Darren Waller, TE9
No disrespect to Darren Waller, but going as the TE9 in round eight makes him a big overvalue in startup drafts. In 2019 and 2020, Waller put up two dominant seasons that brought his name value up over the dynasty community. He dominated because he was the number-one option in an offense that needed playmakers at the time. He is going through a similar situation in New York now.
I see the appeal in redraft in Waller, but in dynasty, round eight is a bit risky to take him. He will be 31 years old by the start of the season. He has missed 13 games over the last two seasons with injuries, and for older players, that’s hard to overcome. Daniel Jones hasn’t been efficient enough for me to trust him to make his pass catchers great. Jones had Evan Engram for three years, and with 250 targets his way, Engram could only produce 1626 and nine touchdowns. Waller had been more elite than Engram, but Jones has not always put his players in the best position to succeed. A lot of the success for the Giants has been head coach Brian Daboll, but he didn’t have a tight end over 600 yards in his time in Buffalo. I’d rather wait a round and take shots on Sam LaPorta, David Njoku, or Cole Kmet.
Steven Pintado @CoachStevenP
Chig Okonkwo, TE14
This may be controversial, but Chigoziem Okonkwo is overvalued in Superflex startups. His ADP is 122 overall, while Dynasty Nerds Superflex Ranking has him ranked 186. Chig performed extremely well for a rookie tight end, with 32 catches for 450 yards and three touchdowns. This equals 95 PPR points. While I do have a lot of hope and confidence in his ability to be a contributor going forward, I fear that the players going behind him might be more valuable in the Superflex format. The following quarterbacks are being drafted after Chig:
- Desmond Ridder (DN ADP 123)
- Matthew Stafford (DN ADP 124)
- Mac Jones (DN ADP 126)
With the Superflex format, I would rather take chances on quarterbacks who could provide QB2 upside compared to a second-year tight end with an impressive finish to his rookie season. Additionally, if you waited until pick 122 to draft your first tight end, I don’t believe that Chig is the difference maker to risk missing out on depth at the quarterback position. Cole Kmet (TE16/pick 130), Dalton Schultz (TE17/pick 136), Irv Smith (TE21/pick 170), Mike Gesicki (TE23/pick 178), and Juwan Johnson (TE27/pick 198) are all going after Chig. They are all fine plug-and-play tight ends to fill the hole left by skipping Chig for quarterbacks.
Matthew Plumb @DynastyPlumb
Luke Schoonmaker, TE20
At TE20, Dallas Cowboys rookie tight end Luke Schoonmaker is overvalued. His teammate, Jake Ferguson, is ranked at TE34. With Schoonmaker ranked so much higher, he has to be the starter, right? Wrong! All signs point to Jake Ferguson stepping into the Schultz role in the Cowboys offense. The Cowboys utilize multiple tight ends in their offense, but one of them will emerge as their TE1. My fear is that it won’t be Schoonmaker, and his value is just inflated because he’s a rookie and new and exciting. Even if Ferguson doesn’t win the job, it could be Peyton Hendershot who comes out of camp as the starting tight end. After all, he is the most athletic of the group. They are all three learning a new offense, but tight end is one of the harder positions in the league to find rookie success. Luke Schoonmaker will see a significant dip in value this season once he loses the starting job to open the season.
