Concept Coop said:
I know this is OT, but if you don't mind, can you expand on this comparision? Fant is the same height as Knox and seems extremely fluid to me.
Knox is a little bit heavier and listed height/weights don't always tell you everything about body type since limb proportion can vary. You can have two players with the same dimensions on paper, but maybe one of them has relatively long legs for his height, etc. That can affect how the athlete moves.
Fant is straight line explosive, but not an overly agile or elusive athlete. If you watch his clips, mostly he is winning on vertical routes and rounded breaks. He doesn't have elite mobility for a TE. He is more of a strider. More athletic with more base strength and agility, but cut from the same cloth as Funchess and Gesicki. He and Njoku are similar. Both want to win by exploiting their length and not necessarily by shaking people on sharp breaks or in space.
Example #1:
https://youtu.be/Vo2tFRc85EI?t=77
He catches the ball near the sideline with more than 10 yards separating him from the incoming tackler, but despite having the time and space to make a move, he is unable to suddenly redirect his momentum and instead opts to barrel right into the defender.
Example #2:
https://youtu.be/Vo2tFRc85EI?t=297
He catches the ball with a chance to make a move. He makes a pretty good cut, but still gets tackled by the first man.
This is par for the course to some extent with TEs because they sacrifice mobility for size. Gronk was not an elusive player. Kelce is not a very shifty guy. For that matter, neither was Calvin Johnson. There are other ways to beat a defender and Fant has good north-south explosiveness and length for a TE. I think he is a better version of Gesicki and a better prospect than Knox, but I'd rate his mobility below the best TEs I've evaluated (Eifert, Ebron, Hurst).
Just pulling up one Hurst highlight reel shows some plays that Fant probably can't make:
Plant and drive quickness in a small window to elude a tackler:
https://youtu.be/rqhFG2IxqGI?t=75
This cut here (watch the replay too):
https://youtu.be/rqhFG2IxqGI?t=162
Handling the ball on a reverse:
https://youtu.be/rqhFG2IxqGI?t=184
That last play is nothing incredible, but that's your 250+ pound TE getting CARRIES in the running game. Very unusual athleticism.
I still have Hockenson and Fant rated above the other TEs in this draft, but what makes it interesting is the relative value-per-cost. Both of those guys tend to come off the board relatively high, usually within the first 10-15 picks. On the other hand, I've gotten Warring, Oliver, and Knox in the 3rd-4th round of many leagues. I think the first round guys are better prospects, but I think the third round guys are better value, if that makes sense.
Knox is tougher to evaluate than some guys because they used him so sparingly as a pass catcher, but I like what I see. He has the prototypical height/weight/speed/explosiveness and on the field you see a loose athlete who runs on a swivel and has good hip flexibility. I'm not going to get carried away with a projection, but this is a guy you can stash for a very low entry cost who probably has top 10-12 TE upside in FF leagues.
In TE-premium I would take him over many of the 2nd-3rd round WRs.