is bright… he just couldn’t overcome a bad offense.
2021 Noah Fant Draft Strategy:
Noah Fant Auction Value: $2
Draft Ranking: Find out for your league settings in a Beersheet!
I don’t get why Noah Fant goes where he goes. The Denver offense has a shot of being a mess all year long, and that touchdowns scenario is likely to recur. Fant is exceptionally talented, but just 23% of tight ends finished as a weekly TE1 without a touchdown. That’s why I don’t particularly care for Noah Fant this season. The Denver Broncos passing game, and offense as a whole, is one without an identity. Are they going to be a high-flying #YOLO attack, led by Drew Lock? Or are they going to be a competent, dink and dunk offense, led by Teddy Bridgewater? Or, are we going to get tonal whiplash as they flip back and forth between the two multiple times this season?
Fant goes at the top of the Tight End Blob, and I can’t countenance drafting him at pick 76 overall. Not with all these question marks hanging over his head. He’s been good, your standard-issue backend TE12, going about 4/40 over his career. But, the touchdowns give me pause. And that pause is just enough for me to not draft him at his ADP.
In an auction, however, you could snag him for as little as $2. If that happens, do backflips. I don’t believe he will light the world on fire, but TE19 and below all go for $1. Adding that extra dollar to get base-level competence out of your tight end slot could go a long way to calm your brain as you hunt for the 2021 version of Robert Tonyan or Logan Thomas.
Best Case Scenario:
The offense sorts itself out and Fant scores 9 touchdowns, finishing as a top-five tight end.
Worst Case Scenario:
Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater both lineup on the field every play, flipping a coin to see who gets to throw the ball. Drew Lock gets a hot streak and ignores Fant for Albert Okwuegbunam, for some reason.
Check out all our 2021 player profiles, here.
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[Statistics are sourced from pro-football-reference.com, airyards.com, and ftnfantasy.com]
[Header Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noah_Fant.JPG, cropped under CC BY SA 2.0
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