Three Tight Ends to Buy, Sell, or Hold in Devy Leagues

Joshua Simon

Brandon Haye Posted On July 21, 2023

We are back with another installment of Buy/Sell or Hold for devy Leagues. This week we will go over tight ends again. Tight ends are hard to predict for the NFL but if you hit them, it gives you a big advantage. You can check out the last installment on tight ends here. Now let’s get to the TEs you should be looking at making a move on.

BUY: Joshua Simon, South Carolina

Simon was a wide receiver recruit in 2019 out of South Carolina but was not highly rated. He was not in the top 2,500 players and outside the top 300 receivers. When he arrived at Western Kentucky, he gained extra weight and changed position to tight end. In his first two years, he caught 63 passes for 800 yards and seven touchdowns. He was poised for a strong third year but was injured after one game. He came back in 2022 but had the worst year of his career.

He decided to transfer for 2023 and moves up to the SEC with the South Carolina Gamecocks. His number of targets went down from 52 in 2020 to 34 in 2022. The Gamecocks are losing their top tight end Jaheim Bell, who transfers to Florida State. South Carolina also has another tight end transfer, Trey Knox from Arkansas. Last year the offense had two tight ends that both had 28 targets.

Simon may not get his 52 targets from 2020 but on a bigger stage, he can show his skills and get more on the NFL radar. He has great athleticism and could go in the mold of tight ends who are athletic and more big wide receivers. Isaiah Likely had more production but had a similar size, so there are examples where Simon could get looks by NFL teams. He would be cheap and could just be thrown in a bigger trade.

Flea flicker 47-yard TD for the Hilltoppers from Austin Reed to Joshua Simon.
Scoring Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 4:48.
Western Kentucky 2️⃣1️⃣, UH 1️⃣0️⃣, 2:52 left in the half.#HawaiiFB 🏈🏈🏈 pic.twitter.com/6RH6iiy7X8

— Spectrum Sports HI (@specsportshi) September 4, 2022

SELL: Brant Kuithe, Utah

Kuithe was the 101st-ranked athlete in 2018 and the 183rd overall prospect out of Texas. He decided to go to Utah, who the past few years, have had a high amount of production from tight ends and in most years have had two successful tight ends. He has had a productive career at Utah with two seasons of over 600 yards and six touchdowns. In the years 2019-2021, Kuithe was in the top two of targets for the team. He was off to a great start in 2022 before an injury. In four games he caught 19 passes on 30 targets for 206 yards and three touchdowns.

I know that Dalton Kincaid produced a great season at Utah last year and was drafted in the first round this off-season, but I am not sure Kuithe will have the same upside. He is 30 pounds lighter than Kincaid and is coming off of a serious injury. I think he will have a very successful year because of the scheme at Utah. I just would try to sell high before he enters the NFL Draft. According to Campus2Canton’s ADP, Kuithe is being drafted as TE5 but is the 19th-ranked tight end. I would try to get a higher-upside player who is being drafted lower and possibly get another prospect on top. Some targets would be Elijah Arroyo out of Miami and Erick Allen out of Iowa.

HOLD: Jaleel Skinner, Miami

Skinner was a top 100 prospect and a top four tight end in the 2022 class. He was very sought after and originally committed to Alabama before flipping and enrolling at Miami. He was supposed to be behind Will Mallory and Elijah Arroyo but an injury to Arroyo caused Skinner to play in ten games but had little production. He only had nine catches on 16 targets for 125 yards and a touchdown in his first year. The Miami team and especially the offense was a mess, but Mallory did have a very productive tight end season with over 500 yards.

After one year, Mario Cristobal decided it was time for a change and hired Shawn Dawson who was the offensive coordinator for Houston the last three years. Houston in the last two years has been in the top 20 in total points per game. It will be interesting if the philosophy changes. Under Cristobal, the last two years’ total targets for receivers have an average of 380, while Dawson’s offense is more pass-happy with average of 450 targets. With more targets, I see an uptick in the offense and want to wait and see how Skinner fits in before trying to move on from him.

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Brandon Haye

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

I am a data analyst for a health insurance company and try to bring both film and analytics together in my fantasy football analysis. I have been playing fantasy football for over 20 years and enjoy every type of format. I have a soft spot for Devy because of my love for college football.