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For a player that nicknamed himself the Black Unicorn, Martellus Bennett has been anything but unique from a fantasy perspective. Bennett had a successful first season in Chicago, posting career highs in receptions (65) and yardage (759) on the way to his first finish amongst the top ten fantasy tight ends. At 6'6" and 259 lbs. Bennett is a large agile target that should excel in the red zone, yet he's never topped 5 touchdowns in his career. Bennett's athleticism is outstanding for his size, but that's not led to a lot of gamebreaking type plays. Bennett's biggest gain last year was 43 yards and that was 1 of 2 plays all year that went for more than 30 yards. Bennett's a very good football player that fits exceptionally well in Chicago, but should he be your TE1?
The biggest problem with Bennett as a TE1 is the fact that he's the 4th option in the passing game for Chicago. Brandon Marshall has been elite for several years, especially when he plays with Jay Cutler. Matt Forte has been one of the best pass-catching backs in the league for some time and that became even more evident in Marc Trestman's offense. Perhaps the most talented player on the team hasn't even been mentioned yet, and that's Alshon Jeffery. All Jeffery did was post 89 grabs for over 1400 yards in his sophomore season. With Jeffery and Marshall being the types of big athletic receivers that excel in the red zone we have our first glimpse as to why Bennett didn't score more touchdowns last year.
While Bennett wasn't flashy he also wasn't consistent, but that may be corrected if Jay Cutler can stay healthy. Bennett started the season off with a flurry, catching 20 passes for 225 yards and 3 touchdowns in his first four games as a Bear. From that point forward he struggled to remain relevant at times, especially when Cutler was out of the lineup:
Targets | Rec | Rec Yds | TD | |
10 Games w/ Cutler | 65 | 47 | 549 | 3 |
6 Games w/o Cutler | 29 | 18 | 210 | 2 |
If you take Bennett's 10 full games with Cutler and extrapolate over a full season you have a tight end with 75 catches for 878 yards and 5 scores. Not a huge difference, but enough to propel him up to 8th amongst tight ends in standard scoring and 7th in PPR. Considering that it was his first year in the system and he's still just 27 years old, those number look like a tight end that could be ready to make the leap into the top five.
As it is, Bennett resides in a large group of tight ends that are serviceable, if not spectacular. The headlines of the tight end position are hogged by the Jimmy Grahams and Rob Gronkowskis of the world, and just as much attention is paid to the young tight ends that we hope could turn into them (see Zach Ertz) but the truth is that the middle pack of tight ends have never been stronger. Last year when Bennett finished as TE10 he was 14 fantasy points behind 7th and only 22 ahead of 17th. It's this depth and not Bennett's talents that make it hard to get excited about him.
POSITIVES
- The Bears prolific passing game under Marc Trestman elevates both Bennett's floor and ceiling.
- He has the size and athleticism to be an elite red zone threat, or even an elite tight end.
- Bennett is still just 27 and there's at least a possibility that he hasn't peaked yet.
NEGATIVES
- The Bears are loaded with weapons in the passing game, knocking Bennett down to 4th in the pecking order.
- The depth at tight end makes it difficult to spend even a mid-round pick on a tight end unless you believe he has a chance crack the top five.
Projections
REC | RECYDS | RECTD | |
Heath Cummings' Projections | 70 | 795 | 5 |
David Dodds' Projections | 57 | 650 | 5 |
FINAL THOUGHTS
Bennett has the size and athleticism to be one of the game's best tight ends. He's in an outstanding offense that is going to throw the ball a ton. The only real question is whether he can get enough targets to be a consistent top-ten option. With Marshall, Jeffery, and Forte all involved it's hard to see that happening. If Bennett's going to make the leap he's going to have to see a big increase in red zone targets, and he's going to have to turn those targets into touchdowns. The way that Jay Cutler has leaned on Marshall in the past and the emergence of Jeffery as another big target makes that seem unlikely. Bennett should be a solid option that finishes in the large grouping of borderline TE1s. As long as you draft him in the TE10-14 range you should be pleased with the results.
OTHER VIEWPOINTS
Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote:
Being a starter and a leader still is relatively new for Bennett. He spent four seasons behind Pro Bowler Jason Witten with the Dallas Cowboys and didn’t become an every-game starter until 2012 with the New York Giants. But he didn’t have a long-term deal that secured his gregarious presence in the Giants’ locker room.
With the Bears, he has the playing time and a sense of security (a four-year contract worth $20.4 million).
Read more from Adam here.
Ross Read from Cover32.com wrote:
Eight touchdowns is a realistic goal for Bennett in 2014. He’s just now coming into his own and should be poised to take the next step. A second year in Marc Trestman’s offense will give him more confidence and the trust needed from quarterback Jay Cutler.
Read more from Ross here.