Ja'Tavion Sanders Fantasy Overview

2024 Summary

Production & Fantasy Finishes

Sanders caught 33 balls for 342 yards and one TD in 16 games last year. He ranked 44th among TEs in PPR points per game.

Usage & Role

Sanders worked in a timeshare with TE Tommy Tremble when both were healthy last year.

In 11 games with Tremble, Sanders averaged:

• 2.0 targets
• 1.4 catches
• 12.1 yards
• 2.6 PPR points

In five games without Tremble, Sanders’ averages spiked to:

• 4.2 targets
• 3.6 catches
• 41.8 yards
• 9.0 PPR points

Sanders’ PPR scoring average without Tremble would have ranked 17th among TEs over the course of the season.

Efficiency Metrics

Sanders posted a 76.7% catch rate and 10.4 yards per catch last year. His 8.0 yards per target was good for 16th among 36 TEs with 40+ targets.

Sanders averaged just 1.06 yards per route, though — 31st among those 36 TEs. That was largely because he drew a target on only 13.7% of his routes, which also ranked 31st among 36 qualifying TEs.

Offensive Context

Sanders played in a bad Panthers offense that ranked:

• 31st in plays
• 23rd in points
• 29th in total yards
• 30th in passing yards
• 30th in yards per pass attempt
• 16th in passing TDs

QB Bryce Young played better over the second half of the season, but Carolina still averaged only 198 passing yards per game over their final 10. That would have ranked 25th over the entire season.

Historical Production & Trends

Sanders was a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft after spending the previous three years at Texas.

The former five-star recruit broke out as a sophomore, finishing second on the 2022 Longhorns in catches (54), third in receiving yards (613), and second in TDs (5). Then he went for a career-high 682 yards on a huge 15.2 yards per catch in 2023.

Sanders disappointed at the Combine, though, with a 4.69-second 40 time at 6’4 and 245 pounds.

Injury History

Sanders was carted off the field in Week 12 last year with a neck injury. He surprisingly ended up missing just one game.

Sanders sprained his right ankle during his final college season but did not miss any games.

2025 Expectations

Projected Role & Competition

Tommy Tremble returns alongside Sanders in Carolina’s TE room. Tremble underwent back surgery in May but is expected to be ready at some point during training camp.

The Panthers also added TE Mitchell Evans in Round 5 of this spring’s draft. The Notre Dame product sat behind TE Michael Mayer as a freshman and sophomore before an impressive but injury-shortened junior campaign. Evans averaged a team-high 52.8 yards per game in 2023 – before a torn MCL and partially torn ACL ended his season in late October. He returned to lead the Irish with 43 catches and ranked third with 421 receiving yards last year.

Consider Sanders the early favorite for lead pass-catching duties this season, but this TE depth chart is fluid.

At WR, the Panthers return Xavier Legette, Jalen Coke, and Adam Thielen. And they added Tetairoa McMillan with the eighth overall pick of the draft.

Supporting Cast

The biggest question in Carolina this year is which version of Bryce Young we’ll get.

The No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 draft had a historically inefficient rookie season, averaging 5.5 yards per attempt with a 2.1% TD rate. Last year didn’t start out any better, and Young was benched after Week 2.

But he returned in Week 8 and played much better the rest of the way.

Over his final 10 games, Young averaged:

• 210.4 passing yards
• 1.5 passing TDs
• 0.6 INTs

He still ranked just 26th in completion rate and 27th in yards per attempt over those final 10 games. But he ranked sixth among 35 qualifiers in Pro Football Focus passing grade.

Coaching & Offensive Scheme

HC Dave Canales and OC Brad Idzik return for their second season with the Panthers. Year one was underwhelming, but they had a lot working against them.

Canales is just a year removed from helping revive QB Baker Mayfield’s career in Tampa Bay. He also served as Seahawks QBs coach for Geno Smith’s breakout 2022 season.

Canales’ offense hasn’t produced much at TE, though. Last year’s Panthers ranked 27th in total TE PPR points, and the 2023 Bucs finished 28th.