Bottom Line

Fant finished 25th among TEs in PPR points per game and 24th in non-PPR points per game last year.

Now he faces additional target competition with the arrival of first-round rookie WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who joins WRs D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.

Fant is a big enough talent to remain on the fantasy radar for 2023. But he should only be drafted as a TE2.

What We Learned Last Year

• Fant totaled 63 targets, 50 catches, 486 yards, and 4 TDs in his Seahawks debut last year.
• Here’s where those marks ranked among TEs:
  • targets: 20th
  • catches: 15th
  • yards: 18th
  • TDs: 11th
• His 11.3% target share ranked 29th among TEs.
• Fant finished 17th at his position in total PPR points and 18th in non-PPR.
• But he ranked 25th in PPR points per game and 24th in non-PPR.
• He finished as a top-12 PPR TE in only three of 17 games.
• Among 34 TEs with 40+ targets last season, Fant ranked:
  • 15th in yards per target
  • 14th in yards per route run
  • 15th in Pro Football Focus receiving grade
• His 1.39 yards per route run was a career low. His PFF receiving grade was his second worst through four NFL seasons.
• Fant’s finishes in PPR points per game in his first three NFL seasons with the Broncos:
  • 2019: 29th
  • 2020: 11th
  • 2021: 14th

What to Expect in 2023

• OC Shane Waldron and QB Geno Smith are back for the 2023 season.
• The 2022 Seahawks ranked:
  • 15th in pass attempts
  • 12th in pass rate
  • fifth in situation-neutral pass rate
  • eighth in Pass Rate Over Expected
• Seattle returns TEs Will Dissly and Colby Parkinson behind Fant but didn’t make any significant additions at TE.
• But WRs D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett return after combining for 258 targets (45.0% of the team total) last year. And the Seahawks spent the 20th overall pick of this spring’s draft on WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who should be an immediate and significant upgrade over last year’s No. 3 WR, Marquise Goodwin.
• Smith-Njibga figures to steal more targets from Seattle’s TEs than WRs. Seahawks TEs totaled 135 targets last year, a 23.6% share well above the league-wide average TE target share of around 20%.