Injury Prone TEs: Worth the Risk?
Every fantasy owner has that one player that they want to draft every year. The guy who always shows potential to be a star right before he gets injured. It’s so easy to make yourself believe that this year is going to be the year he stays healthy and leads your team to the fantasy football promise land. While those players come at a discounted price, it still may be too much of a risk at their current ADP. Here we will be looking into the injury prone players at each position to determine whether their potential is worth the injury risk:
Previous Articles:
Tight Ends:
Due to the nature of the position, it is common that tight ends have an increased risk of injury. In this article we are focusing on three very talented tight ends who have been known to miss significant time already in their careers.
Tyler Eifert:
ADP (TE 11): Favorable
Injury Risk: Very Unfavorable
Production: Favorable
Tyler Eifert has had plenty of injuries throughout his career. Since 2014, Eifert has missed 40 games out of the possible 64 within those four seasons. While he may not have had as many injuries as some other tight ends, each one he gets seems to cause him to miss games. The good news is most of his injuries have not seemed to be chronic or reoccurring. This will bode well for him to avoid him being affected by injuries of previous years.
Eifert has not disappointed when he was able to stay healthy. He was one of the most exciting red zone targets back in 2015 when he was able to score 13 TDs. While TD reliance could cause his consistency to suffer, it does increase his upside. Expect Eifert to get more looks especially in the red zone with Jeremy Hill out of the picture. With the lowest ADP among TEs in this article, he should be targeted with the best bet to live up to expectations. Since there is still risk of missing games, do not be afraid to take a flyer on an under-the-radar tight end in later rounds of your draft like Jake Butt.
Verdict: Draft
Jordan Reed:
ADP (TE 10): Favorable
Injury Risk: Very Unfavorable
Production: Favorable
There has not been a tight end who has disappointed more fantasy owners in recent years than Reed. Reed has never played a full season in his five year career. He has already had five diagnosed concussions in addition to other chronic hamstring, ankle, and foot injuries. Since joining the NFL in 2013, he has been listed as being injured 17 different times. While some injuries were less severe than others, 17 different injuries in five years is incredibly concerning.
As with the other two tight ends in this article, his production on the field has been almost as impressive as how much he has been injured. He finished top 5 in fantasy PPG in 2015 and 2016 among TEs. In fact, his 11.7 PPG in 2015 was the highest besides Gronkowski. His upside is close to Gronkowski as long as he can avoid getting injured. Unfortunately his injury history is not on his side. While he should put up solid numbers when he plays, he just cannot be relied upon for a full season.
Verdict: Avoid
Rob Gronkowski:
ADP (TE 1): Very Unfavorable
Injury Risk: Unfavorable
Production: Very Favorable
Anyone who has had Gronk in the past knows how valuable of an asset he can be to your fantasy team. For years he was the undisputed top tight end in the NFL and even after his struggles with injuries, most experts would still consider him the top fantasy tight end. Gronkowski has not played a full 16 game season since 2011. He also missed at least five games in three of those six years.
As for Gronk’s production, there is almost no doubt that he is the best tight end when he can stay on the field. Since 2012, Gronk has finished top two tight end in fantasy PPG every season. That model of consistent production is something that most people consider priceless. Anyone who is trying to get Gronk will have to draft him in the first or second round, but he will outperform any other tight end assuming he remains healthy. Although the risk of injury is still there, Gronk’s performance on the field should be considered worth it given the difference between him and the rest of the tight ends.
Verdict: Draft