It’s hard to believe that the NFL regular season is here, but Week 1 gets underway on Thursday. If you're like me, you still have several key drafts to complete in the next few days. This year, I published my first set of full projections at the end of February, which means I’ve been forecasting this season for over six months. Much can change in six months; that’s like a decade in NFL parlance. So, before you finish the draft season, I wanted to share with you the players who have changed my mind and why.
Links to all four positions: Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Wide Receivers | Tight Ends
The Tight Ends Who Changed My Mind (Sorted by Consensus ADP)
- Darren Waller, New York Giants
- Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo
- Greg Dulcich, Denver
- Luke Musgrave, Green Bay
- Jake Ferguson, Dallas
- Trey McBride, Arizona
- Jelani Woods, Indianapolis
- Cole Turner, Washington
Darren Waller (ADP: TE5) Could Be TE1
What I Thought: Coming off a disappointing season, Waller found a new lease on life in New York and seemed poised for enough work to fit comfortably into the bottom half of the TE1 tier—somewhere between TE6 and TE12. The Giants' pass volume and Daniel Jones' inefficiency would cap his upside.
What I Think: No player has risen up my board more this year, aside from injury risers who stepped into new roles due to depth chart shifts. Waller could very well be the No. 1 fantasy tight end. I'm now leaning toward him as the favorite to finish as TE2 behind Travis Kelce over the likes of Mark Andrews, George Kittle, and T.J. Hockenson. Waller wasn't only the best player in Giants camp; many national observers dubbed him the best player they saw on any team during their camp tours. If he stays healthy, he'll be the Giants' de facto WR1 and should have the target volume to put up monster fantasy numbers.