Tight ends continue to alter the fantasy landscape, and yet another appealing option vaulted into prominence in Week 1. Entering his opening night matchup against Baltimore, Julius Thomas had only managed a grand total of one reception for five yards during two undistinguished seasons as a professional. His career began with great promise, as Thomas performed impressively during his initial training camp. But he injured his ankle when making that lone catch during his 2011 rookie season. Subsequent surgery sidelined him for 14 games, and forced him to miss offseason conditioning, OTAs and mini-camp in 2012. That negated his chances of being involved in Denver’s strategic approach throughout the year, as did the free agent signings of Jacob Tamme and Joel Dreessen. But his third season launched with a statistical explosion during Denver’s dissection of the Ravens’ defense. That in turn has vaulted him into complete fantasy relevance. Not only did he accumulate 110 yards while collecting five passes from Peyton Manning, but Thomas also scored two first half touchdowns, which sent many fantasy owners scrambling to inspect their waiver wires.
It is wise to maintain some perspective regarding Thomas, as his seven targets represented just the third highest total among all Broncos. But even though Manning possesses a sizable number of options, the future Hall-Of-Famer has adeptly distributed the ball to numerous targets throughout his extensive career. Therefore, potential owners should not become concerned that Thomas will somehow be forgotten within the array of options that exist in Denver’s passing attack. He supplies the team with far more potential to torture opponents than any other TE on the roster. Which makes the task of attempting to match up with Manning and his assembly of weapons that much more daunting. The belief from here is that he will remain above Tamme and Dreessen on Denver’s depth chart, and will supply fantasy points with enough consistency for you to seize him this week. Not only will you be rewarded through his consistent production during the regular season, but that will also negate the possibility of Thomas amassing points against you, thereby damaging your chances of winning in that particular week. Grab him if he is available, and start him against the Giants on Sunday.
