Noah Fant Criticizes Broncos for Misusing Him

The blockbuster Russell Wilson trade completely shook up the futures of both the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks. With Denver now a Super Bowl contender and Seattle staring down a rebuild, you would think players would be unhappy to have to leave the Broncos for the Seahawks.

That's not the case for tight end Noah Fant, however. Fant aired some frustrations about his usage in the Broncos offense after being traded.

As a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, it was clear that Fant featured prominently in the Broncos' long-term offensive plans. He also made a real impact as a rookie, which isn't exactly common for tight ends.

After that 40-reception, 562-yard rookie campaign, Fant went on to catch 62 and 68 passes for 673 and 670 yards in the following two seasons. These modest increases in production were relatively disappointing considering how explosive that rookie year was.

And there really does seem to be something to Fant's claims that he should have been used as more of a downfield threat.

He recorded an average depth of target (aDOT) of 7.6 yards as a rookie, which fell off to 6.7 then 6.1 yards in the following two seasons. Shorter targets led to an increased catch rate, but not to more efficiency. He averaged 8.5 yards per target in 2019, compared to just 7.2 in 2020 and 7.4 in 2021.

Leaving behind an unhappy situation, Fant should be excited to have the opportunity to make his mark in Seattle.

Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.