Jaguars Fantasy Football Preview: Tight Ends, Defense and Kicker
August is finally here, which means it’s time for fantasy football drafts. This article series will tell you which Jaguars players to target or avoid in all formats. This article will focus on Jacksonville’s tight end position.
Former Cincinnati Bengal Tyler Eifert was signed as a free agent this offseason to lead the Jaguars tight end unit after it graded as the unhealthiest in Football Outsiders’ charting history (since 2001) last season. Ironically, Eifert has had his own injury concerns, as he has missed 34 games since his 2015 Pro Bowl year. He did play all 16 games for the first time in his career last season, but he played on just 44.6% of offensive snaps and he hasn’t finished as a top-20 fantasy tight end since that 2015 season. Eifert projects to be Jacksonville’s Week 1 starter and is a solid red zone target, but prophesizing a big year for the soon-to-be 30-year-old on a new team is unfeasible. He’s a viable TE3 depth piece in deep leagues but not much more than that.
James O’Shaughnessy was the Jaguars best tight end last season, as he actually led the entire team in passer rating when targeted and Expected Points Added per target. But O’Shaughnessy tore his ACL in Week 5 and now isn’t likely to see much playing time behind Eifert and Oliver this year. Sixth-round rookie Tyler Davis is simply a developmental depth piece. Neither should warrant fantasy consideration.
Minshew seemed completely uninterested in throwing to his tight ends outside of checkdowns in the flat or five-yard hooks in the middle of the field last season. 21% of his red zone throws and just 4% of his throws 20-plus yards downfield were to a tight end. Jay Gruden’s new scheme should hypothetically help get more production out of the unit- although John DeFilippo was also commended for his tight end friendly system at this time last year. Overall, this is a position group to avoid in standard league drafts but is worth monitoring as the season progresses.
Bonus! Kicker and Defense/Special Teams
Josh Lambo is legitimately one of Jacksonville’s best players when eliminating positional value, and was one of the team’s best fantasy players last season as he finished as K8. Lambo was 2019’s most accurate kicker, but most of his work came on shorter kicks due to Jacksonville’s ineptness in the red zone. It’s probably wiser to target kickers on higher-scoring offenses in drafts this season, but Lambo’s consistency makes him a backable draft pick once the elite options are off the board.
Jacksonville’s D/ST has fallen from first to 15th to 17th in the past three seasons in fantasy finishes. Myles Jack, Abry Jones and (maybe) Yannick Ngakoue are the only starters who remain from that fearsome 2017 defense, as Jacksonville’s defense has clearly deteriorated in terms of on-field talent. The Jaguars figure to spend a lot of time trailing in games this season, meaning opponents will turn to a more run-heavy approach and not allow many opportunities for valuable fantasy statistics like sacks and interceptions to happen. Jacksonville D/ST is a hard pass in drafts this season and is at best a weekly streamer option against weak offenses in deep leagues.
