2021 Irv Smith Jr. Fantasy Football Player Profile

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! First up is a little guy (for tight end) up in the Great White North who sure has… something… going for him? I think? It’s time to check in on 2021 Irv Smith Jr’s fantasy football prospects.

Irv Smith Jr. ADP & AAV:

Average Draft Position (HPPR): TE15, Pick 140
Average Auction Value: $1.3 (TE14)

Irv Smith Jr. Statistics:

2021 Irv Smith Jr. Fantasy Football Overview:

So Irv Smith is pretty small for a tight end, and he is only pretty fast, and he isn’t extremely agile. Also, he isn’t very explosive. But other than that, he’s also third in targets for a run-first offense. But, other than that, he’s also never shown any sort of consistent success. Wait, why do people like Irv Smith, again? Is it because Kyle Rudolph scored a bunch of touchdowns a few years ago, and is now a Giant? Does it really come down to that?

There isn’t much in Irv Smith Jr’s profile that makes me want to lean into him, except for his top-ten average depth of target, which is nice (8.3). But also, that comes with a top-ten catchable target rate and a #33 true catch rate (per playerprofiler.com) and just 3 years after the catch per target, which is bad. So I guess the answer is… opportunity? Why are we assuming that all goes to Irv Smith? Tyler Conklin is there. So are a few other wide receivers who could take volume. I’m not entirely sure why we should be interested in Irv Smith for fantasy football.

2021 Irv Smith Jr. Draft Strategy:

Irv Smith Jr. Auction Value: $1
Draft Ranking: Find out for your league settings in a Beersheet!

I hope I was clear and thorough enough in my evaluation of Irv Smith for you to understand that I don’t like him. But, he’s solidly in The Blob at tight end. He’s TE16, which, sure? He could score a ton of touchdowns, but other than that, you’re not really looking at a whole h*ck of a lot out of him. I’m reticent to poo-poo these types of depth tight ends because they could have a random 10 touchdown season and make me look silly (what’s up Big Bob Tonyan?).

Irv Smith Jr. has six games with at least five targets; in those games, he averages 49.8 yards per game. So, I guess, lean into the touchdowns? He had five in 43 targets last season, so if he gets 90 targets, he could end up with ten. Other than that, I don’t see what massive upside he actually has. He’s a perfectly cromulent member of The Blob but is more than likely ending up somewhere around where he’s going: TE15-TE16.

I’m just not particularly interested in Irv Smith Jr, and the only argument I can see for him is maybe he gets lots of touchdowns? That doesn’t fly, for me.

Best Case Scenario:

He turns in a Robert Tonyan 2020 season and ends as a top-five tight end.

Worst Case Scenario:

He turns in a Kyle Rudolph 2020 season and isn’t even a top-five tight end in the NFC North (Robert Tonyan, Cole Kmet, T.J. Hockenson, and Jimmy Graham all finish ahead of him).

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