2 – Greg Olsen
Did anyone have the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl last year? If you said yes, and are not a Panthers fan, you are lying. The Panthers were a team that most everyone stayed away from when it came to fantasy drafts before the season started, as they rightfully should have, especially when Kelvin Benjamin was lost for the season.
Although they didn’t have a ton of players on the team that were viable fantasy options outside of Cam Newton, Greg Olsen, and Ted Ginn Jr, they were huge for whoever ended up with them.
It was a big head scratcher when the Chicago Bears traded Olsen to the Panthers in 2011, but Panther fans have had no reason to complain about only losing a third-round pick for the production that came along with him.
Olsen is starting to get up there in age and is about to hit the point of decline, but he is still managing to get better and stick around as on of the top tight ends in the game.
Piling up 1,000 yards receiving in two straight seasons and being heavily targeted by Newton both of those years (245 targets), he will continue to see the ball coming his way.
Getting Benjamin back this year will be a very welcomed sight by not only the Panthers nation but Olsen as well. If he can put up 1,100 yards being the focal point of the offense, imagine what he will do with a healthy and now experienced Benjamin, and a rejuvenated Ted Ginn Jr.
Olsen should have at least a couple more years of high-level football left in him and will be a top drafted tight end in most fantasy leagues. As long as Newton can continue growing and running the offense as well as he has so far, Olsen will be worth one of those high picks.
Prediction: 88 Receptions – 1,150 Yards – 10 Touchdowns
