I’d call Mark Andrews one of 2024 fantasy football’s biggest letdowns, but I think there was a sneaking suspicion that last year’s hip-drop tackle was the death knell for one of this generation’s best and most consistent fantasy tight ends. Regardless, folks who drafted Andrews in the third-through-fifth rounds of their drafts this season are at the center of one of this year’s earliest, most high-stakes roster decisions.
Andrews has stunk—in box score and in explosiveness. He’s looked slow. He’s been slow. The offense likes him as a blocker, and as a decoy in the backfield sometimes. Isaiah Likely has emerged as the premier passing threat for Baltimore at the position, as many suspected he might the past few years.
And now you’re telling me third-string tight end Charlie Kolar caught a touchdowns on Sunday—not Andrews? The two to Likely I can countenance. I will afford them my patience. But the touchdown to Kolar may have been the final straw. It’s time to get ruthless with Andrews if you roster him, I think.
Before we get into it, a note: many folks will see the matchup against Washington in Week 6 and figure the Ravens will get into a shootout. Naturally, one would expect Andrews to feast during a game like that. But the Cincinnati defense is just as susceptible to the air attack, and Andrews only logged four receptions on five targets for 55 yards against the Bengals on Sunday.
That was his most productive performance of the season. What in the world are we going to do with this guy?
Analysis
I won’t bury the lede: I included Andrews on my Week 6 Drop List. It might be a little harsh, given his pedigree. But are we really going to keep dead tight end weight on our roster? Especially with all the extenuating circumstances orbiting this situation?
By which I mean, I wouldn’t advocate for cutting bait with Andrews if the snaps didn’t tell a discouraging story. Let’s start here: during yesterday’s heavyweight barnburner with the Bengals, Andrews was on the field for 42 offensive snaps. Zay Flowers, on the other hand—Baltimore’s leading pass-catcher on the afternoon—was on the field for 63 snaps. Easy math there: Andrews was on the field for about a third-fewer snaps than Flowers. Not good.
42 offensive snaps isn’t that many for a team like the Ravens. How brutal is it that 42 is an improvement for Andrews? In Weeks 3 and 4, when he saw a paltry two total targets and zeroed fantasy managers for back-to-back weeks, he logged 20 and 25, respectively. Isaiah Likely, the second-string tight end, was on the field for 39 and 29 snaps in Weeks 3 and 4.
Andrews’ increased involvement as a pass catcher in Week 5 set a season-high in receiving yards: 55. Whoop-dee-doo.
Here’s his route chart from the Bengals game:
NFL Next Gen Stats reports that Andrews only ran 16 routes yesterday; Isaiah Likely ran 30; Charlie Kolar ran seven. Andrews’s receiving opportunities are mathematically closer to Likely’s, but they feel closer to Kolar’s.
And, in terms of performance, they feel emptier than Kolar’s. And, though I won’t include it here so as to make this analysis manageably scrollable, let me tell you that Likely’s route chart looks much more like that of a receiver than Andrews’s.
The writing is so on the wall that the writing is the wall. It’s time to move on from Mark Andrews. Maybe you want to hold onto him for one more week, just in case he blows up against the Commanders. You might be able to trade him then. But don’t make the mistake of expecting consistency ever again.
Bottom line: Replace Andrews on waivers
First place I’d look is my colleague Zach Thompson’s Week 6 Waiver Wire column, as he’s got some tight ends there worthy of consideration.
Here’s a list of tight ends (and their rostership%) I’d pick up and start over Andrews in Week 6, in no particular order:
- Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers (69.8%)
- Mike Gesicki, Cincinnati Bengals (28.2%)
- Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars (9.3%; I’m not convinced Engram comes back even this week…)
- Tyler Conklin, New York Jets (37.2%)
- Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (16.7%)
- Zach Ertz, Washington Commanders (48.3%)
See? The replacements number many.
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