Dwayne Allen takes over Bennett's No. 2 TE fantasy role in New England
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Here are the fantasy implications of the New England Patriots acquiring TE Dwayne Allen from the Indianapolis Colts:
Source: The #Patriots are trading for #Colts TE Dwayne Allen. Wow.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2017
Gronk Gets a New TE Partner
Allen was made somewhat expendable earlier Wednesday when the Colts retained tight end Jack Doyle - and they wasted no time finding a new home for the 27-year-old, shipping him to the reigning Super Bowl champions. The move makes sense for a Patriots team that won't be retaining the services of fellow veteran tight end Martellus Bennett.
Allen didn't exactly move the fantasy needle over the past two seasons - hauling in just 81 passes for 515 yards and seven touchdowns over that span - but he does have the kind of touchdown upside you're looking for in two tight-end leagues or if you decide to fade the position early in favor of strengthening your roster in other areas.
Allen should see a modest bump in production with New England, which loves to use two-tight-end sets. Rob Gronkowski remains the No. 1 option in the Patriots' passing offense when healthy, but here's the thing: He wasn't last season, and Bennett had some big weeks as a result. Look for Allen to thrive if Gronk misses time - but don't bake that into his projections.
Doyle Stands Alone?
The move is even more significant for those of you who either own Doyle as a keeper, or are high on him heading into your drafts. While the lack of consistency made him a difficult player to trust, he still finished with 59 catches for 584 yards and five touchdowns despite coming out of nowhere. And now he's the undisputed No. 1 TE in an Andrew Luck-led offense.
Whether this pushes Doyle into the top-10 tight ends on draft day depends on a number of factors - specifically, how the rest of the free-agent field shakes down, and which impact rookies wind up in the best situations. But as things stand now, you can confidently draft Doyle as a back-end TE1 with the upside for more, now that Allen is on his way out of Indiana.