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 continue with the tight ends. Today, we take a look at a tight end who got one of the biggest glow-ups in his situation this offseason, as the Broncos traded away Drew Lock and Okwuegbunam’s main target competition in Noah Fant, and got a massive quarterback upgrade in return. What can we expect from A-OK in his sophomore year? Let’s take a look at the Albert Okwuegbunam 2022 fantasy football player profile!
Albert Okwuegbunam ADP and AAV:
Average Draft Position: TE17, 138 overall
Average Auction Value: $1.2
Albert Okwuegbunam Statistics:
| Year | G | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yards | TD | Tgt/G | Rec/G | Rec% | Yds/Tgt | Yds/Rec |
| 2021 | 14 | 6 | 40 | 33 | 330 | 2 | 2.86 | 2.36 | 82.5% | 8.25 | 10.00 |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 11 | 121 | 1 | 3.75 | 2.75 | 73.3% | 8.07 | 11.00 |
| Year | Std Pts | HPPR Pts | PPR Pts | Pts/G | HPPR Pts/G | PPR Pts/G | Pts/Tgt | HPPR Pts/Tgt | PPR Pts/Tgt |
| 2021 | 43 | 59.5 | 76 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 5.4 | 1.08 | 1.49 | 1.90 |
| 2020 | 18.1 | 23.6 | 29.1 | 4.5 | 5.9 | 7.3 | 1.21 | 1.57 | 1.94 |
| Year | Air Yards | aDOT | YAC | YAC/Tgt | YAC/Rec | AYMS | Tgt MS |
| 2021 | 226 | 5.65 | 245 | 6.13 | 7.42 | 7% | 10% |
| 2020 | 116 | 7.73 | 73 | 4.87 | 6.64 | 8% | 12% |
2022 Albert Okwuegbunam Fantasy Football Overview:
Albert O is entering his third year in the NFL as a tight end, which means there probably isn’t much worth saying about his rookie year, which means we are starting to get an idea of who A-OK is as a player. Last year, however, he hardly got a chance to show himself. He played behind Noah Fant and the trio of wide receivers (Tim Patrick, Jerry Jeudy, and Courtland Sutton), so he had just 3 targets, 2.5 catches, and 25 yards per game. Overall, it’s not an exciting profile. Through two seasons, he has just two top-12 tight end games, so he hasn’t even flashed upside in Noah Fant’s shadow.
He was essentially the same player with and without Fant, averaging 6.5 PPR points without him, compared to 5.9 PPR points with him. But, everything changed in Denver this year. Fant is out, and the new quarterback and head coach just might utilize Okwuegbunam to his full potential. Russell Wilson has a history of utilizing talented tight ends, as he tossed Jimmy Graham an average of 57 catches, 683 yards, and 6 touchdowns in his three years with the Seahawks.
But, Russ is also a quarterback who won’t force it to a tight end. Since Jimmy Graham left Russell Wilson prior to the 2018 season, Wilson dealt with a cavalcade of marginal talents at tight end, including a late-career Greg Olsen. All told, he and the tight ends never clicked, and they combined for 18 top-12 TE games from 2018 to 2021, with Gerald Everett getting nearly 30% of those in 2021. So, things could go very well for Albert Okwuegbunam, but if he and Russell Wilson don’t click, things could go very wrong for him, as well.
And yes, Greg Dulcich is talented. But no, you shouldn’t fear a rookie tight end.
2022 Albert Okwuegbunam Fantasy Football Draft Strategy:
Albert Okwuegbunam Salary Cap Value: $0
Draft Ranking: Find out for your league settings in a Beersheet!
Luckily, like the rest of the tight ends at this portion of the blob, Albert Okwuegbunam’s downside is baked into the price. Get used to me saying this at this part of the tight end group: he’s basically free. A-OK is TE17 by ADP (pick 137) and $1.2 by AAV. Personally, given how crowded the pass-catching group is there, and the limited upside that tight ends have shown with Wilson (except for Jimmy Graham), I prefer other players in that range. For example, I would rather have Gerald Everett at virtually the same price by snake draft rates. Though, of note, Everett is just 1% drafted compared to the 98% drafted Okwuegbunam (that’s 95% A-OK and 4% Everett in snake drafts).
So, friends don’t let friends draft Albert Okwuegbunam. There are better options available in that range. Not just Gerald Everett, but also Cole Kmet, and even Robert Tonyan!
Best Case Scenario:
Albert Okwuegbunam reaches Russell Wilson TE productivity not seen since Jimmy Graham (6 usable weeks)!
Worst Case Scenario:
Albert Okwuegbunam, decent talent and fourth-round pick, enters the same breath as Ed Dickson, Jacob Hollister, Nick Vannett, Will Dissly, and broken-down Greg Olsen.
Check out all our 2022 player profiles, here.
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[Statistics are sourced from pro-football-reference.com, airyards.com, and ftnfantasy.com]
[Image Source: Denver Broncos on Twitter, cropped]
