Draft or Pass: Baltimore Ravens TE Mark Andrews

It was a coming-out party for Mark Andrews in 2019. However, SI Fantasy's Jaime Eisner debates whether Andrews can match the value of his average draft position.

Jaime Eisner | May 20, 2020

It's never too early to start your fantasy football research, and we here at SI Fantasy want to provide you with the best information possible heading into your drafts. Our "Draft or Pass" video series takes a closer look at a fantasy player that will be debated often leading up to fantasy drafts. Are our hosts targeting this player specifically? Are they avoiding him entirely?

Today's video focuses on Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews.

Draft or Pass at current ADP: 45.8 (TE4)?

Andrews had a phenomenal season in 2019, emerging as MVP Lamar Jackson's favorite target. Andrews finished with 64 catches for 852 yards and a position-leading ten touchdowns. Even more remarkable is that he did all that while playing only 41% of the Ravens' offensive snaps.

Andrews was graded as one of the best players at his position last season. From Todd Karpovich of RavenCountry :

Andrews' performance earned him the designation as one of the best performing tight ends in 2019, according to Pro Football Focus. The ratings were based on yards per route run, passer rating when targeted, deep receiving performance, slot receiving performance, drop rate, contested targets/catches, yards after contact per reception/forced missed tackles, and run-blocking/pass-blocking, among other metrics.

He finished as the TE3 in overall fantasy points and the TE5 in average fantasy points per game in PPR formats. Can he replicate that success in 2020? The key will be playing more snaps.

Touchdown regression is coming, but that can be mitigated if he plays closer to 60% of the Ravens' offensive snaps this season. The debate between him and Zach Ertz to be the third tight end off the board in fantasy drafts will be hotly contested. He's worthy of his current positional ranking, but he's a little too touchdown-dependent for my taste when it comes to being elite. I'll pass on taking either him or Ertz in the fourth round.

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Published May 20, 2020

JAIME EISNER