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FANTASY FOOTBALL NEWS

Smith lands in nice spot

By Jared Smola | Updated on Tue, Mar 28 2023 1:22 PM UTC
Irv Smith Headshot

TE Irv Smith has agreed to a 1-year deal with the Bengals. The 50th overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft posted a promising 36-311-2 line as a rookie -- but then missed 3 games in 2020, the entire 2021 season with a torn meniscus in his knee and then half of this past year with a high-ankle sprain. Smith was an intriguing prospect coming out of Alabama: a catch-first TE who broke out for 710 yards and 7 TDs on 16.1 yards per catch as a junior. And this is about as strong a landing spot as we could have hoped for. The Bengals are looking to replace TE Hayden Hurst, who averaged 5.5 targets, 4.2 catches and 36 yards across 15 healthy games last season (including playoffs). He ranked 18th among TEs in PPR points per game and 16th in expected PPR points per game. That's a fair expectation level for Smith. Consider him a TE2 with spike-week potential in early best-ball drafts.

Jared Smola Author Image
Jared Smola, Lead Analyst
Jared has been with Draft Sharks since 2007. He’s now Lead Analyst, heading up the preseason and weekly projections that fuel your Draft War Room and My Team tools. He currently ranks sixth among 158 analysts in draft rankings accuracy.
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