The Washington Commanders just gained a key part of their team back Monday, activating tight end Logan Thomas from the physically unable to perform list.
Thomas hasn’t played since tearing an ACL and MCL against the Las Vegas Raiders on Dec. 5. Through six games, he was averaging a career-best 10.9 yards per catch, and he had three touchdowns, which finished in a tie for second-most on the team last season.
Before his injury-shortened 2021 season, Thomas had a breakout in 2020 with 72 catches for 670 yards and six touchdowns. He finished as the TE7 in standard fantasy leagues and TE3 in PPR leagues. According to ESPN’s John Keim, at the time of his injury, he led the NFL in red zone receiving yards during his time in Washington.
Now, it seems people are sleeping on his ability to come close to that form again. As of Monday, Thomas’ average draft position was 30th among tight ends, according to Fantasy Pros. In ESPN leagues, he’s only on 7.9% of rosters. Those are mistakes. There aren’t 29 tight ends who are going to have better seasons than a healthy Thomas. And now that he’s on the active roster, fantasy players should be hitting the waiver wires.
We have activated TE Logan Thomas from the Active/Physically Unable to Perform List after passing his physical pic.twitter.com/5DlTDZPUPy
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) August 22, 2022
Part of my confidence in Thomas to have a bounce back year is Washington’s quarterback situation. He did what he did in 2020 with four different starting quarterbacks including the team’s Wild Card loss to the Bucs when Thomas caught five balls for 74 yards.
With Carson Wentz in town, the position is expected to be a lot more stable — even if imperfect. And while the jury is still out on Wentz, one thing he does well is get the ball to his tight ends. In each of his five years with the Eagles, between Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert, a tight end was one of his two-most targeted receivers. And while that trend changed in a different offense in Indianapolis last season, tight end Mo Alie-Cox — most known for his blocking — had his most productive fantasy season as the TE24.
Now, Wentz will get to work with a receiving tight end again. And Thomas will work with the best quarterback he’s had since maybe Alex Smith. That should lead to a productive year for him.
