If you thought that Martellus Bennett was going to miss catching passes from a future Hall of Fame quarterback, you are sorely mistaken. Bennett will go from Tom Brady to Aaron Rodgers, and fantasy players should expect a silky-smooth transition.
#relax pic.twitter.com/x3JyfXe7q8
— Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) March 10, 2017
Although the Green Bay Packers are traditionally conservative during free agency, this is the second time in two years that the organization brought in a veteran tight end, hoping they could be the missing piece to a championship run. In 2016, it was Jared Cook.
Cook started 10 games for Green Bay, catching 30 of his 50 targets for 377 yards—but only one touchdown—during the regular season. However, he caught 18 of his 31 targets for 229 yards and two touchdowns during the playoffs. The Packers did try to bring Cook back, but the two sides reportedly couldn’t come to an agreement.
Enter Martellus Bennett.
Bennett played in all 16 regular-season games for the New England Patriots in 2016, starting in 12 of those outings. He caught 55 of his 66 targets for 701 yards and seven touchdowns. His 83 percent completion rate was the highest in the league among tight ends who played in at least 25 percent of their team’s snaps and with at least 15 receptions on the season. Although he turned 30 years old today (happy birthday to him), he still averaged 7.5 yards after the catch, the sixth-highest mark at his position. Even though he technically played behind Rob Gronkowski in eight of those 16 outings, Bennett finished the season as the seventh-highest scoring tight end in standard scoring and 10th-best in PPR formats. In 2014, Bennett’s most productive season, he caught 90 of his 125 targets for 916 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 13.63 PPR points per game. Since 2012, he’s put up 50-plus receptions every season, and only once averaged less than 10 yards per reception. Fantasy players should expect productivity that falls within those two data points—which means they can expect top-10 production.
@packers happy birthday me. Lol
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