Detroit Lions Fantasy Football: Eric Ebron’s 2017 draft value

Entering a critical season for his career, where should you value Detroit Lions tight end Eric Ebron in your Fantasy Football draft?

It’s officially the start of the fantasy football season. In the next couple of weeks, you should be eyeing up talent, checking statistics, and preparing for the draft of a lifetime. In past years, running backs have always been the players to be drafted first. However, last year, we saw a new trend with wide receivers being valued more. With high producing receivers, who can blame the turn in history?

But what happens when talent is limited at a position? Drafting a tight end could be one of your hardest decisions. Players like Rob Gronkowski just aren’t easy to come by, even though his injuries have disappointed owners over the last couple seasons.

Obviously, drafting players like Gronkowski or Travis Kelce is going to be the goal, but who are you left with, and what route should you go if you don’t get a top-five tight end?

Everything points to the Detroit Lions‘ Eric Ebron in 2017. Yes, fantasy football owners have been waiting for that breakout moment the past three years, but this is the year Ebron could explode.

Ebron always produces. He was just at a disadvantage, like last year when Anquan Boldin took over the red zone. Boldin won’t be cutting down Ebron’s playing time this season as the veteran wide receiver remains a free agent, and Ebron could find himself scoring more touchdowns than ever.

Last season, Ebron caught 61-of-85 targets for 711 yards. Compare that to Boldin’s 67 completions for 574 yards, and you see that Ebron produces and is targeted almost as much as the Lions receivers. However, it’s the red zone we need to be cautious of. Ebron only had one touchdown last season, and a tight end that scores is much more valuable in fantasy football.

Ebron is currently ranked 12th among tight ends heading into 2017, as per FantasyPros.  Zach Ertz and Hunter Henry are ranked just above him, but given the opportunity, I would draft Ebron before Ertz or Henry as a low-end TE1.

Next: 2017 NFL QB Power Rankings: Pre-Training Camp

Depending on your league’s point values and scoring, Ebron is worth being your TE1 if the top performing tight ends are not available. If you’re fortunate enough to land a top player, look for Ebron to fill your TE2 spot on your roster.