Fantasy Upside
Although the numbers may not look like it, Kyle Rudolph finished 2017 as the No. 8 scoring tight end in fantasy. Rudolph did a lot of his work in the red zone, catching 14-of-16 targets for seven of his eight touchdowns. He gets a new quarterback this year in Kirk Cousins, who has had success with tight ends in the past, so expect Rudolph to continue to get red zone looks.
Fantasy Downside
While Rudolph finished eighth in tight end scoring last year, that speaks more to the shallow pool of tight ends than it does about his skill set. Rudolph finished with 532 yards on 57 receptions, which isn’t that great. He only had two games above 50 yards receiving last year while he had six games under 30 yards. If he doesn’t catch a touchdown, he doesn’t put up numbers. In fact, in standard scoring, Rudolph has only delivered one game in seven seasons above seven fantasy points without a score.
2018 Bottom Line
Rudolph has been a decent fantasy option the last two seasons, but he’s very touchdown dependent. If he scores then he’s worth a start, but if he doesn’t, then you’re going to regret having him as your starting tight end. Expect more of the same from him in 2018, which should be low-end TE1 numbers.
