Fantasy football: Is Delanie Walker a ‘league-winning sleeper’ in 2019?

Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton has named Tennessee Titans tight end, Delanie Walker, as a “league-winning sleeper” candidate.

The fantasy football world has been down on Tennessee Titans tight end, Delanie Walker, for a few reasons in 2019.

Walker played in just one game in 2018 after suffering a brutal leg injury. There is some skepticism that he can return fully healthy, however Walker has been practicing in camp and seems on track to play in Week 1.

One of the reasons for the skepticism of Walker’s healthy return is his age. The veteran tight end turned 35 this month and there is some belief that he could be on the downside of his career when combined with the aforementioned injury.

Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton is not only wisely ignoring those notions, he believes that Walker can be a “league-winning sleeper” this season.

"Since Marcus Mariota took over at quarterback for the Tennessee Titans in 2015, Delanie Walker has led the team in catches (237), receiving yards (2,747) and receiving touchdowns (16).Before the injury, Walker earned three consecutive Pro Bowl invites, coinciding with Mariota’s arrival in Tennessee.Among the Titans pass-catchers, fantasy managers should go with a proven commodity in Walker."

And quite the proven commodity he is. In a sea of question marks at the position, Walker has shown nothing but consistency prior to his injury-shortened campaign.

Walker totaled 800 receiving yards or more in each of the four seasons prior to 2018, averaging five touchdowns per year in that span. For fantasy purposes, Walker finished as the TE8, TE3, TE5 and TE4 from 2014 through 2017, per Pro Football Focus.

While we still think Walker will be a top-flight fantasy tight end in 2019, there is a legit reason for concern that he won’t finish ranked that highly again: competition for targets.

The Titans have given quarterback Marcus Mariota the best group of pass-catchers he has ever had in his career. Along with Walker and No. 1 wideout, Corey Davis, the Titans added slot receiver, Adam Humphries, and second-round draft pick, receiver A.J. Brown.

For the most part, Walker has been the lone wolf in what has traditionally been a lackluster receiving corps., but clearly that has changed for this upcoming season.

Last year’s TE10 in PPR, Pittsburgh Steelers tight end, Vance McDonald, finished with 50 catches for 610 yards and four touchdowns. That just goes to show that even what can be considered a down year for Walker could still mean a top-10 finish.

Walker doesn’t have enough going for him to be a “league-winning” player, but he will no doubt outperform his current ADP, which sits around TE13, according to PFF.