At the tight end position, we remain desperate for upside in Dynasty, and it would be nice to have a little bit of floor as well. Irv Smith and Jonnu Smith have flashed the upside in small sample sizes, but there's been almost no floor. That could change as soon as 2021 for the talented pass catchers.
Jonnu Smith still hasn't recorded a 500-yard season in his first four seasons, but that doesn't mean he hasn't shown us the potential. In his first four games of 2020, he caught 18 passes for 221 yards and five touchdowns. In 10 games with Ryan Tannehill in 2019, he topped 60 yards 40% of the time. He also had a stretch in 2018 where he was on a 700-yard pace and scored three times in four games.
Jonnu Smith has shown he can do it; he just needs the targets. He could get that opportunity in 2021 via two avenues. One, he's a free agent and could find a team that throws the ball more often. Or, he could stay in Tennessee and Corey Davis could leave, which would open up more targets for the tight end.
Irv Smith will definitely stay in Minnesota this year, but a key teammate may not. And if anything, Irv Smith's upside is more evident. In the final nine games of 2020, Irv Smith was on pace for 50 catches, 624 yards and nine touchdowns. But like Jonnu Smith, he's had a target problem. That problem is Kyle Rudolph. The Vikings have thrown to their tight ends plenty. It's just that they split the targets between their two tight ends too evenly. While Rudolph is under contract for one more year, he doesn't seem pleased with his usage and he's not too cheap to cut.
Both Jonnu and Irv Smith are Dynasty buys, and for now, they're in the same tier, but that could change quickly if the Vikings cut or deal Rudolph. For that reason, I'd be making an offer this week for the third-year tight end because he may be on everyone's breakout list by this summer.
- More Dynasty: Five Observations | QB | RB | TE
Here are my updated Dynasty tight end tiers:
