#TBT - Greg Olsen, TE, Carolina Panthers, Age 30
-Jagibbs23 August 27
My first #TBT of the season goes to ole' reliable, Mr. Greg Olsen. Olsen has been the model of consistency at the TE position over the past 8 years, missing only two games since his rookie season, way back in 2007. Olsen tends to fly under the radar in fantasy due to his non-flashy way going about his business, and his slow but steady improvement. Fantasy players prefer to jump on the bandwagon of huge 1 season explosions like Odell Beckham Jr, and because of that mentality boring old Greg Olsen continues to be overlooked. The TE position is loaded with sexy picks at the top of the draft - the Gronks, Jimmy Grahams, and Travis Kelces of the world. While Olsen doesn't have the athleticism of these physical freaks, don't let that fool you, he is by far the safest TE going into the 2015 season. Here is why:
As I mentioned before, Olsen has played every regular season game for 7 straight seasons. Over that time, he has been a solid secondary option, but has never been the featured weapon in a passing game - until now. In his time with Cam Newton at QB, Olsen has seen his reception total go up every season, to a career 84 catches last year. He also had his highest TD total since 2009 last season. If you just look at Olsen's steady improvement you could justify another season of career highs in 2015. But following the injury to Kelvin Benjamin, Olsen has the opportunity to lead TE in targets this year, which provides us with an extremely high floor, as well as a reasonably high ceiling based on TD potential.
Last season Olsen was targeted in the red zone 19 times, good for 5th among TE. He pulled in 10 of those for catches, and 5 of them for TD. The fact that 5/6 of Olsen's TD came off red zone shows that Cam likes to look his way when near the end zone, which is always a good thing. The fact that Olsen's TD % on red zone targets was above 25% shows that he is effective at making it to the promise land when his team calls on him in the red zone. Now consider that Kelvin Benjamin received a whopping 146 targets last season, and 20 red zone targets, which was good for 12th among NFL wide receivers. Those targets have to go to someone, and who better than the proven red zone weapon? Funchess will inevitably soak up a good portion of Kelvin's targets. I have to think that when trying to get the job done in the red zone, Cam is going to feel better about throwing it up to the 6'5" 253 pounder that he's spent 4 seasons with than an unproven rookie with notoriously bad hands. I think Olsen easily eclipses the 1,000 yard mark again in 2015, and might just rack up 100 catches and double digit TD along the way.
Still going in the 5th or 6th round, I think Ole' Reliable is worthy of a 4th round selection, and you could justify taking him before that in PPR leagues. Let your opponents fall in love with the "young bloods" such as Travis Kelce or Zach Ertz. For my money, I'm taking Olsen and not worrying about my TE spot the rest of the year.
As I mentioned before, Olsen has played every regular season game for 7 straight seasons. Over that time, he has been a solid secondary option, but has never been the featured weapon in a passing game - until now. In his time with Cam Newton at QB, Olsen has seen his reception total go up every season, to a career 84 catches last year. He also had his highest TD total since 2009 last season. If you just look at Olsen's steady improvement you could justify another season of career highs in 2015. But following the injury to Kelvin Benjamin, Olsen has the opportunity to lead TE in targets this year, which provides us with an extremely high floor, as well as a reasonably high ceiling based on TD potential.
Last season Olsen was targeted in the red zone 19 times, good for 5th among TE. He pulled in 10 of those for catches, and 5 of them for TD. The fact that 5/6 of Olsen's TD came off red zone shows that Cam likes to look his way when near the end zone, which is always a good thing. The fact that Olsen's TD % on red zone targets was above 25% shows that he is effective at making it to the promise land when his team calls on him in the red zone. Now consider that Kelvin Benjamin received a whopping 146 targets last season, and 20 red zone targets, which was good for 12th among NFL wide receivers. Those targets have to go to someone, and who better than the proven red zone weapon? Funchess will inevitably soak up a good portion of Kelvin's targets. I have to think that when trying to get the job done in the red zone, Cam is going to feel better about throwing it up to the 6'5" 253 pounder that he's spent 4 seasons with than an unproven rookie with notoriously bad hands. I think Olsen easily eclipses the 1,000 yard mark again in 2015, and might just rack up 100 catches and double digit TD along the way.
Still going in the 5th or 6th round, I think Ole' Reliable is worthy of a 4th round selection, and you could justify taking him before that in PPR leagues. Let your opponents fall in love with the "young bloods" such as Travis Kelce or Zach Ertz. For my money, I'm taking Olsen and not worrying about my TE spot the rest of the year.