Under-the-radar Seahawks rookie labeled sleeper value pick for fantasy football

After recent developments, the Seattle Seahawks' tight end room will look completely different this season.

Earlier this week, the Seahawks released Noah Fant after three seasons with the team. Fant, who came over as part of the blockbuster Russell Wilson trade in 2022, was the Seahawks' starter for most of his tenure, but wasn't producing how they'd hoped, as he had just one touchdown in the past two seasons.

Now, AJ Barner, who impressed down the stretch last season, takes over as the starting tight end, but don't sleep on second-round pick Elijah Arroyo.

Elijah Arroyo could be great value pick in fantasy football

Bleacher Report's Alex Kay named Arroyo, the No. 50 overall pick out of Miami, as a sleeper tight end in fantasy football this season.

"Expect Arroyo to have a far bigger impact than his predecessor," Kay wrote. "The 6'4", 235-pound tight end was a major scoring threat during his final season at Miami, a campaign in which he tallied 590 yards and seven touchdowns on 35 catches.

"While Arroyo didn't tally up a ton of catches in college, he profiles as an explosive receiving tight end who could contribute immediately in the passing attack. With a new quarterback in Sam Darnold looking to get comfortable quickly, Arroyo could be peppered with plenty of short-yardage targets—especially in the red area."

Arroyo is expected to be a solid pass-catcher for the Seahawks, and the state of the offense should allow him to succeed as well.

"The Seattle receivers room makeover also works in Arroyo's favor," Kay wrote. "The team parted ways with both Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf this offseason, moves that have left Jaxson Smith-Njigba as the clear-cut No. 1 option, talented but injury-prone veteran Cooper Kupp as the second option and lots of question marks beyond that.

"Given he's just the TE38 with an ADP of 214 right now, Arroyo is well worth taking a late-round flier on in most formats. It's far from guaranteed he will be one of the rare TEs who makes a successful transition to the pros as a rookie, but his upside and potential are worth betting on."

Darnold will need all the weapons he can get as he takes over as Seattle's starter, and if Arroyo can be a key contributor immediately, it will go a long way toward helping him.