4 Players to Stash in Fantasy Football From the AFC South

Erik Swoope, TE, Indianapolis Colts

The Player

Check on YouTube for the college football highlights of Erik Swoope and your search will come up empty. Heck, search for highschool highlights and you still won't find anything. In 2014, the former Miami Hurricanes basketball player made his transition to football, his first ever foray into the sport.

Attempting to recreate the basketball to football transition of Antonio Gates, Julius Thomas and Jimmy Graham, Swoope spent the past two seasons on the Colts practice squad learning the position (and the sport), and was elevated to the active roster for the first time in Week 17 last year (he didn't record a catch). He has spent this past spring and summer as the third tight end on the depth chart behind Dwayne Allen and Jack Doyle, and has five receptions this preseason.

Swoope is 6'5, 256 pounds and is said to have run in the low 4.6s and leap 35 inches in pre-draft workouts for the Broncos. Athleticism won't be what prevents the young tight end from making a name for himself in the NFL. His ability to process the mental side of the game and to learn how to catch a football in traffic will be his defining hurdles. And if this preseason is any indication, the Colts certainly believe he can make the transition.

The Opportunity

When the Colts resigned Allen and allowed Coby Fleener to sign with the Saints, it left the position in the hands of a player who has missed a lot of games to start his career. Twenty one in the last three seasons, in fact. 2015 was also his least effective season from an efficiency standpoint, although much of that can be attributed to the Andrew Luck disaster season last year.

Still, the Colts are betting on the health of a player who can't stay healthy, and behind him have a blocking specialist in Doyle and the athletic but raw Swoope.

Even projecting Allen as a receiver is difficult, with his 45 catches as a rookie being his best season, although he did have 8 touchdowns in 2014 (on just 29 receptions). If Swoope can develop, perhaps the team will see Allen as more of a blocker and red zone specialist rather than a true receiving weapon in what profiles to be a high volume attack.

In 2014 (Andrew Luck's best season), Fleener snagged 51 receptions for 774 yards and 8 touchdowns in a part time role alongside Allen and was third on the team in targets. While Allen certainly could grab that role, I don't think the Colts would be disappointed if Swoope develops into more of a receiving option in this offense.

While I won't be adding Swoope to any rosters at this point in his young career, he is certainly a player I am keeping an eye on in deep dynasty leagues.