Two rookie tight ends' ADPs shocked me after the 2024 NFL Draft. First was how high Commanders' tight end Ben Sinnott was being drafted in Best Ball in May. Then I was stunned at how low Panthers' tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders was being drafted.
In mid-May, Sinnot was being drafted in the mid-140s on Underdog Fantasy. Sanders was being drafted around ADP of 208. This was mainly because Sinnot got the higher draft capital in the 2nd round of the NFL Draft. Sanders was the first pick off the board in the 4th round of the NFL Draft.
Since then, Sinnot's price has come back down to earth and is now an ADP of 161. Sanders still has an ADP of 209 and virtually has not moved since the draft. Though I've seen him go earlier than in several drafts. Plenty of times, I'm the one taking him a round or two earlier.
I think the public realized the steam got too high on Sinnot's 2nd round draft capital and that there are still a lot of mouths to feed in Washington's offense, which will likely be run-heavy with a rookie rushing quarterback in Jayden Daniels.
But the fact that Sanders is still a sleeper at the end of Best Ball drafts puzzles me. I'm not predicting a Sam LaPorta explosion season. But I do see some similarities between LaPorta's situation last year and Sanders this year.
Just like LaPorta last year, Sanders has a clear path to be TE1 for the Panthers as there is not much competition in Tommy Tremble and Ian Thomas.
We should also consider that Sanders was the consensus TE2 in this year's draft class. It just happens that Washington went a different way in picking Sinnott. Many draft analysts had a high ranking for Sanders. Lance Zierlein of NFL Network compared Sanders to David Njoku.
He can line up inline or in the slot for the Panthers and should give them much-needed size in the red zone. I have Sanders ranked 182 and I'm taking him a lot in the 16th-18th round of Best Ball drafts.
See the rest of my updated 2024 Best Ball top 250 rankings on SportsLine.
