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Greg Olsen

Seahawks hoping veteran has one decent season left in him

I didn’t understand the signing of Greg Olsen. He’s an older guy who might be breaking down, and I thought Seattle was set at tight end with Will Dissly and Jacob Hollister. But the Seahawks signed him to a nice contract, so I guess they think he’ll be an upgrade at that position.

Dissly is probably their long-term guy there, but he’s coming off an Achilles injury. They’re saying they expect him to be ready for their opener, but that will be subject to developments.

I thought Hollister played pretty well last year; he caught 36 passes and 3 TDs in the second half of the season. But he’s not as experienced as Olsen, and there must be something else about the veteran that they like. Russell Wilson lobbied for him to be signed.

But Olsen is a high-risk pick. He's 35, and he’s had multiple foot injuries in the last few years.

History indicates that it’s unusual for tight ends of that age to put up good numbers. In the last 20 years, only 11 tight ends who’ve been at least 35 years old have put up top-20 numbers in a season. That’s 11 out of 400 top-20 slots – over 97 percent of tight ends finishing with top-20 numbers have been under 35 years old.

We’ll see how it plays out. Not a guy I expect to draft in my leagues.

OLDER TIGHT ENDS WITH TOP-20 NUMBERS
YearPlayer, TmAgeRecYdsAvgTDPPRRk
2013Tony Gonzalez, Atl.378385910.48218.92
2017Benjamin Watson, Balt.37615228.64137.211
2019Jason Witten, Dall.37635298.44141.911
2012Tony Gonzalez, Atl.369393010.08234.02
2016Antonio Gates, S.D.365354810.37149.812
2001Wesley Walls, Car.354345210.55118.211
2003Shannon Sharpe, Den.356277012.48187.02
2011Tony Gonzalez, Atl.358087510.97209.54
2015Benjamin Watson, N.O.357482511.26192.57
2015Antonio Gates, S.D.355663011.35149.012
2017Jason Witten, Dall.35635608.95149.09
2000Wesley Walls, Car.343142213.6285.214
2002Shannon Sharpe, Den.346168611.33147.64
2010Tony Gonzalez, Atl.34706569.46171.66
2014Antonio Gates, S.D.346982111.912223.13
2016Jason Witten, Dall.34696739.83154.311
2019Greg Olsen, Car.345259711.52123.713

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index