Isaiah Likely

[Jigga94]

Cant say I love it, but just bought him for a 2024 3rd.

I think that's a great deal. You really gave up next to nothing for a flyer on someone who's at least flashed some intrigue today. That's the most we can hope for out of any 3rd round pick.

I own andrews, so it's mainly insurance.

I grabbed him as well since I own Andrews

[Pullo Vision]

"A bit" is generous. Mark Andrews is Gandalf to the early fantasy careers of both rookies.

I understand by context what you are saying and I know who Gandalf is, but I’ve never seen that term used for this context. How did that come about?

It was the you shall not pass reference. I was short on time. In a low pass offense where the best target is also the #1 TE, I don't see a ton of opportunity. Still fine with a stash.

Lol. Lamar Jackson is the Gandalf of QBs, along with Trey Lance.

And I supposeShanahan and Harbaugh are the ultimate Coach Gandalfs

Likely landing with LJax is fine. He has a history of targeting the middle of the field, not really the boundaries. Jackson isn't the reason I'm not hot after Likely.

The 2021 Baltimore offense was an aberration with its pass volume, and the talk all offseason has been Baltimore wants to return to their 2020 performance. A return to run heavy schemes where the pass offense falls to 23rd or lower in the NFL wouldn't give much opportunity to the 2nd TE.

One could argue that-
1- the 2020 starting WRs of Marquise/Snead is better than Bateman/Duvernay, and that a weaker WR corps will force them to look to the #2 TE.
2- because they intend to return to their 2020 offense, that doesn't mean the '22 #2 TE will produce the same as the '20 #2 TE.

I disagree with both those points, especially the one about the starting WRs. I believe Duvernay is much more explosive than Snead, and has been working on his craft the last 2 years. In 2020, Andrews had 597 snaps across 14 games (2 starts), got 88 targets and 58 receptions. Nick Boyle was the #2 TE by snaps- 380 across 9 games (9 starts), 17 targets, 14 receptions. Based on the snap count and target discrepancy, Boyle was in to block in 2020. Likely (described as a converted WR) reportedly improved as a blocker his last year of college, and was used as a lead blocker after motion.

Likely looks like a good dynasty stash, but the #2 TE in a low volume pass offense (where he could conceivably be asked to block a ton) isn't appealing, if targeting near term production.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... counts.htm
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... v/2020.htm

[GOTGDynasty]

I'll offer a different view than some here. Isaiah Likely showed in preseason that he's a grown-bleep MAN & a YAC monster. The Ravens don't have much of a receiving corps. I think chances are high they'll run two TE sets (reminiscent of Gronk-Hernandez days) and put Likely in the slot. He's so cheap (I got him today at the 4.10 of a rookie/FA draft after also grabbing McBride at 3.10). I'm less concerned about Charlie Kolar than I was about Hayden Hurst getting in Mark Andrews way (Hurst was drafted before Andrews, so the poetry rhymes). An Andrews injury would make Likely an elite TE and he still might be starter worthy with Andrews in the lineup. At 6'4" he reminds of Pittman, Williams, Sutton, Metcalf, Claypool and frankly... Megatron. And he comes cheap today. That won't last. Smoke 'im while you can get 'im.

[mild]

At 6'4" he reminds of... Megatron.

Smoke 'im while you can get 'im.

Man, I'll smoke some of that dawg! You're clearly high as hell

We can maaaaaaybe cool the brakes on this thread, now that Megatron has been invoked.

[Jigga94]

I'll offer a different view than some here. Isaiah Likely showed in preseason that he's a grown-bleep MAN & a YAC monster. The Ravens don't have much of a receiving corps. I think chances are high they'll run two TE sets (reminiscent of Gronk-Hernandez days) and put Likely in the slot. He's so cheap (I got him today at the 4.10 of a rookie/FA draft after also grabbing McBride at 3.10). I'm less concerned about Charlie Kolar than I was about Hayden Hurst getting in Mark Andrews way (Hurst was drafted before Andrews, so the poetry rhymes). An Andrews injury would make Likely an elite TE and he still might be starter worthy with Andrews in the lineup. At 6'4" he reminds of Pittman, Williams, Sutton, Metcalf, Claypool and frankly... Megatron. And he comes cheap today. That won't last. Smoke 'im while you can get 'im.

I love the enthusiasm. I do. He's got a great sense of the field and showed great YAC ability to go with good hands. I don't like the WR comps just because he does not have the same long speed, especially Megatron lol But he does have a good stride and looks faster than his 40 time.

[Menace2010]

At 6'4" he reminds of... Megatron.

Smoke 'im while you can get 'im.

Man, I'll smoke some of that dawg! You're clearly high as hell

We can maaaaaaybe cool the brakes on this thread, now that Megatron has been invoked.

Reads threads. Checks notes. Pittman (8.29 RAS), Sutton (9.81 RAS), Metcalf (9.66 RAS), Megatron (a literally perfect 10.0 RAS)... Likely RAS = 4.68 ooof.

Yep. Basically the same. Really can't wait for the season to start so we can put all the preseason hyperbole behind us.

[MacDaddy123]

I think that's a great deal. You really gave up next to nothing for a flyer on someone who's at least flashed some intrigue today. That's the most we can hope for out of any 3rd round pick.

I own andrews, so it's mainly insurance.

I grabbed him as well since I own Andrews

I am yet another Andrews owner who grabbed Likely.
Looks like we cuffing TE's now.

[Jigga94]

I own andrews, so it's mainly insurance.

I grabbed him as well since I own Andrews

I am yet another Andrews owner who grabbed Likely.
Looks like we cuffing TE's now.

Lol right. I think it's viable strategy. At least I hope it is. Why pay a little more for Ertz/Hurst/Engram/etc when I can get Likely even cheaper? He has more long term upside and I believe he has more upside than those other TE2s if Andrews does go down

[Jigga94]

At 6'4" he reminds of... Megatron.

Smoke 'im while you can get 'im.

Man, I'll smoke some of that dawg! You're clearly high as hell

We can maaaaaaybe cool the brakes on this thread, now that Megatron has been invoked.

Reads threads. Checks notes. Pittman (8.29 RAS), Sutton (9.81 RAS), Metcalf (9.66 RAS), Megatron (a literally perfect 10.0 RAS)... Likely RAS = 4.68 ooof.

Yep. Basically the same. Really can't wait for the season to start so we can put all the preseason hyperbole behind us.

He's some more outlandish preseason fluff for this thread

https://ras.football/ras-compare/?&p1=4 ... 21112&pos=

[Space Cowboy]

One of my favorites at the position before the draft. As soon as BAL drafted him and another one of my favorites, Charlie Kolar, I completely lost interest in both and removed them from my draft board. This is the 4th time since 2010 that BAL has picked multiple rookie TEs in the same draft, and now they both sit behind Andrews.

I don’t want to roster both rookie TEs (and burn 2 draft picks in the rookie draft) and I sure don’t see a lot of difference between the potentials of both of them to be relevant FF TEs. They both have desirable qualities and traits that look to be transferable at the NFL level, which means they very well could get in the way of each others’ development, and sitting behind one of the best FF TEs in the league doesn’t help that either - not when BAL’s first real “out” with Andrews isn’t until 2024. Until then they’d have to eat a ton of dead cap space to get rid of Andrews - and they’d still have almost $12M in dead cap space if they do part ways then.

Love the potential of the Likely, but absolutely hate even more the situation.

Excluding shallow leagues, this is why you draft talent and not situations in dynasty. Boyle is nothing but a blocker and Kolar is already out of the way. Likely could see 80 targets.

[Pullo Vision]

Beat reporters saying he could be the #3 receiving option this year among TEs/WRs. The week 1 matchup looks delish for a breakout.

[j4pac]

Dudes a stud. He’s probably the toughest eval I’ve seen in a while. On one side you have impossible odds…a low volume offense, a young stud ahead of him, 3 more years on a rookie contract. On the other side…a below average WR corp and Likely is pretty clearly a difference making talent.

There are some comps out there…Delanie Walker, Dallas Goedert, Aaron Hernandez. The question is…how long is one willing to wait for this investment to come to fruition?

[Shcritters]

To me this is the perfect combination of talent and offensive scheme. Likely isn’t that athletic - there are plenty of other TEs who are more athletic - but he is athletic enough and is in the perfect scheme for a TE to thrive. I really don’t think we’d be talking about him on a different offense, but for now he is the backup to the #1 dynasty TE and has shown he can produce in his absence. That has significant value in itself.

If Andrews is down Likely is top 12 TE, if not top 6, on a weekly basis.

[Ski mask ready]

To me this is the perfect combination of talent and offensive scheme. Likely isn’t that athletic - there are plenty of other TEs who are more athletic - but he is athletic enough and is in the perfect scheme for a TE to thrive. I really don’t think we’d be talking about him on a different offense, but for now he is the backup to the #1 dynasty TE and has shown he can produce in his absence. That has significant value in itself.

If Andrews is down Likely is top 12 TE, if not top 6, on a weekly basis.

"Likely isn’t that athletic??" - I'm not a talent evaluator or anything but I saw him make some pretty damn good moves for a 6'4'' 240 lb human being. When I was watching the game I thought he was moving after the catch incredibly well. I was actually excited to see him get the ball. I know its just one game, but he looked every bit the offensive star a top 5 TE could be.

[jomaed]

To me this is the perfect combination of talent and offensive scheme. Likely isn’t that athletic - there are plenty of other TEs who are more athletic - but he is athletic enough and is in the perfect scheme for a TE to thrive. I really don’t think we’d be talking about him on a different offense, but for now he is the backup to the #1 dynasty TE and has shown he can produce in his absence. That has significant value in itself.

If Andrews is down Likely is top 12 TE, if not top 6, on a weekly basis.

"Likely isn’t that athletic??" - I'm not a talent evaluator or anything but I saw him make some pretty damn good moves for a 6'4'' 240 lb human being. When I was watching the game I thought he was moving after the catch incredibly well. I was actually excited to see him get the ball. I know its just one game, but he looked every bit the offensive star a top 5 TE could be.

24th percentile 40, 18th percentile speed score, and 11th percentile agility score is probably where the non-athletic view comes from.