Fantasy Upside
Mark Andrews was a bit inconsistent last season, but he still ended up with 58 catches on 88 targets for 701 yards and seven touchdowns. Those are dynamite numbers at the barren wasteland that is the tight end position in fantasy. Andrews now has two straight seasons with TE1 production and seems to have a wonderful rapport with quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Ravens have talked about opening up the passing game, and Andrews would benefit if they emerged out of the cellar in pass attempts.
Fantasy Downside
The Ravens added receivers in the first and fourth rounds of the draft, as well as bringing in Sammy Watkins in free agency, so Andrews may not be fed quite as much. If the Ravens don’t open up the offense and continue to troll the bottom of the league in pass attempts, that’s not a big piece of pie Andrews will need to share with suddenly more mouths. Andrews also seems to be nicked up regularly. Even though he plays more often than not, he’s missed three games in the past two years and been on the injury report with thigh and ankle injuries and is a Type 1 diabetic – though that hasn’t seemed to affect him thus far.
2021 Bottom Line
Andrews is definitely in that second tier of tight ends behind the big three, and squarely in the same conversation with T.J. Hockenson and Kyle Pitts for the next one off the board. If you can grab him in the fifth round, he’s worth considering to shore up one of the scarcest positions in fantasy, a departure from traditional routes where I would’ve recommended avoiding the position in the middle rounds. Andrews’ two years of productive play make him safer than Hockenson and especially Pitts. He’s priced just about right as the TE5.
