2011: Bill O’Brien becomes the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. The TE duo of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez explodes, combining for 2,237 yards and 24 TDs.
2012-2013: Bill O’Brien becomes the head coach at Penn State and recruits Mike Gesicki to the Nittany Lions.
2014-2022: Bill O’Brien coaches with the Texans and at Alabama. Gesicki is drafted into the NFL as a 2nd-round pick in 2018 and becomes a top 12 TE in his sophomore season. In 2020 and 2021, Gesicki was a top 8 fantasy TE, before falling out of favor with Miami’s new offensive system in 2022.
2023: Bill O’Brien becomes the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. The New England Patriots sign Mike Gesicki. Gesicki and Hunter Henry were observed having special sessions with the QBs in OTAs. Henry is expected to handle more blocking duties, while Gesicki is expected to be used more like a WR.
The Patriots top WRs are DeVante Parker, Juju Smith-Schuster, and Kendrick Bourne–they’re not special. Gesicki should be a surprise top 5 TE this season.
If you had 'nads the size of Axe Elf’s, and also started Gesicki in all your leagues yesterday, mere weeks removed from a dislocated shoulder, you scored as many or more fantasy points as owners of:
Travis Kelce
Mark Andrews
George Kittle
Darren Waller
Dallas Goedert
Dalton Schultz
Chigoziem Okonkwo
Juwan Johnson
Gerald Everett
David Njoku
Greg Dulcich
Jake Ferguson
Noah Gray
Isaiah Likely
Taysom Hill
Now you know why you don’t spend an early draft pick on a TE!
I took Andrews in 4th round and regret it already. Every mock I did I promised myself I wouldn’t reach for TE, and draft night I did.
I am curious (we have a super flex) about Mac Jones too. Could be super solid this year.
EDIT: One good thing about our work league not being super competitive is we have some homers. So sometimes you know who to go to for trades because they want the guy from their team.
I’m wondering if the TE playing field is starting to close. Granted Kelce and Andrews probably still top dogs, but I think the choices aren’t as barren as they used to be.