Robert Royal

Switching from the Bills to the Browns doesn’t change Royal’s value all that much. He had a career-high 351 yards receiving last season, playing on a team where he didn’t have any legit competition for targets at his position. Playing for the Browns, Royal will likely be utilized for his blocking skills and share targets with Steve Heiden.

As an all-around player, Royal is valuable to the Bills, but as a fantasy option, he is best suited for the waiver wire. The Bills simply don’t involve the tight end enough for Royal to be a consideration in most leagues. Yes, they do have a new offensive coordinator, and Royal has been productive near the goal line (three touchdowns in each of the last two seasons), but Derek Schouman looks like a threat to some of Royal's limited catches in the new offense, and the addition of 6-7 receiver James Hardy through the draft may cut into Royal’s goal-line targets.

Royal is used primarily as a blocker and was a red-zone target just six times last season. This position hasn't been an important one in the Bills passing offense in recent years, illustrated by the fact the Bills were 31st in the NFL with 31 tight-end receptions. That all said, Royal scored all three of his touchdowns and had nine catches for 111 yards in the last month of the season, and, as modest as his role is in the passing game, he does have a decent rapport with J.P. Losman. There's also better blocking in the fold this season, meaning he'll be allowed to run some routes like last December. Maybe it's enough to make him an emergency fill-in, but not much more than that.

Royal came over from Washington and will compete for the vacated starting tight end spot left following the release of Mark Campbell on March 1. Currently he's listed as the starter on the depth chart, but note that he's more of an all-around type and has never caught more than 18 passes or four TD in a season. Kevin Everett is the best pass-cather in Buffalo. Royal did win the starting job and the Bills have been giving him some looks, so perhaps he has value in very deep leagues only.

Royal only had eight receptions in 2004, four of them for scores. The tight end position is used primarily as a blocker in Coach Joe Gibbs's offense so do not expect more production in 2005. He is also battling with Mike Sellers, who is a bigger and better blocker, for the starting role which will further limit his value.

Even with the Redskins playing two tight ends most of the time, Royal will be stuck behind Walter Rasby, Fred Baxter, Mike Sellers, Chris Cooley, and Brian Kozlowski on the depth chart.