Jonnu Smith

That's right, folks! It's Jonnu time yet again! After hyping up Smith all last off-season, it's time to hop back on the Hype Train and talk about Jonnu's potential for fantasy yet again. Once Smith signed with the New England Patriots for a massive deal in free agency, it seemed like the hopes of Smith finishing as a top-5 option at the TE position were all but locked in. Unfortunately, Hunter Henry's signing a day later put a damper on those dreams, but we still shouldn't be scared off of Smith and his potential in this offense. With a revamped - but honestly still lackluster - WR corps, there's a strong possibility that Smith leads this entire team in targets. The Patriots will be committed to getting him the ball in creative ways near the line of scrimmage and letting him create after the catch, which he does better than nearly every other TE in the league. I had Smith ranked as a top-8 TE last season and I'm going to have him in the same range again for 2021. My Very Early Projection: 72-752-6 receiving.

Jonnu Smith expected to be ready for training camp

Jonnu Smith is expected to be in attendance when the Patriots kick off training camp next week, according to Doug Kyed of PFF. The former Titans tight end had been dealing with a hamstring injury.

Fantasy Impact

Smith's hamstring injury flew under the radar when he first suffered it a month ago, and the expectation was that it would not carry over into training camp. That indeed appears to be the case. Signed by New England this offseason, Smith will compete with fellow newcomer Hunter Henry for reps in a fairly quiet receiving corps. There is also some belief that Smith could take some snaps out of the backfield. He ranks as the TE14 in the latest expert consensus draft rankings.