Every season, we see name-value taking precedence over onfield performance until the masses can no longer deny it. One of the most notable examples of this last season was with tight end Logan Thomas.
Thomas was featured in countless streams and articles for us. In fact, he was in our Week 2 TE streamers article. Yet, he was still owned in less than a quarter of leagues in Week 14. Taking a look back, Logan Thomas was the TE4 in PPR leagues, barely finishing behind Robert Tonyan, who caught 11 touchdowns. Using our Boom/Bust + Consistency tool, we see Thomas was the fourth-most consistent TE as well, proving there was no reason for him to be unowned in fantasy football.
Yet, name-value took precedence. Players performing worse than Thomas every single week continued to be started in fantasy.
Logan Thomas Fantasy ADP 2021
This season, there is a bit more respect on Thomas’ name. Many fantasy football players took a look back and realized their mistakes. For this reason, he is now being drafted as TE7 and 7.02 in 12-team PPR leagues. Yes, he is being drafted as a starter in fantasy football. However, is he still undervalued?
2021 Fantasy Football TE ADP
| # | Pick | Player |
| 1 | 1.08 | Travis Kelce |
| 2 | 2.10 | Darren Waller |
| 3 | 3.05 | George Kittle |
| 4 | 4.07 | Kyle Pitts |
| 5 | 5.06 | Mark Andrews |
| 6 | 5.06 | TJ Hockenson |
| 7 | 7.02 | Logan Thomas |
| 8 | 7.07 | Dallas Goedert |
| 9 | 8.02 | Noah Fant |
| 10 | 8.07 | Robert Tonyan |
We see name-value coming to play in this list of tight ends. After being TE4 last season, Thomas finds himself behind rookie Kyle Pitts by almost three rounds. Mark Andrews has been slated as a tier below the top players for a couple of seasons, for no reason. Finally, TJ Hockenson, as the only respected pass-catcher on his team, ranks high despite the Detroit Lions possibly being bottom-three in red zone trips this season.
Even if you want to argue the order of these fantasy football TEs is correct, where they are going in drafts is crazy. After the top three players, there clearly is a drop-off, with many TEs in the same tier. However, let me make the case for Thomas rising to the top of this tier.
Why Logan Thomas Could Be a Top-5 Fantasy Football TE
On a poor Washington offense last season, Logan Thomas caught 72-of-110 targets for 670 yards and six touchdowns. Washington struggled as an offense, posting the sixth-fewest red zone trips in the NFL (47). Still, Thomas had the second-most red zone receptions amongst TEs (15). Seeing over 32% of the team’s red zone targets, it’s no secret as to why he ranked this high.
This Washington offense should be much better this season. Ryan Fitzpatrick is at quarterback, Antonio Gibson is growing his role in the backfield, and the team also added pass-catchers in Curtis Samuel, Dyami Brown and Adam Humphries. All of this should result in an improved offense and more red zone trips. To be realistic, it also will likely lead to a reduced target share for Thomas, though the preseason has already proven that he will be a major part of the game plan.
What’s most to like about Thomas is his red zone usage. We already said he saw 32% of the team’s targets last season. There’s no reason for this to change. The team lacks a power runner in the backfield, and Terry McLaurin, Samuel, Brown and Humphries are all six-foot or shorter. Meanwhile, Thomas stands at 6-6 and is an athletic freak. Much like another TE-convert Darren Waller, Thomas continues to improve every season at the position.
With a 17th game added to the schedule, Logan Thomas should again push for 100 targets this season. However, the money stat we should look at is his 17 red zone targets from last season. It’s realistic to say he could push for 23-25 in this category, which should yield Tonyan-like touchdowns numbers. You cannot deny Logan Thomas’ talent, and you certainly shouldn’t deny his role this season in fantasy football, regardless of how notable his name is.
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