At the end of the 2015 fantasy football season you could find me

languishing over my two second place finishes and perusing the dynasty
waiver wire for just the right guy to clinch the championship in 2016. One
name stood out to me as someone who should probably be owned
Ladarius Green, the 26 year old Chargers TE who had flashed talent and
only had to outlast Old Mantonio Gates to be truly relevant. So I picked him
up, little knowing that his value was about to skyrocket.
On March 9, 2015, after much speculation, the Steelers signed Ladarius
Green to a 4-year, $20 million dollar contract. This seemed like a great
move for both parties, as the Steelers needed a good tight end with Heath
Miller retiring, and Green needed desperately to get out of Gates shadow.
It was a win-win move and Greens upside inflated like a balloon.
Then, a mere four days later on March 12, 2015 it was announced that
Martavis Bryant was facing a year-long ban for substance abuse violations.
All of Bryants targets (there were 92 of them in 2015) just came up for
grabs. The upside balloon had become an upside zeppelin.
So how much potential is there for Ladarius Green in Pittsburgh? I decided
to try to find out.
Athletically Green is an excellent specimen, featuring a 66, 240lb build
with a 4.56 forty time and a 104 broad jump. Those are some tantalizing
numbers to go with a tantalizing opportunity. So how did he do in San
Diego when given the chance to shoulder a sizeable chunk of the targets?
In 2015 there were four games where Green got to step out of Gates
shadow and show what hes made of. To get an idea of what he can do as
a teams featured pass catching tight end, we must consider these games
somewhat of a preview:
Week

Targets
1
2
4
7

Rec
6
6
6
9

Yd
5
5
4
4

TD
74
47
53
45

1
0
1
1

FP
(PPR)
18.4
9.7
15.3
14.5

Now obviously this is a very small sample size (they so often are in this
wonderful game) and getting a touchdown in 75% of your games is a tall
order for any player. However, what these stats say to me is that Green can
handle a workload on his own and handle it well. Very well. These are
TE1 numbers.
The losses of Heath Miller and Martavis Bryant from Pittsburghs 2016
passing game leaves a target vacuum waiting to be filled. Miller logged 81
targets in 2015, while Bryant had 92. Assuming Green nabs 100% of
Millers former targets, and conservatively projecting he earns 25% of
Bryants targets, that is 104 targets. Using his efficiency from his four
games as a starter in San Diego as a guideline, here is a 16 game
projection for Ladarius Green with the Steelers in 2016:

Targets

Rec
Yd
TD
104
69.33
843.52

FP
5

183.682

I obviously had to downgrade his touchdown pace from those four games
in San Diego thanks to a little guy named Antonio Brown who is a bit of a
touchdown hog, but still. Pittsburgh is one of the NFLs elite offenses and a
season like this is not at all impossible for Green. At his 9 th round ADP he is
a bargain bin steal as a potential TE1 and I will be selecting him as often as
possible this August.