Noah Fant

Week 2 at Pittsburgh Steelers
In the home win over Tennessee, last Monday Noah Fant led the Broncos with five receptions for 81 yards and a score. He was a big part of the offense in the first half, but seemed to disappear some in the second stanza, as Denver struggled to move the ball at times. Even if Courtland Sutton returns for Sunday’s road contest, Fant should still be an important option for Drew Lock and is a low TE1 play.

Fantasy Upside
After getting off to a slow start during his rookie season, Noah Fant finished with 40 receptions for 562 yards and three TDs. In his first seven contests, he had only 15 grabs and failed to register more than 40 yards. However, over the final nine stanzas, Fant eclipsed 50 yards four times, twice of which came after Drew Lock took over at QB. Overall he averaged a healthy 14 yards per catch.

Fantasy Downside
As a rookie, Fant caught more than three passes just four times. Although he is the clear No. 1 tight end, the Broncos drafted Albert Okwuegbunam in the fourth round and have other capable TEs on the roster. Denver has a lot of young receiving options for Lock, including RBs Melvin Gordon and Phillip Lindsay.

2018 Bottom Line
As he becomes more familiar with OC Pat Shurmur’s offense, look for Fant to slowly become a bigger part of the passing attack, especially with rookies Jerry Jeudy and K.J. Hamler spreading the field with their speed. The former first-round pick is a TE2 option coming into the ’20 season but has good upside, especially in the red zone with his 6’4” and 250-pound frame.

Week 16 vs. Detroit Lions
In the loss at Kansas City last week, Noah Fant had the Broncos longest reception of the day, snagging a 43-yard pass. Even with the snowy conditions, the rookie finished with 56 yards on two grabs and on the season is averaging 39 receiving yards per game. Look for the rookie-to-rookie combination of Drew Lock to Fant to have a good outing at home versus the second-worst pass defense, but Fant is still just a TE2 play.