FanHouse's crack squad of savvy fantasy football personnel put our five heads together and amassed consensus rankings for non-keeper, standard scoring leagues. We'll update as the season gets closer, but this is our "incredibly early yet still fun" version. While we gave the nod to Antonio Gates, the truth is there is a clear-cut top four of elite fantasy tight ends who are damn near interchangeable. You could draft any of the four first and you'd get no argument from us. Each will be a very valuable part of a full-throttle offensive attack and will not hurt your fantasy team in this relatively shallow position.
If you don't get one of the elite guys, don't fret. There's a quality selection of tight ends worthy of starting in most leagues. This isn't just the Gates and Gonzalez show anymore. Thus, you shouldn't consider anyone here until Round 4 at the absolute earliest.
| Player |
Team |
| 1. Antonio Gates |
Chargers |
| He suffered a down season in 2008 and still racked up pretty solid points. The reason for his down season, though, is that he was never fully healthy, battling ankle, toe and hip injuries. He's still only going to be 29 this season, so last year was an aberration rather than a regression. Bounce-back to the top time. |
|
| 2008: 60 rec, 704 yds, 8 TD |
|
| 2. Jason Witten |
Cowboys |
| He's still a stud, but there will be added attention placed on him now that T.O. is outta town. It remains to be seen how much focus Patrick Crayton and Roy Williams can draw away from Witten, but it won't be as much as No. 81 did. Of course, he'll also get more red-zone looks -- so things should even out. |
|
| 2008: 81 rec, 952 yds, 4 TD |
|
| 3. Tony Gonzalez |
Falcons |
| It's gonna be interesting to see his adjustment to a new city for the first time in his career, but he won't miss much of a beat. He's aging but not deteriorating, and Matt Ryan will come to love having Gonzalez over the middle. |
|
| 2008: 96 rec, 1,058 yds, 10 TD |
|
| 4. Dallas Clark |
Colts |
| He'll benefit from the departure of Marvin Harrison more than Anthony Gonzalez. He's really more of the slot receiver in the offense than a tight end. |
|
| 2008: 77 rec, 848 yds, 6 TD |
|
| 5. Greg Olsen |
Bears |
| With another year comes more growth. He showed flashes of being a great pass-catcher, but then disappeared occasionally. As he enters his third season, that will slowly go away. |
|
| 2008: 54 rec, 574 yds, 5 TD |
|
| 6. Chris Cooley |
Redskins |
| Career highs in catches and yards were overshadowed by only a solitary touchdown (he had never scored less than 6 before in four seasons). He'll stay integral, but the Redskins have lots of red-zone options. |
|
| 2008: 83 rec, 849 yds, 1 TD |
|
| 7. Kellen Winslow |
Buccaneers |
| The quarterback position is unsettled and Winslow's only played a full season once. He has more talent than anyone on this list, though. Good luck! |
|
| 2008: 43 rec, 428 yds, 3 TD (10 games) |
|
| 8. Owen Daniels |
Texans |
| The talent is there and he's playing in a very strong passing offense. He's also mired in a contract dispute and is skipping voluntary workouts. Sure, they are voluntary, but it is scary nonetheless. If you draft before this is settled, tread lightly. | |
| 2008: 70 rec, 862 yds, 2 TD |
|
| 9. Dustin Keller |
Jets |
| His progression will continue in his second year. He had some really solid games as a rookie, but also some bad ones. With the departure of Laveranues Coles, expect Keller to be leaned upon heavily. | |
| 2008: 48 rec, 535 yds, 3 TD |
|
| 10. John Carlson |
Seahawks |
| Another rookie who displayed great ability last season. Expect great growth with Hasselbeck under center for a full season, though having T.J. Houshmandzadeh in house will curb some possession targets. | |
| 2008: 55 rec, 627 yds, 5 TD |
|
| 11. Kevin Boss |
Giants |
| Especially now that Plaxico Burress is gone for good, the Giants will mostly do only two things in the red zone. 1. Run the football; 2. Throw to Boss. You won't enjoy huge yardage totals, but the touchdowns will approach double-digit levels. |
|
| 2008: 33 rec, 384 yds, 6 TD (15 games) |
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| 12. Tony Scheffler |
Broncos |
| Expect a pretty significant rise in targets -- and, in turn, catches and touchdowns -- because Kyle Orton loves his tight ends. His yards-per-catch will suffer, though. |
|
| 2008: 40 rec, 645 yds, 3 TD (13 games) |
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| 13. Zach Miller |
Raiders |
| He'd be higher here if we knew we could count on consistency from JaMarcus Russell, but we just don't. Still, Miller's worth a late-round pick due to his high ceiling. Also, be careful when drafting. There's now a Zach Miller playing tight end for the Jags. |
|
| 2008: 56 rec, 778 yds, 1 TD |
|
| 14. Visanthe Shiancoe | Vikings |
| It's awfully crowded in Minnesota -- especially in the red-zone where they have two really solid running backs -- with the addition of Percy Harvin. Shiancoe needs to be paired with another tight end from this middle group if you miss out on elite and be played based upon matchups. |
|
| 2008: 42 rec, 596 yds, 7 TD |
|
| 15. Jeremy Shockey |
Saints |
| Sure, there's upside here, but Shockey's name still probably carries far too much weight in fantasy circles. I'd rather just pass. |
|
| 2008: 50 rec, 483 yds (11 games) |
|
| 16. Heath Miller |
Steelers |
| Due to his steadiness, Miller is a great TE2 option. He won't kill your lineup if someone suffers and injury or sits for a bye. | |
| 2008: 48 rec, 514 yds, 3 TD (14 games) |
|
| 17. Bo Scaife |
Titans |
| He's franchised and his replacement is already in camp. He could go disgruntled or motivated, but his numbers last year were TE2 worthy in all leagues. | |
| 2008: 58 rec, 561 yds, 2 TD |
|
| 18. Brandon Pettigrew |
Lions |
| Real tough projection here. He could easily blossom into a TE1 already, or he could do virtually nothing on a bad Lions team looking to rebuild. Can't hurt to have him as a backup to one of the elite tier. |
|
| 2008 (college -- Oklahoma St.): 42 rec, 472 yds (9 games) |
|
| 19. Marcedes Lewis |
Jaguars |
| Only 25, he's still growing into his role, but there isn't a ton of upside here. | |
| 2008: 41 rec, 489 yds, 2 TD |
|
| 20. Todd Heap |
Ravens |
| A shell of his former self due to injuries. Now the Ravens have brought in competition. |
|
| 2008: 35 rec, 403 yds, 3 TD |
|
| 21. Vernon Davis |
49ers |
| He was actually serviceable once Mike Singletary called him out, but when I see the name Vernon Davis, I can't help but start hearing "fool me once ... " |
|
| 2008: 31 rec, 358 yds, 2 TD |
|
| 22. Anthony Fasano |
Dolphins |
| It's fantasy roulette! Do you want a guy who can give you anywhere from zero points (three times) or double-digits (three times) or anywhere between with no real logic as to why? If so, he's your man. |
|
| 2008: 34 rec, 454 yds, 7 TD |
|
| 23. Brent Celek |
Eagles |
| With L.J. Smith out of the way, Celek will see increased looks in the Eagles' pass-heavy offense. |
|
| 2008: 27 rec, 318 yds, 1 TD |
|
| 24. Billy Miller |
Saints |
| Keep an eye on Shockey. If he gets hurt, cut or suspended for any reason, Miller's stock sky-rockets. |
|
| 2008: 45 rec, 579 yds, 1 TD |
|
| 25. Donald Lee |
Packers |
| Just barely clinging to relevance. |
|
| 2008: 39 rec, 303 yds, 5 TD |
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26. Desmond Clark, Bears
27. Randy McMichael, Rams
28. L.J. Smith, Ravens
29. Martellus Bennett, Cowboys
30. Steve Heiden, Browns
31. Jerramy Stevens, Buccaneers
32. Brad Cottam, Chiefs
33. Ben Watson, Patriots
34. David Martin, Dolphins
35. Dante Rosario, Panthers
36. Alex Smith, Patriots
37. Daniel Graham, Broncos
38. Jermichael Finley, Packers
39. Jared Cook, Titans
40. Fred Davis, Redskins
