As the tight end pool deepens, fantasy football managers constantly battle the cost/benefit conundrum. Do you pay up for greatness, or trust your fantasy football management skills to jerry rig the spot on your roster at a fraction of the cost?
If Brock Bowers or Trey McBride are must-draft players for you, do me a favor and explore our other content. We have plenty that can help you elevate your game, but this isn’t for you. Managers in standard leagues are generally burning a roster spot if they roster a backup to a one-player position, and that’s even more the case if you have access to one of the elites.
Let’s look at Mike Gesicki’s profile for the rest of you and see if he’s worth your while.
Mike Gesicki’s Fantasy Outlook
We all waited with bated breath for the Cincinnati Bengals’ contractual decisions this spring. Was Tee Higgins coming back? What about Trey Hendrickson?
And then, boom, Gesicki inks a three-year deal worth $25 million.
The Bengals are well aware that their success will be a product of their offense more than anything, so, unsurprisingly, they value a receiver in tight end clothing.
Routes Per Offensive Snap
- 2018 (MIA): 56.1%
- 2019 (MIA): 79.1%
- 2020 (MIA): 74.3%
- 2021 (MIA): 68.5%
- 2022 (MIA): 78.5%
- 2023 (NE): 66%
- 2024 (CIN): 83.3%
Geiscki turns 30 in October and will now have the benefit of stability after spending three years with three different teams. His fluidity as an athlete is appealing given how the tight end position has evolved, but the ways he threatens opposing defenses are more valuable to Cincinnati than fantasy managers.
Mike Gesicki (88) with the one-handed grab from Joe Burrow in pre-11 drills. pic.twitter.com/xF5sc8eLnO
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) July 30, 2024
In real life, the gravity of a player like Gesicki operating underneath the Ja’Marr Chase/Higgins tandem is impactful. It moves the chains and occasionally results in YAC opportunities for that dynamic duo because a linebacker was leaning the wrong way toward the tight end.
I don’t play in any point-per-gravity leagues.
Gesicki has failed to clear two touchdown catches in consecutive seasons and three of his past four (and before you ask, he’s missed exactly zero games over that stretch). Last season, both of his scores came in a single contest, one that was likely burned with him either on your waiver wire or your bench.
That game was part of a two-game stretch that saw Gesicki catch 12 passes for 173 yards and those two touchdowns. In his other 15 games? He caught just 53 passes for 492 yards – in a PPR setting, that’s 6.8 PPG (Dalton Schultz was TE27 last season at 7.0 PPG).
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If you need to stream the position, that’s fine. That could be the case at some point, as bye weeks and injuries can put you in a difficult position, and gaining access to this offense isn’t the worst gamble. Gesicki is coming off the best YAC season since his rookie campaign, benefiting from a sub-8-yard aDOT for the first time in his career.
He showed last season that he can have a good game because of his situation and skill set. Don’t lose track of him when we get into the middle of the season, but there’s no need to exit your draft with a player like this rostered, even in a TE-premium setting. The addition of Noah Fant isn’t what worries me, but it doesn’t help a profile that is already difficult to rely on due to a lack of consistent volume.
Frank Ammirante’s Mike Gesicki Fantasy Projection
Mike Gesicki turned in rock-solid production in his first season with the Bengals, catching 65-of-83 targets for 665 yards and two touchdowns. This included a couple of impressive spike weeks, such as 100 yards and two touchdowns against the Raiders.
If Tee Higgins were forced to miss time, Gesicki would get a nice boost in value because he’d become the number two target in this passing game. The Bengals brought in Noah Fant, who could take away some looks from Gesicki, but with the way the former Dolphin played last year, we can bet that he’s firmly ahead in the pecking order.
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I like targeting Gesicki as my TE3 in Best Ball, especially since his ADP has fallen due to a camp injury that is unlikely to keep him out during the season. In redraft formats, Gesicki is more of a streamer who you only pick up if an injury forces him into a larger role.