I& #39;ve been too low on Chris Herndon all offseason.

I& #39;ve been fading him entirely too much, and I didn& #39;t even include him in my initial top-15 TE rankings.

Here& #39;s why I& #39;m changing my tune and why I believe he is shaping up to be one of the very best values in fantasy this season

At first, I was scared off by the presence of Ryan Griffin.

Griffin was not on the team during Herndon& #39;s rookie season in 2018, but he was called upon to play a key role as the TE in the offense last year during Herndon& #39;s absence (see thread below): https://twitter.com/FantasyMikeBBF/status/1278719889331695632?s=20">https://twitter.com/FantasyMi...

I do feel that some of the points in that thread still ring true.

But from Weeks 9-17 as a rookie in 2018, Herndon was the TE12 in PPR. This was also while playing with a rookie QB, who will now be heading into his third season and should be even better.

In addition, Herndon put forth some very impressive advanced metrics as a rookie, including:

- 12.9 YPC
- 9.0 yards per target
- 2.02 fantasy points per target
- 92.9 true catch percentage

His 11.1% hog rate was also good for 17th in the league, and he saw 17% of the team& #39;s red-zone targets.

Basically, when he was on the field, Darnold loved to throw him the ball. And with a weak/inexperienced WR group in 2020, Herndon should again be one of Darnold& #39;s top targets

Yet many others are STILL continuing to fade Herndon like I was; right now, he is being both ranked AND drafted outside of the top 20 at the TE position (per @FantasyPros).

https://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/rankings/ppr-te-cheatsheets.php

https://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/ranki... href=" https://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/adp/ppr-te.php">https://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/adp/p...

Though I am not saying he& #39;s a surefire TE1, I will say that there is perhaps nobody going as late as he is who has a better shot at finishing within the top tier at his position.

Don& #39;t sleep on Chris Herndon