Elijah Southwick
@ecsouthiwck
Ravens TE Mark Andrews, one of the most valuable tight ends in fantasy football, is likely done for the rest of the season with what the team is calling a “very serious” ankle injury. His injury deals a major blow to fantasy football managers who have been relying on Andrews and counting on him for the fantasy football playoffs.
More importantly, Andrews will be unavailable for Ravens’ playoff push. Baltimore is in the best position they’ve been in for a Super Bowl run since Lamar Jackson’s MVP campaign in 2019, and losing one of their key offensive pieces in Andrews is a devastating loss.
Andrews ends the season as the TE3 in PPR leagues behind TJ Hockenson and Travis Kelce. While his overall fantasy points per game numbers weren’t quite as impactful as Kelce’s and Hockenson’s, his 13.5 points per game will be difficult to replace. And when factoring in his ceiling on a weekly basis, he’s virtually irreplaceable from a fantasy football perspective.
While a season-ending injury is a pretty binary situation in redraft leagues, Andrews’ value in dynasty formats is a more interesting question. Andrews is 28 years old and was in the middle of his prime prior to his injury. He’s a clear target for rebuilding rosters, and contenders will have a difficult decision on their hands as to whether or not they’ll trade Andrews for usable assets for the rest of the season.
Andrews will be returning as a 29-year-old, and while he should have a long career ahead of him as a tight end, the perception regarding his age is about to change. It looks like Andrews will be viewed as a win-now only asset when he returns in 2024. How to exploit that sentiment will be tricky, as Andrews value will likely continue to drop for the remainder of his career, making him a tough fit for rosters built around young assets and draft picks.
Season-ending injuries are a harsh reality in football. They can strike any week, and there’s no predicting how significant their impact will be. Fortunately for fantasy managers, the middling tier at the tight end position is actually producing fairly well in recent weeks. It’s important to not get discouraged and continue to grind out any advantage you can until your season officially ends.
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