Ed Dickson could become a hot commodity in the world of fantasy football after Carolina Panthers star tight end Greg Olsen suffered a foot injury Sunday against the Buffalo Bills and was ruled out for the remainder of the game, per Bill Voth of Panthers.com.
Dickson has been mostly an afterthought within both the Panthers offense and fantasy circles since joining Carolina ahead of the 2014 season. He entered the 2017 campaign with just 37 catches for 370 yards and four touchdowns despite playing all 48 games over the previous three years.
The 30-year-old Oregon product has put together only one notable season from a fantasy perspective. That’s when he tallied 54 grabs for 528 yards and five touchdowns for the Baltimore Ravens in 2011. While not spectacular, those are solid numbers at a weak position.
He could be in line to see a massive uptick in usage if Olsen is forced to the sideline, though.
In August, David Newton of ESPN.com passed along comments from Dickson about the role the team’s starting tight end played in its success.
“Greg is a great receiver, all-around tight end,” he said. “What we ask him to do, he does to the highest level. To have three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons says a lot. He’s not slowing down.”
Now Dickson may be asked to take on at least some of those responsibilities.
That’s not to say the Panthers backup will put up Olsen-level numbers. He doesn’t possess the well-rounded skill set of his cohort, and Carolina will likely push at least some of the targets toward Kelvin Benjamin, Devin Funchess and the rest of its wide receivers.
Nevertheless, Dickson has the potential to move from off the fantasy radar to firmly on it, depending on the severity of Olsen’s injury. He’ll be a fringe No. 1 tight end with the upside of providing top-five numbers at the position against weaker defenses if Olsen misses significant time.
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