Making the Case

• 95th+ Percentile Athlete
• College Dominator
• RD1 Draft Capital
• YR1 NFL Producer
• YR2 NFL Producer
• Kittle Comp.
• QB Away From Superstardom

Noah Fant has defied expectations since the day he set foot on Iowa’s campus.

He played immediately as a true freshman (as George Kittle’s backup).

He broke out early – as a 19.8 year old sophomore.

He led Iowa in receiving TD’s as both a sophomore & junior (with 11 & 7 TD’s).

Then, he declared early.

Finishing his collegiate career with a 27.0% Dominator Rating (82nd percentile).

In just 3 seasons, he set the all-time record for the most receiving TD’s by a TE in Iowa history (& the 4th most by any player in Iowa history).

Then he showed up to the Combine lookin’ like a Greek God…

6’ 4 1/8”
249 lbs

& proceeded to TEAR UP the drills, finishing with 95th+ percentile metrics in EVERY SINGLE CATEGORY.

When DEN selected him RD1, it solidified a SPOTLESS prospect profile bereft of even one single question mark or red flag.

As @DFBeanCounter likes to say, Fant came into the NFL with “zero non-elite data points.”

& that hasn’t changed during Fant’s time in the NFL…

Fant put up the 6th most receiving yards by a rookie TE since the year 2000 – with 562 yards.

& he did that with 8 games of Joe Flacco, 3 games of Brandon Allen, & 5 games of a rookie Drew Lock at QB…

YR2, he put up 673 yards in 15 games.

One of those games was the infamous WK12 Kendall Hinton game, where Fant recorded the practice-squad WR-turned-QB’s only completion: a 13-yard reception.

& another was WK14, when Fant played just 5 snaps before exiting with an undisclosed “illness.”

So really, he had 660 yards in 13 games.

660/13 = 50.7 YPG

50.7 YPG X 16 games = 812 yards, YR2.

That’s not even considering the fact Fant also played through a dreaded “high” ankle sprain which cost him WK6 & also forced him to briefly exit WK9.

If he had in fact hit 800+ yards by YR2, it would’ve put him in yet ANOTHER elite data grouping.

Here’s every TE since 2000 who’s done so.

If not for an illness & some bizarre circumstances, Noah Fant would likely be on this list too.

& if you don’t wanna play the “what if” game – look at what he actually HAS accomplished…

Here’s every TE since 2000 with as many receiving yards in their first two seasons as Noah Fant.

The two “worst” players on this list (Engram & Shockey) were at 7.22 & 7.26 yards/target.

The other 8: Gronk, Kittle, Andrews, Gates, Graham, Hernandez, Fant, & Witten – all 7.50+ yards/target.

If (when) Fant is literally any one of those TE’s above 7.50 Y/tgt (other than Hernandez) – it’s going to make his current RD7/86.0 overall Dynasty ADP look like a MASSIVE bargain.

Drew Lock & Teddy B probably ain’t it at QB.

But the combo of YR3 Drew Lock & Teddy B, with a healthy Sutton, is probably gonna be better than 2020’s 13 games of YR2 Lock & a game each of Driskel/Rypien/Hinton, without Sutton, which produced 3,673/21.

That means that even if Sutton’s presence slightly shrinks Fant’s slice of the pie – the size of the pie is gonna get bigger.

Fant can still progress statistically in 2021.

He might not be completely unleashed in 2021, but a breakout is INEVITABLE, and we don’t know that it WON’T happen this year.

So GO GET HIM NOW.

While QB uncertainty keeps his price low.

You can even “reach” on him & still get him relatively cheap.

The kid’s a 23-year old future superstar & when he fully arrives (possibly this year, in 2021) – you’re not gonna wanna miss out on the fun.