Darren Fells

Week 8 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Two weeks ago in the loss to the Saints, Eric Ebron was targeted only 9 times, despite Matthew Stafford airing it out 52 times. He collected just a 9-yard reception and has become a ghost in the Lions passing game. In the previous four contests, Ebron has totaled 6 grabs for 51 yards and no TDs. Darren Fells has become the better option for both Stafford and fantasy owners.

Fantasy Upside
HC Bruce Arians is keen on tall, athletic tight ends. But even though he likes the basketball-player body types, they must be able to block as well as they can catch. That's something Darren Fells learned early in his career and it's something that resulted in him leading all the team's tight ends in receiving last season with 21 catches for 311 yards and three touchdowns while starting 12 of the 14 games he played.

Fantasy Downside
The Cardinals don't make heavy use of the tight end in their passing attack and in addition to Fells, Jermaine Gresham, Troy Niklas and perhaps Ifeanyi Momah could all be vying for snaps.

2016 Bottom Line
While Fells has made the transition from basketball player to football player quite quickly, none of the Cardinals tight ends are worth an investment in redraft leagues. Keep an eye out to see if one emerges as a viable bye-week fill in or cheap DFS option as the season progresses.

Week 19 vs. Green Bay
Darren Fells was a quality starting tight end this season for the Cardinals, but didn’t make any kind of fantasy impact because of the lack of usage for the position in the passing game under Bruce Arians. Fells will start this weekend against the Packers, but it’s unlikely that his usage will change this week and despite Jordan Reed crushing Green Bay last weekend, Fells is ranked dead last out of the eight starting tight ends in the Divisional round. Fantasy owners should have better options available.