Robert Tonyan’s fantasy football outlook in Week 6 vs. Bucs

Sunday AM Update: Aaron Rodgers’ favorite red zone target is back this week. Davante Adams’ return will cap Tonyan’s touchdown upside, though it may be difficult to put that lightning back in the bottle. Tonyan is projected for 6.8 points in half-PPR formats on ESPN.

Few outside of Wisconsin knew much about Robert Tonyan as recently at the close of September. The former undrafted free agent had made a few splash plays during his young career but had largely remained a footnote in the Green Bay Packers offense.

That changed on Oct. 5 when the Packers, playing without their top two wideouts and their most veteran tight end, made “Big Bob” a focal point of the offense. Tonyan finished with a career day and, combined with sneaky good numbers from the first three weeks, finished the first quarter of the season as the No. 1 tight end in fantasy.

Fantasy Football analysis: Packers TE Robert Tonyan

Since the season opener, Tonyan has scored at least one touchdown in every appearance. That type of production certainly doesn’t seem sustainable, but it does underscore how the Packers use him. No receiver on the team has more red-zone targets since Week 2 than Tonyan’s four, giving him upside in scoring situations. Tonyan also has the speed and athleticism to makes plays downfield, something Green Bay has also utilized.

With Davante Adams expected to return from a hamstring injury this week, Tonyan’s target share could dip slightly. Still, with Allen Lazard recovering from surgery and Tyler Ervin in danger of missing Sunday’s matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Packers don’t have enough weapons not to continue featuring Tonyan heavily in the passing game.

Tonyan almost certainly will not match his three-touchdown performance from two weeks ago, but he should see enough work to produce decent numbers.

Fantasy Start/Sit Recommendation

Start Robert Tonyan as a low-end TE1.