Tay

Gowan

ESPN’s Adam Schefter said the Cardinals acquired the veteran tight end “with the idea of making him a regular featured part of its offense and Ertz has told others in the past the Arizona appealed to him.” This ends an excruciatingly awkward months-long dalliance between the Eagles and several teams interested in Ertz, 30. The move should be a boon for fantasy managers who drafted Dallas Goedert and those who have since rostered Ertz, who had a touchdown on four receptions Thursday night against Tampa with Goedert (COVID-19) sidelined. The Kliff Kingsbury-era Cardinals haven’t typically used the tight end in its passing game, though Maxx Williams drew 16 targets from Kyler Murray between Week 2 and Week 4 this season. Williams suffered a season-ending knee injury last week against the 49ers -- an injury that likely led to Arizona’s acquisition of Ertz. Ertz’s first game as a Cardinal will likely be Week 7 against the Texans, one of the best tight end matchups in the NFL this year. Goedert, meanwhile, will probably see an increase in pass routes and targets in an Eagles offense continually forced into pass-heavy game scripts. In five games with Ertz sidelined over the past three years, Goedert has averaged 6.6 targets, 4.2 catches, 53 yards, and 0.4 touchdowns. He’ll be less touchdown dependent with Ertz out of the picture.

He’s the second corner added by Arizona in the 2021 draft. Gowan (6'1/186) only started one season in college. After bouncing around the JUCO ranks and at Miami (OH) early in his career, Gowan eventually landed at UCF and started the 2019 season before opting out of 2020. A skinnier player for the position, Gowan is surprisingly competent in press coverage and showcases quality strength there. However, in all phases of the game, Gowan plays too high and stiff, which exacerbates some of his issues with seeing routes develop in time. Thankfully, Gowan has some decent 4.49 speed, but that alone will not be enough to close the gap in the NFL. Gowan is best in a press man scheme where he can try to win reps early.