Will C.J. Fiedorowicz continue to surpass expectations?
Fantasy football’s tight end position has been a question mark in 2016. Midway through the season, only five of the top 10 tight end leaders in fantasy scoring maintained their position in the preseason ADP rankings. Greg Olsen (first), Rob Gronkowski (second), Jordan Reed (fourth), Delanie Walker (fifth) and Travis Kelce (eighth) are the five players who have produced as expected.
However, the remaining names that round off the top 10 have been pleasant surprises for their fantasy owners. Martellus Bennett (third), Zach Miller (sixth), Jack Doyle (seventh), Hunter Henry (ninth) and Kyle Rudolph (10th) all surpassed expectations this year by out-producing their ADPs and could be joined by another unexpected candidate in the coming weeks, C.J. Fiedorowicz.
Import your team for free to get waiver wire advice 
Fiedorowicz, the 65th overall pick in the 2014 draft, was quiet in his first two seasons with the Houston Texans. He only produced 24 receptions for 195 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the first 31 games of his career.
But, in 2016, he is beginning to generate the numbers that Houston hoped he would when they placed a third-round draft grade on him coming out of the University of Iowa. Through the first eight games of the year, Fiedorowicz caught 26-of-38 targets for 279 yards and three touchdowns, but the majority of his production ensued from Week 4 on.
After a sluggish start to the season in which he caught two passes for seven yards in the first three games, Fiedorowicz began to earn the trust of Texans’ signal caller, Brock Osweiler. He posted a 24-272-3 stat line in his last five contests where he was targeted 34 times during that span. Fiedorowicz’s 34 targets since Week 4 is second on the club to DeAndre Hopkins‘ 49, while accumulating seven in three consecutive games.
Will Fuller, who is second on the Texans with 51 targets, is falling out of favor with Osweiler as Fiedorowicz emerges. The rookie standout began the year on fire. From Weeks 1-4, he caught 19-of-34 targets for 323 yards and two touchdowns, but his numbers fell off of late. From Week 5 on, he only snagged 6-of-17 targets for 49 yards and failed to reach the end zone.
Dropped passes played a tremendous role in Fuller’s fall from grace. He is second in the league in that category with five, and he lost the trust of his quarterback as a result. Fiedorowicz, though, has yet to drop a pass. Currently, he appears to be the second option in Osweiler’s progression read, which bodes well for his fantasy outlook as the season progresses.
Fiedorowicz is ranked 13th in fantasy scoring amidst his position group with 45.9 points and is on the fast track to the top 10. He has positive momentum on his side to go along with a quarterback who is dead last in yards per pass attempt with 5.8.
Osweiler’s difficulty completing long and intermediate passes is detrimental to a wide receiver’s fantasy value (see DeAndre Hopkins). However, the short pass is where most NFL tight ends thrive as they commonly run more of the shallow check down routes.
Despite the slow start, Fiedorowicz will be in the TE1 conversation for the rest of the season. He is poised to remain frequently targeted on short routes and in the red zone since Houston’s passing attack is unlikely to improve due to Osweiler’s poor mechanics. Plus, he has a favorable schedule in the final eight games of the year following the Week 9 bye.
- Week 10 – Jacksonville (28th vs. opposing tight ends)
- Week 11 – Oakland (ninth vs. opposing tight ends)
- Week 12 – San Diego (17th vs. opposing tight ends)
- Week 13 – Green Bay (11th vs. opposing tight ends)
- Week 14 – Indianapolis (fifth vs. opposing tight ends)
- Week 15 – Jacksonville (28th vs. opposing tight ends)
- Week 16 – Cincinnati (fourth vs. opposing tight ends)
- Week 17 – Tennessee (eighth vs. opposing tight ends)
Four of Fiedorowicz’s final eight opponents are within the bottom eight in fantasy points allowed to opposing tight ends and are deemed easy matchups. Moreover, Weeks 16 and 17 are two of his easiest matchups and fall in the league championship portion of the schedule.
Fantasy owners who roster Fiedorowicz should be pleased with his production so far, especially if they whiffed on under-producing notables in the draft similar to Zach Ertz and Julius Thomas. He’s cemented himself as more than a streaming option in 2016 and is a dependable starter moving forward. Fiedorowicz is primed to finish the season as a top 10 performer at his position and will be a quality fantasy asset for years to come.
Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | SoundCloud | Google Play | TuneIn | RSS
Anthony Cervino is a primary contributor for FantasyPros and a lead NFL News Desk correspondent. To read more from Anthony, visit his archive or follow him on Twitter @theRealNFLguru. Feel free to tweet or message him with any NFL or fantasy-related questions. Anthony will always give you his best.
