A week ago I actually thought it would be a bit too obvious to label Indianapolis Colts tight end Jacob Tamme as a sneaky free-agent pickup. With Dallas Clark being placed on injured reserve, fantasy owners across any sport should be conditioned by now to start their replacement search with, well, the injured player's replacement. In a dynamic passing offense like the Colts', this would appear to be even truer.
Tamme isn't going to be Clark in terms of targets or production, but he's got the right quarterback in place to put up usable numbers that fantasy owners even in 10-team leagues might enjoy. A year ago we kind of went through this with Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley; he broke his ankle in Week 7, and out of nowhere Fred Davis turned in more than respectable numbers. That was with Jason Campbell at quarterback. Tamme has Peyton Manning.
The tight end position is hurting, so I figured Tamme would be a popular fantasy addition, but he hasn't been in ESPN standard leagues. Yes, the Colts were on bye in Week 7, so that helped blunt attention, and I can still count 10-12 other tight ends I'd rely on more, including Aaron Hernandez, Tony Moeaki and Brandon Pettigrew, but if Tamme catches six passes for 60 yards on Monday night against the Houston Texans, you can't say it's a surprise. Plus, the Texans allow the second-most points to tight ends in the league, or the most in the non-Buffalo Bills category. I'm not saying Tamme will break out, but if you've got bench space, take a chance.
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Eric Karabell | email
ESPN.com Senior Writer- ESPN contributor on TV, radio, podcasts, blogs, Magazine
- Charter member of FSWA Hall of Fame
- Author of "The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments"
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Eric Karabell
Eric Karabell is an ESPN.com senior writer. He has worked at ESPN since 1997 and covered fantasy sports for ESPN since 2001, specializing in baseball and football. Eric appears several times per week on SportsCenter, NFL Live and other ESPN shows, contributes to ESPN Radio and ESPN The Magazine and is the host of the Baseball Today Podcast. He has been honored twice as fantasy sports writer of the year by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, his blog was named best fantasy baseball series for 2007 and he was inducted into the inaugural FSWA Hall of Fame class in 2010.
Eric grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, and accordingly, favors Philly teams first, his fantasy teams second. He previously served as ESPN.com's lead NBA editor, and is a former Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer. Eric is also the author of "The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments," published by Source Books and available in bookstores and online.
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