By The Hudsonian, Joshua Hudson
If you head over to the Club Fantasy Instagram page, you can stay up to speed on all the transactions as they occur, or as fast as my graphic designer can make some bomb ass pictures for you to like. Below you’ll see how I view all of the relevant NFL offseason transactions. I say relevant because, for the purposes of fantasy football, defensive signings don’t impact us as much as the offensive ones. I’ll cover the defensive signings when I do my team-by-team previews later in the summer.
I’ll identify the player, who they signed with or were traded to, and how I think it impacts their fantasy value going into 2017, positive or negative. Next up: Jack Doyle re-signs with Indianapolis.
TE Jack Doyle finished as TE12 in 2016. Look for him to improve that finish in 2017. Design credit: Kathilia Colón (@katcolon37 on Instagram)
Transaction: Jack Doyle re-signs with Indianapolis Colts
Fantasy outlook: Raise your hand if you saw the ascension of Jack Doyle into the realm of TE1 in Fantasy Football? Put your damn hands down. You’re all liars. Seriously. Dwayne Allen was the guy. He got paid the money and with Coby Fleener out of town, his ascension was forecast.
And then it wasn’t. Allen either got hurt or was asked to stay in and block, and Luck started throwing the ball to Jack Doyle. And he had a great season. It just confirms what we already knew: Luck likes tight ends. And that’s not a euphemism.
Doyle had 59 catches for 584 yards and 5 TDs in 2016. That was with Allen having good games sprinkled throughout the season. But the Colts did Doyle a favor and shipped Allen to the Patriots, so now Doyle is the TE1 on the Colts. He also vaults into the TE1 conversation in Fantasy, especially after finishing 12th last season.
Trading Allen was the best thing to happen for Doyle. WR T.Y. Hilton exploded last season, and having a TE to cover the middle of the field only makes him more dangerous. If the Colts continue to improve their offensive line, Doyle won’t need to block, and he can push for 800-900 yards and 7 TDs. I’ll likely have him around TE10 going into 2017, and have around 700 yards and 6 TDs. Late round value at what always seems like a deep position. Then the season gets going and you realize there’s only 3 really good ones. But he’ll be good value nonetheless.