Fantasy Football: 6 Under-the-Radar Rookies to Target in 2018

Dallas Goedert, TE, Philadelphia Eagles

Dallas Goedert landed in the best situation of any tight end taken in the 2018 NFL draft. Admittedly, you probably aren't going to draft him in a redraft league that goes fewer than 20 rounds. He's deep on the list of available tight ends and, unlike fellow rookies Hayden Hurst and Michael Gesicki, he doesn't sit atop the depth chart on his own team. Yes, he's behind a top-three option at the position in Zach Ertz, but the situation is special.

According to Sharp Football Stats, 33 percent of the Philadelphia Eagles' offensive plays were run with two or more tight ends on the field. That accounted for 353 plays, the eighth-highest number of plays of any team in the league. They were successful plays, too, with Eagles' quarterbacks combining for an impressive 116.7 passer rating and 18:2 touchdown to interception ratio in that personnel split.

After losing Trey Burton in free agency and releasing Brent Celek, the Eagles needed to add tight end depth. After all, Ertz hasn't played in all 16 games since 2014. While we know that Goedert will see playing time even when Ertz is healthy, we can look at Burton's statistics from the last two seasons -- using the rotoViz splits tool -- to get a glimpse of the production that will be available if Ertz were to miss any time.

Absent Ertz, Burton's targets jumped from just over three per game to nearly six per game while his average PPR (point-per-reception) points per game increased from 4.64 to 14.0.

Don't expect Goedert to be riding the pine all season. He's been targeted at least five times in each of the first three preseason games, totaling 9 catches on 16 targets for 149 yards and a touchdown. If Ertz plays all 16 games, Goedert will still have a weekly role. But if Ertz misses time, the rookie should be rostered in most leagues with a chance to absorb a high-volume tight end role. - Jared Lorenz