The Miami Dolphins and New York Giants agreed to one of the more shocking trades around the NFL, sending former Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller out of retirement and down to Miami. Waller last played during the 2023 season for the Giants. He suited up for 12 games, tallying 52 receptions for 552 yards and one touchdown. The 32-year-old last qualified for the Pro Bowl in 2020 with the Las Vegas Raiders. He had a career-best season, tallying 107 receptions for 1196 receiving yards and finding the end zone nine times.
It has been one of the more unusual career paths for any athlete in sports for Waller. The Baltimore Ravens selected him with a sixth-round pick in the 2015 draft, and he spent the first two seasons of his career in Baltimore. Waller was suspended for substance abuse issues for the first four games of the 2016 season, before failing another drug test the following season and being suspended for a full year. Waller has been open about his struggles with substance abuse and addiction since this point.
Thankfully, Waller got himself back on track and played his best football in the years following this. He was also married to WNBA Kelsey Plum and recently pursued a music career during his brief retirement. This included dropping songs like this banger down below.
But the Dolphins made this trade for what Waller can bring on the football field. Miami traded away Pro Bowl TE Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this week to create the position of need. Smith is coming off a career-best season in which he tallied 88 receptions for 884 yards and eight touchdowns. With the Dolphins either not sold that this was sustainable production or looking to avoid having to extend Smith, this is the pathway they chose to go down.
Can Darren Waller Have a Fantasy Football Impact?
During his last season in the NFL, Waller ranked 21st among tight ends in fantasy production based on DraftKings Scoring and 14th in fantasy points per game. He tallied 113.2 total fantasy points over his 12 games played, or 9.4 per contest.
Across the 2020 season, or Waller’s career-best year, he averaged 18.5 fantasy points per game based on DraftKings Scoring and tallied 295.6 total fantasy points on the season. These each ranked second among tight ends, trailing only Travis Kelce. The 295.6 total fantasy points he tallied also ranked 23rd among all NFL players this season.
Waller is still just 32 years old and did not look to be in full decline the last time he was on the field. It has been a full year away from football, which is a positive regarding the wear and tear on his body. However, it is not the easiest thing to take a full season off and pick right back up to the NFL pace of play. With that said, the Dolphins play a tight-end-friendly system where Waller won’t be asked to block a ton. This can be a weak spot in his game, as he prefers to operate as a pass-catcher.
Just last season, Jonnu Smith finished fourth among tight ends with 229.3 fantasy points tallied on the year and fifth among fantasy points per game at 13.5. Head Coach Mike McDaniel is incredibly creative in his schematics, with the tight end a key part of his designed offense. Tua Tagovailoa has his flaws as a quarterback, but he does a nice job making the right reads and hitting his check-downs at a high level. If Waller is still in NFL shape, there is production to be had this season.
The tight end position is pretty wide open from a fantasy football perspective. Travis Kelce has shown some decline and there are some concerns with other top-end names like George Kittle, Trey McBride, and Mark Andrews.
Playing the matchups has become increasingly popular at the tight end position. But keep Waller in mind as a low-end starter and high-end backup as this fantasy football season inches closer. He is all over the place in tight end rankings, with some pushing him as high as the seventh-ranked tight end and many keeping him in the 20s. There is some risk with Waller due to him not playing last year, but his talent, combined with Miami’s system, has a chance for some really intriguing results.
Consider taking a flyer on Waller in the late rounds with a strong alternate plan in place. The risk that his best days are behind him must be noted, but there is a pathway to the Georgia Tech product finishing as a top tight end again this season. This is a high-reward type of swing that should be taken in the late rounds and could produce some high-level results for your fantasy football team. Once it gets to the later rounds of fantasy football drafts, have Waller circled on your boards and be willing to take the swing. Tight end is a highly variable output position, and there are more encouraging signs with Waller than with plenty of the other options in that same range.
