We’ve seen flashes of Jonnu Smith being a viable starter for fantasy football in the past. In just 2020, Smith totaled nine touchdowns with the Tennessee Titans that helped him land a massive contract in free agency with the New England Patriots shortly thereafter.
Unfortunately, Smith hasn’t been on the fantasy radar since that point though, and he’s been left on waiver wires for the majority of the past couple of seasons. Is that set to change now that he’s becoming a featured part of the passing attack in Atlanta?
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Should Jonnu Smith Be a Fantasy Waiver Wire Add in Week 5?
We’re now through four games of the season for the Atlanta Falcons and — much to the chagrin of Kyle Pitts’ fantasy managers — Smith has outproduced the former No. 4 overall pick, despite being listed behind him on the Falcons depth chart.
Through four games:
Kyle Pitts: 21 targets, 11 receptions, 121 yards
Jonnu Smith: 20 targets, 15 receptions, 179 yards— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) October 1, 2023
This Falcons passing attack is completely upside down and backward from what it’s supposed to be. Still, Smith is seeing work in this offense, and he’s producing with it. His talent was never in question during his dip in production since the end of the 2020 NFL season. However, the Patriots’ coaching staff simply refused to utilize him properly.
It’s going to be hard to trust the second TE option in this Falcons offense, especially with the state of their passing attack, but Smith is producing. At the TE position, fantasy managers simply want any option for their starting lineup that will get north of three receptions most weeks.
Smith is getting that opportunity and proving to be a consistent option for fantasy. He certainly won’t carry the upside that some other TEs will offer for fantasy due to sharing targets with someone like Pitts. But he’s worth scooping up and playing as early as Week 5 against the Houston Texans.
If you’re still stuck rostering a middling TE like Dalton Schultz that’s just operating off of name value at this point, Smith’s worth targeting off of the waiver wire as a more consistent option.