Will Mark Andrews Soar to New Heights or Crash?

Mark Andrews soared to new heights in 2021 when he finished as the TE1 above Travis Kelce. He saw a mammoth target share and put up a wide receiver-like season. Thus, fans expected another monster season from the giant tight end playing his age-27 season, especially with Hollywood Brown off the Baltimore Ravens. Instead, it was rather lackluster and never really gained much momentum. Will he return to his peak and re-establish himself as a lethal tight end, or will he continue to fly toward the middle of the TE1 pack?

2022 Season Recap

Now, Andrews didn’t necessarily have a bad season, especially as a tight end last year. He finished as the TE4 in the PPR leagues. That’s rather good, but fans expected him to contend with Kelce for the crown. Instead, Mandrews dealt with numerous injuries, missing two games, and a tough time finding consistent targets. Of course, the Ravens losing Lamar Jackson to injury helped spur the issues for Andrews and his production.

Andrews saw 113 targets and caught 73 of them for 847 tards and five touchdowns. That’s a far cry from 153 targets, 107 receptions, 1,361 yards, and nine touchdowns that he had in 2021. Still, considering the tight-end wasteland, 2022 was a strong season. It just didn’t meet many expectations. Regardless, the advanced stats shine brightly on Andrews as he remained a top-five player in nearly every stat for tight ends like air yards, deep targets, red zone targets, fantasy points per route run, yards per route run, and expected fantasy points per game, just to name a few. This lends a lot of belief and credence that Andrews will return to star form in 2023 and reclaim his TE1 crown.

2023 Season Projection

The Baltimore Ravens fired Greg Roman, which means an end to the extremely rush-heavy offense that the Ravens had been operating. Yes, they will still rush the ball a lot, but under new Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken, it won’t be nearly as much. Monken comes from Georgia, where he just helped lead the Bulldogs to a national title and developed a generational tight end in Brock Bowers. Monken knows how to use tight ends and make a passing offense deadly with them.

This is great news for Andrews. Plus, Jackson is healthy and back. The Ravens’ offense has a whole new receiver room, but there’s no mistaking the fact that Andrews is the top target on this team. Yes, Likely will see some targets. However, he will not see enough to disrupt Andrews.

Thanks to Monken and extreme injury issues plaguing the running backs and wide receivers, Andrews should get right back on track. I have him missing zero games, so his 16 PPG is spread over 17 games. He should easily average just over eight targets a game, and it shouldn’t be hard for him to catch at least five. He won’t set career highs, but he will be, at worst, TE2 in fantasy. In what is his age-28 season, the best could be yet to come for Andrews. Don’t be shocked if he supersedes these numbers. OBJ and Bateman could miss extended time, and Jackson could have a career year in the air. Andrews is in store for a terrific 2023 season, and if you’re contending, you definitely will want him on your team.

Long-Term Dynasty Outlook

Andrews is the future TE1 in dynasty. In fact, one could argue that Andrews is already the dynasty TE1 when you factor in Kelce’s age. That’s why if you’re contending now, you have to try to acquire him. He’s a cheat code similar to Kelce. And until Kyle Pitts/Dalton Kincaid show up, it’s the Andrews dynasty show. He’s worth multiple firsts, especially considering he still has at least four-to-five more prime years. If you’re rebuilding, sell him now, as his cost is nearing an all-time high. Contenders can’t do much better than Andrews, especially considering the tight-end-oriented offense that Ravens will be running.

Andrews is well-positioned to be the next long-term great tight end after Kelce retires. I’d pay two firsts and a late second to get Andrews. In TEP leagues, I’d pay even more. The advantage you get with him is better than any other position in fantasy football. Once you have him, never let go, or at least not for a half-decade.