Erik Swoope (TE, IND) - NFL Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14- and 16-team leagues

OWNED IN: 0% Fleaflicker

ANALYSIS: Erik Swoope is one of the more unlikely fantasy football stories in 2016.  With starting tight end Dwayne Allen out with an ankle injury, and with Indianapolis’ No. 2 and No. 3 wide receivers also sidelined with injuries, this undrafted former basketball player has suddenly emerged as a dark horse waiver pickup in fantasy leagues.

Swoope has four catches for 93 yards over his last two games.  These are the first receptions of his NFL career, but they will not be the last as long as the Colts receiving corps remains decimated with injuries.  Swoope is blessed with a big athletic body and obviously can box out defenders with his basketball background.  His first NFL touchdown is in his near future if Allen misses more games.

Being the third tight end on an NFL team’s depth chart makes a player about as valuable fantasy-wise as the fourth-string quarterback or the fifth-string fullback.  Luckily, Andrew Luck loves utilizing his tight ends as much as I love utilizing my knife and fork at dinnertime.  Fantasy owners have seen how second-string tight end Jack Doyle has become a fantasy lottery ticket in recent weeks.  Take a chance on Swoope and he may the next one cashing in.