Over the next 40 days (May 1st to June 10th), I will break down 40 of the NFL’s “Sophomores”. By sophomores, Imean players in their 2nd year of the NFL. The 2019 Draft class was quite special and has shown some early promise. I want to reflect on each player’s rookie year, take a look forward, and finally evaluate their dynasty and redraft value going into the 2020 NFL Season. I hope you enjoy this 40-day adventure as I dive into the emerging stars the NFL has to offer. Next on the list is Noah Fant. Below you will find every player I have covered to this date.

Sophomore SZN : Kyler Murray / Daniel Jones / T.J. Hockenson / Dwayne Haskins / Noah Fant / Josh Jacobs / Marquise Brown / N’Keal Harry

Rookie Season

Denver decided to trade back in the 2019 NFL Draft. The Broncos had some needs on both sides of the ball. They addressed the QB position by signing Joe Flacco, but they needed another offensive threat for him to throw to. The Broncos drafted Iowa TE Noah Fant with the 20th pick. Fant was the second TE taken in the first round of the 2019 draft as college teammate T.J. Hockenson was selected by the Lions with the 10th pick. A positive for Fant was that he played in all 16 games as a rookie. You should never expect big-time production out of rookie TE’s, so just being able to have a full healthy season out of a Fant was a big plus for me.

Fant didn’t receive many targets as a rookie and this lead to him having a slow start. Fant’s first breakout against came against the Cleveland Browns with Brandon Allen slinging him the ball. The Broncos played musical chairs at QB for most of the season between Flacco and Allen. Drew Lock was next in line and when he got his shot, he proved that he can be the future of the Broncos. In Lock’s best game, he targeted Fant 4 times in which he caught it 4 times for 113 yards and a TD. With Lock under center, Fant was getting more involved and looked to be slated for a breakout 2020 season.

Looking Forward

I have to be honest here, I am a little concerned about Fant taking the next step in 2020. I think he is very talented and his Year 1 production showed that he can be a star. The Broncos offense lacked talent besides for Fant and Courtland Sutton. Between free agency and the 2020 NFL Draft, the Broncos addressed their lack of offensive talent. They signed RB Melvin Gordon to join alongside Philip Lindsay to form a one-two punch. In the draft, they drafted a track team. They added speed by drafting Jerry Jeudy, KJ Hamler, and Albert Okweugbunam. They also added Graham Glasgow up front to solidify a hole at the guard position.

I know this is an article about Noah Fant, but it is hard to not talk about the Broncos offseason acquisitions. With all these new targets around him, will he be a primary focus for Lock? I would have to say no. When Lock was the starter, he only targeted Fant 3-5 times a game. And unless he is stretching the seam, those targets aren’t producing much yardage. I do think that Fant will fall into a field stretcher across the middle in 2020, but I think Jeudy and Sutton will dominate in the target category. Fant showed a few times in 2019 that he doesn’t need an abundance of targets to produce.

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Redraft Value

Before the draft, Fant would have been on most people’s radars for having a breakout 2020 campaign. There still is no reason that he can’t have a great 2020 season, but with the lack of targets, he may not do as well as we first expected. He will have a limited role in the passing game and should only get thrown to about 5 times a game. I expect the Broncos to continue to be a run-first offense. However, Lock has shown promise that he can be a gun-slinger so we will have to wait and see. Fant should go in the 12th round of redraft leagues and isn’t a priority for me. There are other TE around his draft position that will garner more targets in a less-crowded offense.

Dynasty Value

Noah Fant was #8 on my Top 10 Dynasty TE list before the draft. Now with the results of the draft, I would say he has fallen just outside my top 10. The offensive firepower around him has me concerned. He just didn’t command enough targets for me in his rookie season to make me believe he will get substantially more in 2020. If I owned Fant, I would try to sell high on him right now in dynasty leagues. The Broncos will have to find ways to get Fant the ball to make him useful for fantasy. However, Vic Fangio will be scheming up ways for Jeudy and Sutton way more than he will Fant. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fant take on more of a blocking role in 2020. My current projection for him is 55 catches for 650 receiving yards and 5 TD.

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