Throughout the season, Jonathan Fuller and Sam Wallace will be breaking down the latest trends across the dynasty landscape to help you stay a step ahead of your league mates—both rebuilders and those in win-now mode.
Trey McBride, TE - Cardinals
Jonathan
Turn on the film and you won't find many TEs who are as talented in the receiving game as Trey McBride. It may not feel like it for fantasy managers, but McBride is putting together a very impressive season. He has the second most receptions among TEs and ranks third in receiving yards. The only problem is that he has yet to score a TD this season, which has prevented him from having a true ceiling performance.
For dynasty, we have to zoom out and not get caught up in the week-to-week noise of fantasy football. At just 24 years old, McBride is still ascending and the lack of TDs is not something I am concerned about; it should work out over a larger sample size. Everything else is there to indicate McBride is having the breakout season fantasy managers were hoping for.
For me, McBride is the dynasty TE2 after only Brock Bowers. I would be willing to trade any other TE for him straight up, and you still might be able to thanks to his lack of TDs. There shouldn't be much to debate here—McBride is a great dynasty asset who should continue to gain value as his breakout becomes more apparent.
Sam
If it wasn't clear already, there's a new overall dynasty TE1 in town. Trey McBride has officially cemented himself as the most valuable option in every format. His unique combination of athleticism, age, offensive environment, and overall production is more than enough to move him ahead of everyone except maybe Sam LaPorta.
But seriously, take a look at these numbers. He's been essentially a must-start option every single week this season and his underlying metrics back that up.
It also helps that Arizona has a condensed passing attack. Along with McBride, rookie wideout Marvin Harrison is the only other legitimate threat through the air. Condensed offenses like this one are great environments to target when looking for TEs that can separate from the rest of the field.
If you roster McBride in dynasty, congratulations on basically having the next Travis Kelce (someone who will perpetually be valued as a top-end option). If you don't roster McBride, it's going to take a king's ransom to peel him away from your league mate.
On the heels of National Tight End day, let's take a look at two other options that might be a bit more acquirable in your dynasty leagues.
David Njoku, TE - Browns
Jonathan
The Cleveland Browns' offense has finally been unlocked with Deshaun Watson out for the season and Jameis Winston in at QB. That immediately paid dividends for TE David Njoku, who has racked up 15 catches in the past two games and scored twice. With Amari Cooper no longer on the team, Njoku is arguably the number-one option in the passing game. As long as Cleveland can field a competent offense for the rest of the season, Njoku is a top-5 option at the TE position every week.
At 28 years old, Njoku isn't old, but he also isn't all that young anymore either. For dynasty leagues, I'm usually looking three years out when deciding if a player is going to benefit my roster for the long term. That should still be the case for Njoku, so he passes the test for a player I would be happy to trade for in dynasty.
While there is plenty of uncertainty surrounding David Njoku's long-term situation, mostly due to the Browns' lack of a franchise QB, he is so talented that I'm willing to bet on that working itself out. The only TEs I definitely want over Njoku are McBride, Bowers, and LaPorta, and everyone else is up for debate.
Sam
Sometimes raw athleticism is all you need. If you haven't seen David Njoku firsthand, or at least on an NFL field surrounded by other world-class athletes, you can't help but notice that Njoku is just … built different.
A former first-round pick, Njoku had a career year last season when he posted:
- 123 targets
- 81 receptions
- 882 receiving yards
- 6 TDs
This season started slowly, like it did for the rest of the Browns' offense, but Njoku has begun to heat up in recent weeks. The combination of Amari Cooper leaving town and Jameis Winston taking over the starting role have launched Njoku into fantasy stardom.
Over his last three weeks, Njoku is averaging a 25% target share and sports a Utilization Score of 9.0. It's a small-ish sample size, but it certainly bodes well that his ascension is correlating with the offensive changes in Cleveland.
Beyond this season, it's hard to say what the Browns will look like. They'll certainly be in the market for a young QB and may keep Winston around as a veteran bridge option. Regardless of how they re-tool the offensive side of the ball, Njoku should remain a constant for both the Browns and your fantasy roster.
He might be a bit pricey to acquire now, but he could become a post-hype sleeper later this season or this offseason if changes come to Cleveland. Bookmark his name to revisit in the weeks and months ahead.
Cade Otton, TE - Buccaneers
Jonathan
Not many people were talking about a third-year breakout for Bucs TE Cade Otton, but that seems to be what we are getting. He's on pace to post career highs in every major statistical category and is likely to play a major role in the offense with Chris Godwin out for the season and Mike Evans working back from a hamstring injury. That makes Otton a locked-and-loaded (that's a 15 yard penalty) TE1 for the rest of the season, but what about in dynasty leagues?
The TE position is so thin, we definitely can't ignore a young player who has had some big fantasy performances, but there are also some red flags we need to be aware of in Otton's profile. Most notably, he is still below 1.0 career yards per route run, which is very inefficient. This lack of efficiency makes him a volume-based play, which knocks him down a few tiers in my dynasty evaluation.
I view Otton as a high-end TE2 for dynasty purposes, which basically means that I wouldn't be excited to have him as my starter, but he's an ideal backup. As long as he is in a solid offense with minimal competition for routes at the TE position, he can be a productive part of a dynasty roster. If he ends up in a situation where he is only a part-time player or the offense is dysfunctional, Otton isn't talented enough to overcome that. If you can trade him for top-12 TE value after this season, do it and don't think twice.
Sam
The Baker Mayfield-led Buccaneers have been one of the more pleasant surprises in fantasy football this season. However, even they were not immune to the rash of injuries plaguing the NFL. They've lost Chris Godwin (ankle) for the season and Mike Evans (hamstring) for a few weeks.
Those injuries have allowed third-year TE Cade Otton to step into a higher-profile role. Over his last six games, he's averaging 7.8 targets per game and has 20 targets over his last two weeks.
Otton is another great example of why you should spend more time focusing on the Utilization Score. Despite not really popping in the box score until the last two weeks, Otton has flashed high-end target earning ability dating back even further.
Not sure exactly what that score is? Let Dwain McFarland explain:
The Utilization Score represents the strength of a player's role and performance relative to their peers. It is a weighted calculation incorporating the most predictive data points associated with scoring future points at the RB, WR, and TE positions since 2020.
Let Fantasy Life help you identify undervalued assets as you gear up for the second half of your fantasy season.
