INDIANAPOLIS — With Andrew Luck returning from shoulder surgery, a handful of new offensive players (including a shiny, new line) and a new, offensive-minded coaching staff, there is plenty to be optimistic about regarding the Indianapolis Colts' offense.
Today, we continue examining the fantasy football profiles of the primary fantasy-relevant Colts players.
Average draft position and positional rankings fromFantasyPros. Projections are based on traditional lineups with PPR scoring.
TE Jack Doyle
- Current ADP — 114
- Current Positional Rank — TE11
- Games missed last season (2017) — 1
- 2015 — 16 games, 12 receptions (14 targets), 72 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
- 2016 — 16 games, 59 receptions (75 targets), 584 receiving yards, 5 receiving touchdowns
- 2017 — 15 games, 80 receptions (108 targets), 690 receiving yards, 4 receiving touchdowns
- Total — 47 games, 151 receptions (197 targets), 1,346 receiving yards, 10 receiving touchdowns
- Average per game — 3.2 receptions (4.2 targets), 28.6 receiving yards, 0.2 touchdowns
The NFL announced that tight end Jack Doyle has been selected to his first-career Pro Bowl.
Doyle was behind Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen on the depth chart in 2015, so his prior numbers are a bit skewed.
Doyle became a large part of the Colts' offense in 2016, starting all but two games. By the end of 2017, most NFL fans knew about him after he earned his first Pro Bowl nod.
In 2017, Doyle was the fourth-most targeted tight end in the league. He ran 453 routes and was thrown to on 102 of them (22.5%). Of those 102 targets, Doyle caught 80, which was the second most among NFL tight ends.
Looking ahead to 2018, Doyle should be getting quarterback Andrew Luck back, who has always been a fan of throwing to his tight ends.
In the four seasons in which Luck has played all or most of the year, he targeted tight ends on 21.5 percent of his passes. That percentage has increased throughout his career, averaging 19.1 percent from 2012-13 and then 23.8 percent in 2014 and 2016.
It gets even better in the red zone when Luck needs a touchdown. In his career, he targets tight ends in the red zone approximately 21 times per season, which is about 29 percent of his red zone targets.
Obviously, the Colts are under a new coaching staff with Frank Reich as head coach and Nick Sirianni as offensive coordinator. As for what to expect for Doyle in this offense: Reich's primary tight end with the Philadelphia Eagles, Zach Ertz, was the most targeted tight end in the NFL last year.
In the last two years (with Reich as the coordinator), Eagles tight ends were targeted an average of 27.5 times per year in the red zone, which was 33 percent. So, if anything, Doyle's fantasy value may even increase.
The Colts signed fellow tight end Eric Ebron this spring, who some fear may take away from Doyle's fantasy value.
Although Ebron is another starting-level tight end, both he and Doyle will have their role. We are likely to see them on the field at the same time quite a bit, as this is a very tight end-friendly offense.
Doyle should continue to play the role of more of a classic tight end while Ebron moves around and takes advantage of certain matchups.
The fantasy value for both players is looking good right now.
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