Coming off his worst season since his rookie year, tight end Coby Fleener left the Indianapolis Colts Wednesday, signing a five-year contract with the New Orleans Saints. He replaces Benjamin Watson, the tight end who left New Orleans for the Baltimore Ravens.
Fantasy impact of Coby Fleener free agent signing
The Indianapolis tight end moves to New Orleans. We break down the fantasy implications.
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Fleener had a career-high 54 catches in 2015 for 491 yards and three scores. That’s a drop from the 600-plus yards he posted in each of the two preceding seasons, with 12 touchdowns in that time. With New Orleans last year, Watson had 825 yards and six scores, with the lion’s share of his production coming during a hot four-game stretch in the middle of the season.
Fantasy impact: Fleener had the benefit in Indianapolis of being one of many mouths to feed in the receiving game, with multiple wide receivers and fellow tight end Dwayne Allen joining Fleener as weapons. That would occasionally leave him open and led to more production than Fleener might have garnered based on talent alone. The good news is that there are plenty of mouths to feed in New Orleans as well. That should lead Fleener to being more or less the same guy he was during his best moments in Indianapolis, making him a mid-to-high TE2.
In Indianapolis, Fleener’s departure leaves Allen as the clear No. 1 tight end. He’s had trouble staying on the field in his career, with only 13 games each of the last two years and only 16 catches in 2015. He’ll need to show he can be more productive in 2016 before he really hits the fantasy radar.
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