Utecht’s Departure Leaves Hole in Indy Offense
Although he’s not much of a fantasy option, except in the deepest of fantasy leagues, the Indianapolis Colts will miss tight end Ben Utecht, who is now officially a Cincinnati Bengal after the Colts failed to match his offer sheet.
Indy employs plenty of two tight-end sets, but is now left without a reliable backup behind Dallas Clark after Utecht grabbed the three-year, $9 million Cincy deal and walked.
The 26-year-old had a career-high 20 first downs last season, and could challenge incumbents Reggie Kelly, Daniel Coats and Nate Laurie as the No. 1 man for the Bengals. Of course, Cincinnati doesn’t employ the tight end into its offense in the same manner that Indy did, so who wins the job probably means jack squat from a fantasy perspective.
Back with the Colts, meanwhile, the de facto backup is now Gijon Robinson, who spent all of 2007 on the practice squad.
It will be interesting to see if Utecht’s departure forces the Colts hands and forces them to re-sign TE Bryan Fletcher, another unrestricted free agent.
Look for Indy to either dip into the free agent pool for a veteran tight end, or try to address this weakness through the draft.
