Finding a good starting tight end is one of the hardest tasks in fantasy football. There are only three or four guys in the league with the pass-catching talent to be a week-in, week-out start. Mark Andrews is one of those elite fantasy football tight end options, and his current average draft position reflects that. Should you spend a premium pick on the tight end, or are you better off waiting to find a diamond in the rough later on in the draft?
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2023 Fantasy Football Profile: Mark Andrews
2022 In Review
Mark Andrews is coming off of yet another phenomenal season for fantasy football. In a year where reliable tight ends were basically nonexistent, the former third-round pick remained one of the few players to provide the ideal balance of ceiling and consistency. Andrews finished the season tied with T.J. Hockenson for TE3 in PPR per-game scoring, but his advanced numbers paint an even prettier picture.
Usage is everything in fantasy football, and Mark Andrews led all tight ends in target share (29%), route percentage (91.5%), and air yards (1,109) while also posting impressive marks in air yard share (31.5%) and yards per route run (2.19). Basically, Andrews saw the ball a lot and made the most of his opportunities, and there’s a good reason to expect that usage to continue into 2023.
For one, Andrews has a proven track record. 2022 wasn’t just some out-of-nowhere fluke, as the Oklahoma product was the TE1 overall in 2021, the TE6 in 2020, and the TE5 in 2019. Put simply, Andrews has the talent to be great, but can the Baltimore Ravens provide him the opportunity to be unstoppable?
Kicking off RavensMuse_’s top 10 plays of the 2022 season:
• Mark Andrews’ over-the-top touchdown catch on Devin McCourty pic.twitter.com/MnjJFT4fRe
— RavensMuse (@RavensMuse_) March 7, 2023
2023 Projection
In case you hadn’t noticed, the 2022 Baltimore Ravens had arguably the worst group of pass-catching weapons in the NFL. After trading Marquise Brown and watching injuries limit Rashod Bateman to just six games, Baltimore had no choice but to funnel their entire passing attack through Mark Andrews. Targets are earned, but there is no denying that Andrews’ insane target share was artificially inflated by the lack of NFL-caliber talent on the roster.
The Ravens fixed this in the offseason, adding wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Zay Flowers to pair with the returning Bateman. While these three will eat into a portion of Andrews’ work, this minor decrease in target rate should be offset by the increase in overall targets.
Baltimore replaced the run-obsessed Greg Roman with Todd Monken, an offensive coordinator who actually believes in the forward pass. The team is making an active effort to increase their overall passing attempts, and a rising tide lifts all boats.
Mark Andrews Fantasy Football ADP
As of this posting, FantasyPros ADP has Mark Andrews going off the board with the 28th-overall pick, right in between guys like Najee Harris and Tee Higgins. While this is a steep price to pay, Andrews is worth the investment here.
Travis Kelce is in a tier of his own, but Mark Andrews is comfortably the second-best tight end in the fantasy football world. After all, he is the only player since 2015 to dethrone Kelce for the TE1 crown, and his combination of floor and ceiling makes him an invaluable asset to your championship team.
Harris and Higgins will both have great seasons, but you can find other starting-caliber running backs and wide receivers in the later rounds. The same cannot be said of the tight end position – if you miss out on Andrews, you’ll probably be streaming your tight end position for the entire season. Andrews can be a week-in, week-out starter that gives you a major advantage at the tight end spot.
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Main Photo: Kareem Elgazzar – USA Today Sports
