Once again JMP will be doing weekly NFL picks, but this week he will also begin with his fantasy football position by position preview. Previews continue with Tight Ends and will continue for the next few days.
I thought long and hard (heh, I said ‘long and hard’) about leaving tight ends for last and declaring the position the most important one this year. It is for me, but I play in one league where only the TE gets a PPR bonus and in another all-PPR league where I just convinced the commish to add a WR/TE flex (which I promptly filled with Brent Celek after taking Dallas Clark as my ‘regular’ TE). Still, most of your leagues are probably different, so here I am, doing the TE rankings second. Here we go…
Antonio Gates – as recently as 3 days ago, this slot belonged to Dallas Clark. I drafted Dallas before the pre-season even started and now I start hearing about how he’s not practicing nor playing. So Gates takes over the #1 spot, as Rivers will look to him much more now that VJax is gone.
Jermichael Finley – I’ve seen a couple of Packers pre-season games and they’re using Finley the way the Colts used Clark last year. He vaults all the way to #2.
Dallas Clark – not practicing, not playing and when he gets back, Manning has a few more receivers available than he did last year. Naturally, he’s on my team
Jason Witten – the Cowboys’ O continues to underwhelm during the pre-season, but Witten’s been solid for years now.
Vernon Davis – I’m a bit concerned that the Niners turn to Crabtree more and more in the passing game, but VD’s talent is undeniable.
Tony Gonzalez – another year older, but Matt Ryan should be over his sophomore slump.
Brett Celek – originally a couple of slots higher, but first they weren’t even throwing to him in the pre-season and now Kolb’s been looking like garbage. I think he’ll be okay, but not elite.
Chris Cooley – Mike Shanahan loves to incorporate the TE into his offense and Donovan (if he’s healthy) finally realized, with Celek last year, how much a good one can help him out. Then you’ve got the fact that, after Santana Moss, there’s not a lot of talent there. Someone’s gotta catch passes.
Vicente Schianco – Favre is back, so he’s good for his weekly 1 catch at the goal line for a TD. Hey, that’s 7 points, guaranteed. You can’t buy that kind of consistency?
Zach Miller – was targeted heavily last year by Jawalrus Russell and did all right. Now he’s got a competent QB in Jason Campbell, so he should be a bit better.
Dustin Keller – speaking of Russell, Mark Sanchez’s stats are eerily similar, but they did pretty well during their playoff run. If he’s still available here, take him.
Ed: I would add Brandon Pettigrew from the Lions here. Just a hunch, but Stafford will need a safety blanket.
Jermaine Gresham – for years, the Bengals have said they were gonna start throwing to the TE more. This year I believe them. This guy is a freak.
Heath Miller – a steady contributor, but Big Ben’s out 4-6 weeks and if the O-line struggles, he’ll stay in to block.
Owen Daniels – coming back from injury. Can’t rank him any higher until he’s got a track record.
Kevin Boss – plays for my Giants, so he’s ranked here.
Todd Heap – Flacco should be near-elite this year, so maybe Heap will benefit.
Tony Scheffler – a good safety valve for Stafford.
Greg Olsen – Mike Martz doesn’t incorporate the TE into his plans, but I’ve read that Olsen is doing ‘okay’ so far.
Kellen Winslow – a good safety valve for Josh Freeman. And that’s the best thing I can say about “Soldier Boy”.
And that’s it. There’s no one else worth talking about, in my estimation.
WRs up next!
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I thought Pettigrew was hurt. I’d still take him closer to where I listed Scheffler tho.
Pettigrew is healthy, but rotoworld doesn’t see good things for him. I disagree. We’ll see. http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=NFL&id=5219
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