Tony Gonzalez Deal Gives Values Boost

In maybe the biggest pre-draft shakeup thus far, the Atlanta Falcons nabbed ten time Pro-Bowl tight end, Tony Gonzalez on the cheap for a mere 2nd round draft pick in the 2010 draft (presumably a late round one at that, the way the Falcons are shaping up). Gonzo made it no secret in recent months that having pretty much solidified his claim as the best tight end of all time – at least for the next five years or so while that other fella from San Diego works through the second half of his career – that he wanted to play for a contender.

This trade should provide immediate fantasy implications, which bode well for just about everybody involved.

Well, besides the Chiefs passing game. This is really the only area to take a hit, but Kansas City has bigger fish to fry, opting to rebuild the team from the ground up via draft picks and youngsters. The Chiefs will be back to contention in a couple years time, but until we see more in terms of who will be in starting spots on this offense, temper expectations for anyone involved. As it stands, Matt Cassell should not under any circumstances be considered anything more than a flier in last couple of rounds, and more likely a waiver wire pickup should he show some early game numbers. The fantasy impact for the Falcon's fantasy pillars should get better pretty much across the board. Matt Ryan obviously gets a big time boost adding the best route running tight end in football to his arsenal of weapons. The big tight end gives him much improved options over the middle and for shorter routes. Tony Gonzalez should likewise provide him an automatic jump in touchdown passes.

Furthermore, Michael Turner will also likely get better as safeties and linebackers will spend a lot of time focusing on Gonzalez and open up some additional running room. Again, the touches may drop a hair, but the reduced focus makes Turner a bigger threat than ever.

Roddy White is perhaps the only Atlanta player whose numbers might falter somewhat thanks to Gonzo's arrival, but this could really go either way. Again, Gonzalez should tie up the safeties and loosen some of the focus on White, inevitably providing him with more one-on-ones, but in terms of targets, he will likely see a drop and his red zone looks will likely decline a bit. I would not go as far as to say this really hampers White's value too much though, as he and quarterback Matt Ryan clearly developed a solid chemistry last season. I would keep Roddy White out of the first three, maybe four rounds of your draft projections (what, you don't have a draft projection yet? pfft.), but if he drops below that, consider him a steal.

All in all, this trade just made the Falcons a lot better and the Chiefs, well, who knows about the Chiefs? Come Monday, Kansas City will look a lot different than they do today. With a new relatively unproven quarterback at the helm, your best bet for the Chiefs is to avoid the passing game, since the best component just left town. More importantly, I think this move affords us the ability to safely consider the Falcons offense one of the most potent and fantasy relevant units in the NFL for next season.