Green Bay Packers: Martellus Bennett will be a top fantasy tight end

By Hunter Noll | Jul 19, 2017

FOXBORO, MA - NOVEMBER 13: Martellus Bennett /

The Green Bay Packers made a big splash signing Martellus Bennett, and the tight end will reward the team and fantasy football owners in 2017.

Throughout his career, new Green Bay Packers tight end Martellus Bennett has been great no matter where he was. He’s only had one truly elite fantasy season though (2014). There’s a very simple explanation for this: the situations he’s been in.

Bennett started his career with the Dallas Cowboys. He spent four years there and was young and unproven. Oh, and there was a guy named Jason Witten ahead of him. Due to those circumstances, he didn’t see much action.

His next stop was with the New York Giants for one season. While this was a breakout season for Bennett (55 receptions, 626 yards, five touchdowns), he didn’t put up elite numbers. There are a few reasons for this. First off, Eli Manning can be a little erratic, and his tight ends usually don’t get too much love. Second, he was still unproven, and there were more established targets on the team.

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Next, Bennett spent three seasons with the Chicago Bears. All three years were strong, but only one was elite fantasy wise. In 2014, he put up 916 yards on 90 receptions, scoring six touchdowns. At this point, Bennett was established and truly one of the best receiving tight ends in football. The main reason he didn’t dominate the fantasy world his entire tenure was Jay Cutler. While Cutler wasn’t bad, he’s not exactly Aaron Rodgers.

Finally, Bennett played one season with the New England Patriots. You can’t get better than having Tom Brady as your quarterback. It can’t be easy to dominate when Julian Edelman‘s an option though, or when Rob Gronkowski‘s tight end No. 1. Brady is such a good quarterback, he can get anyone involved, which he does. Thus, opportunities can be limited.

While the Packers have some good tight ends, Bennett is the clear No. 1. There is the Green Bay receiving corps, however, which could take some receptions away from him. Think about this, though — while Packers tight ends haven’t exactly killed the fantasy game these past few years, that’s not due to Rodgers ignoring them. It’s more that they just weren’t nearly as good of options as the receivers.

Look back to the last time Rodgers had a real weapon at tight end. Jermichael Finley put together some solid seasons, and he’s certainly not on the same level as Bennett. Bennett is a true matchup problem for defense’s. While teams would love to give him extra attention, the Packers receivers demand too much of that themselves. This will leave the tight end in some favorable situations.

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He’ll also quickly become Rodgers favorite target whenever the quarterback finds himself in trouble. In the past, Martellus Bennett has been a great fantasy tight end. The Packers offense is ready to push him into the elite category in 2017.

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