Nice story over the weekend that Foster Moreau, formerly of the Raiders and now a Saint, is healthy after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in the spring. After three months of treatment, his cancer is in remission. He's been participating fully at OTAs.
Moreau was never much of a fantasy option in Las Vegas, more inline blocker than receiver. But he did have a role near the end zone at times -- 12 of his 91 career catches have gone for touchdowns -- and he's joining a team that's thrown to tight ends around the goal line in recent seasons. A little more than I expected.
In the last four years, 32 tight ends have caught at least 6 touchdowns in a season. There are three teams that have had players do it in three of those seasons, and everyone will guess two of those teams: Kansas City with Travis Kelce, and Baltimore with Mark Andrews. The third team to have three 6-TD tight ends in the last four years is New Orleans.
| TIGHT ENDS CATCHING 6 TOUCHDOWNS, 2019-2022 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2022 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 152 | 110 | 1338 | 12.2 | 12 |
| 2020 | Robert Tonyan, G.B. | 59 | 52 | 586 | 11.3 | 11 |
| 2020 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 145 | 105 | 1416 | 13.5 | 11 |
| 2022 | George Kittle, S.F. | 86 | 60 | 765 | 12.8 | 11 |
| 2019 | Mark Andrews, Balt. | 98 | 64 | 852 | 13.3 | 10 |
| 2019 | Jared Cook, N.O. | 65 | 43 | 705 | 16.4 | 9 |
| 2021 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 134 | 92 | 1125 | 12.2 | 9 |
| 2021 | Mark Andrews, Balt. | 153 | 107 | 1361 | 12.7 | 9 |
| 2021 | Dawson Knox, Buff. | 71 | 49 | 587 | 12.0 | 9 |
| 2020 | Darren Waller, L.V. | 145 | 107 | 1196 | 11.2 | 9 |
| 2021 | Hunter Henry, N.E. | 75 | 50 | 603 | 12.1 | 9 |
| 2020 | Jonnu Smith, Ten. | 65 | 41 | 448 | 10.9 | 8 |
| 2020 | Jimmy Graham, Chi. | 76 | 50 | 456 | 9.1 | 8 |
| 2021 | Dalton Schultz, Dall. | 104 | 78 | 808 | 10.4 | 8 |
| 2022 | Juwan Johnson, N.O. | 65 | 42 | 508 | 12.1 | 7 |
| 2020 | Jared Cook, N.O. | 60 | 37 | 504 | 13.6 | 7 |
| 2020 | Mark Andrews, Balt. | 88 | 58 | 701 | 12.1 | 7 |
| 2022 | Cole Kmet, Chi. | 69 | 50 | 544 | 10.9 | 7 |
| 2019 | Darren Fells, Hou. | 48 | 34 | 341 | 10.0 | 7 |
| 2021 | Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 79 | 60 | 497 | 8.3 | 7 |
| 2020 | Rob Gronkowski, T.B. | 77 | 45 | 623 | 13.8 | 7 |
| 2022 | T.J. Hockenson, 2TM | 129 | 86 | 914 | 10.6 | 6 |
| 2020 | Hayden Hurst, Atl. | 88 | 56 | 571 | 10.2 | 6 |
| 2019 | Austin Hooper, Atl. | 97 | 75 | 787 | 10.5 | 6 |
| 2022 | Dawson Knox, Buff. | 65 | 48 | 517 | 10.8 | 6 |
| 2020 | T.J. Hockenson, Det. | 101 | 67 | 723 | 10.8 | 6 |
| 2020 | Mike Gesicki, Mia. | 85 | 53 | 703 | 13.3 | 6 |
| 2019 | Kyle Rudolph, Min. | 48 | 39 | 367 | 9.4 | 6 |
| 2019 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 135 | 88 | 916 | 10.4 | 6 |
| 2021 | George Kittle, S.F. | 94 | 71 | 910 | 12.8 | 6 |
| 2021 | Rob Gronkowski, T.B. | 89 | 55 | 802 | 14.6 | 6 |
| 2020 | Logan Thomas, Was. | 110 | 72 | 670 | 9.3 | 6 |
With the Saints, even if a tight end catches 6-plus touchdowns this season, it won't necessarily be Moreau. Their main receiver at the position will probably be Juwan Johnson, who caught 42 passes and 7 touchdowns last year. They've also got Taysom Hill, a tight end in most fantasy leagues, and perhaps he'll see a few targets near the goal line (and he'll run in his share).
But let's consider Moreau a possibility to be that red-zone threat. He's familiar with New Orleans' new quarterback (Derek Carr); maybe that's a plus. Unlikely he's catching a ton of balls, but the team could decide to utilize him as a scoring option, giving him value in some formats.
--Andy Richardson