Los Angeles Chargers rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden II has caught fire the last two weeks, but does he have staying power? ZT takes a look at his fantasy football outlook.
The Chargers debuted a polarizing new look on Sunday with their “Charger Power” ensemble of mustard yellow. The game wasn’t that pretty for their fans, since the team fell behind early to the Colts and never caught up. One player who did emerge looking electric, though, was rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden II. After back-to-back big weeks, can he be a top tight end the rest of the season? Should he be your top priority on waiver wires this week?
Let’s take a look at the fantasy football outlook for Gadsden and how he stacks up compared to the rest of the tight end options for the coming weeks.
OG2 on the rise
The Chargers drafted Gadsden in the fifth round out of Syracuse, allowing him to follow in his father’s NFL footsteps. Oronde Gadsden spent six seasons in the NFL as a wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins, and Gadsden had a huge game against Miami in his “homecoming” of sorts in Week 6.
It wasn’t just a flash in the pan, though, since Gadsden built on that with an even bigger game in Week 7, hauling in seven passes for 164 yards on Sunday as the Chargers tried to climb back into their game against the Colts. Gadsden scored his first NFL touchdown and broke multiple big plays.
The Chargers passing game under Justin Herbert has been productive this season, with a variety of receivers stepping up. In the last two weeks, though, the team has done a great job incorporating Gadsden into the mix.
He’s come a long way since the start of the season when he was a healthy inactive for the first two games of the season. With Will Dissly (knee) out, Gadsden caught five of his seven targets in his NFL debut in Week 3. He had a couple of quiet weeks against the Giants and Commanders but followed that up with his two monster games against the Dolphins and Colts.
The best news for Gadsden’s future upside is that he’s clearly passed both Dissly and Tyler Conklin for the starting role. He’s played over 75% and 79% of snaps in the last two weeks even with Dissly healthy and active. Gadsden has 17 targets in those two games.
Oronde Gadsden’s Outlook Moving Forward
Gadsden’s ownership is still only 4% in Yahoo! fantasy football season-long leagues, and his ownership was under 2% in the DFS NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st]. Those numbers are sure to explode after this week’s game, but is he someone you can count on?
Based on his high volume of targets the last few weeks and his ability to make plays down the field, I see Gadsden as a strong TE1 the rest of the season. The Chargers will still be without Omarion Hampton for a few more weeks, which could cause them to keep passing the ball more. Herbert has locked in on Gadsden the last few weeks with huge results, and he should keep his big tight end involved enough to make him a starter the rest of the season.
Unless the Chargers fall behind early, though, he may not get seven catches in every game. The Chargers would like to run the ball more and play from ahead, but without Hampton, they’ve had to go to the air more.
Next week, the Chargers take on the Vikings on Thursday Night Football. Minnesota has been an average matchup for tight ends this year, but so had the Colts before Gadsden went off against them in Week 7. Looking further down the road, Gadsden faces the Titans, Steelers, and Jaguars before hitting his bye week in Week 12. After the bye week, he has some tough tight end matchups, but by then we should have a better read on what we can expect from him on a weekly basis.
For now, Gadsden looks like the real deal and should be a top priority add in all leagues, even if you don’t have a glaring need at tight end.
The Bottom Line
With bye weeks looming over the next several weeks, most rosters will need additional depth at tight end. If your season-long league allows TE to be used as FLEX options, Gadsden has shown enough consistency and production the last two weeks to be on the radar there as well.
Next week, he’ll be a great option for the Thursday Night Football DFS contests either as a Captain’s Pick or even as a FLEX play. Be sure to check his salary when they come out for those showdown contests since he could be poised to return elite value once again.
