Writing for XN Sports Fantasy, the esteemed C.D. Carter has been on a tight end streaming mission from God. During his journey, Mr. Carter found that 56 tight ends put up at least one top-12 fantasy stat lines in 2013, a nearly 20 percent increase from year to year.
From Niles Paul to Jace Amaro to Clay Harbor to Timothy Wright, tight end streaming has been as fruitful as ever in 2014. One or more established starters go down every week, and often their replacements meet or even exceed the expectations established by the former incumbent. Indeed, Clay Harbor has been more efficient than Marcedes Lewis ever was.
This week, Crockett Gillmore gets the starting nod in place of the injured Owen Daniels (knee scope) who himself replaced the injured Dennis Pitta. Tight end fragility is both a curse and an opportunity to get an edge in fantasy leagues.
Crockett Gillmore’s situation is ideal. The Ravens’ offense assigns a larger than average target share to the tight end position. Since Pitta’s injury, a 32-year old Owen Daniel averaged more than six targets per game. Daniels accumulated these targets despite having suffered seven injuries of varying severity to his lower extremities over the past two-and-a-half season (per PlayerProfiler‘s Injury History feature). Crockett Gillmore is assuredly more explosive than Daniels at this point in their respective careers.
Crockett Gilmore’s physical measurables compare favorably to Kyle Rudolph. In fact, Gillmore possesses significant burst for a 260-pound tight ends. Here are is full breakdown of Gillmore’s workout metrics on PlayerProfiler.com:
40-time: 4.89 (14th percentile)
Burst Score: 118.6 (56th percentile)
Agility Score: 11.86 (17th percentile)
Gillmore’s collegiate resume is more impressive than his raw athleticism. Gillmore was selected in the third round of the 2014 draft after accounting for over 20 percent of Colorado State’s receiving yards and touchdowns in 2013, well above average college production for a tight end. Gillmore also broke out at precisely 19.8 years old, which indicates that he is able to quickly assimilate the nuances of the tight end position. Early college success is typically necessary for tight ends to be effective in their rookie campaign.
Most importantly, the match-up is juicy. The Ravens face a Bengals defense that allows a staggering +6.1 fantasy points above league average. Essentially, the Bengals are allowing an extra touchdown to every fantasy tight end they face. Crockett Gilmore vs. the Cincinnati Bengals’ defense is a fantasy football streamers dream.
For fantasy gamers with Vernon Davis or Larry Donnell on bye or frustrated by Jason Witten or Heath Miller, pick up Crockett Gillmore, keep calm, and stream on.
Matt Kelley (@fantasy_mansion) is an XN Sports contributor and founder of RotoUnderworld (@rotounderworld) and PlayerProfiler.com, which distills a wide range of advanced metrics into a single player snapshot.
