Tag: Greg Olsen

Greg Olsen Is Producing?

Don’t look now but Greg Olsen has put together a solid quarter of a season and it is going largely unnoticed.

Analysis: Greg Olsen put up 89 receiving yards and a touchdown Sunday on 7 targets in a loss to Atlanta. Olsen now has 187 yards and 13 receptions over his last two weeks. He ranks 4th among tight ends in receiving yards and 4th in receptions yet he is only owned in a quarter of leagues out there. It really is time to add him to your roster over guys like Marcedes Lewis and Kyle Rudolph and even a Jacob Tamme. Olsen is also in the top ten in targets among all NFL tight ends and although the sample size is still a bit small all signs point to Olsen having his best season to date.

How many other tight ends are on pace for 1,000 yards and are available in three-quarters of fantasy leagues? Perhaps the best stat that I can give you is that Olsen is the most heavily targeted Carolina Panther with 31 targets on the year to Steve Smith’s 25. Yes, Greg Olsen is producing.

Tight End Hype and ADP

Greg Olsen is the tenth tight end being taken off the board in ESPN drafts while Lions’ tight end Brandon Pettigrew is the thirteenth tight end.

Analysis: Despite the injury issues at quarterback last year Brandon Pettigrew still managed 71 receptions for 722 yards. Here’s a fact for you fantasy football players out there- Greg Olsen has NEVER caught 62 balls EVER nor amassed over 650 receiving yards EVER yet he’s being taken well before Brandon Pettigrew. If any of you out there think that Cam Newton in his rookie year will help Greg Olsen put up career high numbers across the board… you are out of your mind. But this is what happens when the “experts” at ESPN get together and rank Greg Olsen at number ten in their rankings. Pettigrew is on the rise and should at the very least put up what he did last year with maybe a few more touchdowns. He’s a high end TE2 with the potential for much more and you don’t have to pay for it with his draft position either. Olsen offers little upside with a rookie quarterback and a guy named Jeremy Shockey at his position as well. Many think that Newton will check down every other play and dump it off to Olsen for nine yards… maybe….but he has to complete it to him first. Newton has a completion percentage of 40.4 in the preseason and don’t expect that to change much when the Saints, Bucs and Falcons unleash their defenses against Cam six times this year.

Jimmy Graham Is Undervalued

Jimmy Graham is being taken as the twelfth tight end off the board in standard ESPN leagues right now.

Analysis: New Orleans’ tight end Jimmy Graham turned it on late last year with five touchdowns in his final eight games. Now, fast forward to this season with Jeremy Shockey in Carolina and you have a tight end with some serious upside. Considering Saint tight ends were targeted 151 times last year and Shockey accounted for fifty-nine of those targets, Graham will be one of the more heavily targeted tight ends in the leagues this year. Greg Olsen is the tenth tight end being taken off the board in ESPN drafts right now and when considering he’s coming off of a 404 yard season with four scores it’s just ridiculous. Olsen may also be in Carolina but with the lack of a relaiable quarterback you have to wonder if he’ll even have a remotely productive season. I’m not saying Graham is a top eight tight end who will reach pay dirt double digit times this year but the amount of targets that will be coming his way with all the weapons on that Saint offense- it sure seems to point to Graham being a legit low tier TE1 heading into the 2011 season.