Rookie SWOT: Adam Shaheen

By Brian Malone

Posted on August 8, 2017

Name: Adam Shaheen

Position: Tight End

Pro Team: Chicago Bears

College Team: Ashland Eagles

Draft Status: Round Two, Pick No. 45 overall

Combine Review

Height: 6’6’’
Weight: 278 Pounds
Hands: 9.625”
Arm Length: 33.5’’
Bench Press (225 LBS): 23 Reps
40-Yard-Dash: 4.79 seconds
Vertical Jump: 32.5”
Broad Jump: 121”

Video Highlights

Strengths

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Size-speed combination: he’s not a burner, but he moves well for a guy pushing 280 pounds.
Strength: his 24 bench reps led all tight ends at the combine.
Receiving dominance: he led the Eagles with 867 receiving yards (28.4 percent of the team’s receiving total) and a whopping 16 touchdowns (44.4 percent of the team’s total).
Concentration in traffic: as necessary for a receiver his size, he has sure hands and makes contested catches over the middle of the field.

Weaknesses

Level of competition: playing in Division II, any NFL-caliber player should post dominant statistics. Shaheen met that requirement, but his production comes with a major asterisk.
Blocking: he was used mostly as a pass catcher. When he was asked to block, he got by on size and strength, but he’ll have to rely on improved technique in the NFL.

Opportunity

As general manager Ryan Pace made clear on draft day, the Bears drafted Shaheen to be a receiver. Unfortunately, he’ll be catching passes from journeyman Mike Glennon or rookie Mitch Trubisky in 2017.

Shaheen figures to be reliant on touchdowns for fantasy production, which means he’ll need the Bears to get near the goal line regularly. But the team ranked twenty-eighth in 2016 with only 32 total touchdowns. I don’t expect much improvement in 2017.

Shaheen’s scoring opportunities will be directly tied to Trubisky’s development. If Trubisky can turn the Bears into even an average NFL offense, Shaheen could post eight or more touchdowns by his second or third season in the league.

Threats

Shaheen’s murky opportunity is offset by the lack of competition for targets. Cameron Meredith is the team’s most established receiver, and he’s far from a sure thing.

Shaheen currently sits third on the team’s tight end depth chart, but top dog Zach Miller turns 34 in October and has never finished a 16-game NFL season. Meanwhile, Dion Sims is heading into his fifth NFL season and has never topped 300 receiving yards. With one Miller injury, Shaheen likely becomes the Bears’ top pass-catching tight end.

Short-term Expectations

Minimal. I don’t expect even a top-24 season from Shaheen in 2017. But if everything falls into place (Miller misses time, while either Glennon or Trubisky guides the Bears to a middling offensive season), I can imagine a situation where teams are starting Shaheen in the fantasy playoffs.

Long-term Expectations

Shaheen’s realistic upside (~ten percent chance) is a Tyler Eifert-like role — plenty of touchdowns but no gaudy yardage totals.

His pie-in-the-sky upside (less than five percent chance) is developing into a high-end route runner and a long career with Trubisky as a top-ten NFL QB. In that scenario, Shaheen would be the chain mover on third downs and the first look when the Bears near the end zone. If the offense is decent, he could be a top-three fantasy tight end.

His realistic downside — indeed, more likely than his upside scenario — is a goal line specialist (think Joseph Fauria) on a bad offense. At that point, he’s a roster clogger.

Rookie Draft Advice

Per DLF’s average draft position, Shaheen is an early fourth round pick in rookie drafts. Even if you have to “reach” for him in the third round, he’s a reasonable investment in deeper leagues or in leagues with taxi squads.

But in leagues where you can roster only 22 or fewer offensive players, Shaheen is on my do-not-draft list. Even if he eventually hits, the opportunity cost of rostering him until then is too high.

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