2009 fantasy football rankings: Tight ends

in Sports by griffn — September 3, 2009 at 10:33 am | 1 comment

In most fantasy drafts, tight ends will start coming off the board around round five or six.  And after the first one is taken, there’s usually a run on them, so don’t hesitate too long if you want one of the top guys.  If the run passes you by and you miss out on getting one of the first five or six tight ends on this list, just wait till the end of your draft to get one (not the very end though– save your last two picks for a defense and kicker).

Each fantasy league has 8-14 teams and very rarely if ever does anyone draft a backup tight end.  That means even if you wait till the end of the draft, you’re virtually guaranteed to get someone on this list.  And the difference between a Kellen Winslow (my 7th ranked tight end) and a Jeremy Shockey (my 12th)– in terms of risk, potential and value– just isn’t great enough to bother using a pick in the middle rounds on.  Grab that sleeper running back or a solid backup quarterback instead.

Okay, on to the show.  And before you draft, make sure you check out my quarterback, running back, and wide receiver rankings as well.  But only if you want to win your league.

1. Tony Gonzalez – Atlanta Falcons
There’s a bit of a risk with Gonzalez in the fact that he’s changing teams for the first time in his 13-year career.  For me, that risk is offset by the fact that he was far and away the best fantasy tight end in the league last year (100 yards and 6 TDs better than #2 TE Jason Witten), and the fact that he has produced in Kansas City regardless of coaching or personnel changes.

2. Jason Witten – Dallas Cowboys
With the departure of Terrell Owens from Dallas and the inevitable disappointment of Roy Williams, Tony Romo isn’t going to have a lot of options in the red zone.  Enter Jason Witten, who I think is going to have a career year as the Cowboy’s top receiving option.

3. Dallas Clark – Indianapolis Colts
Clark is another tight end who should benefit from the loss of a star receiver.  Manning is going to put up his numbers one way or another, and I’m betting a lot of the passing attempts that traditionally went Marvin Harrison’s way are going to Clark this year.

4. Antonio Gates – San Diego Chargers
There’s a good chance Gates will be the first tight end selected in your league.  Once upon a time, this was justified.  But Gates’ physical style has caused him to battle injuries the last two years, and last season he caught the fewest passes of his career since he was a rookie.  With more and more of Philip Rivers’ attention going to the wide receivers, I don’t think Gates is worth drafting for as high as you’ll have to take him.

5. Chris Cooley – Washington Redskins
Last season, Cooley finished second in receptions and fourth in yards among all tight ends.  Problem is, he only caught 1 TD.  But he averaged 7 TDs a year over the previous four seasons, so expect him to bounce back to form.

6. Owen Daniels – Houston Texans
Daniels only caught 2 TDs last year, and they both came in the same game.  That means that he went scoreless in the other 15 games.  Still, he catches a lot of passes for a lot of yards, and he’s improved in both categories every year of his career.

7. Kellen Winslow – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Kellen Winslow is a soldier who seems to be soldiering through some serious injury every year.  Last year, he missed six games and posted the worst numbers of his career.  But when he’s on the field, there are few tight ends in the league who will give you better numbers.  A risk, but one worth taking.

8. Greg Olsen – Chicago Bears
Olsen– the Bears’ #1 draft pick in 2007– caught 574 yards and 5 TDs last year with Kyle Orton at quarterback.  Now Jay Cutler is running the offense, a quarterback who likes throwing to the tight end.  The continued atrociousness of the Bears receiving corps should also help Olsen’s numbers.

9. Visanthe Shiancoe – Minnesota Vikings
Brett Favre has spent his entire career lifting mediocre tight ends to fantasy greatness.  The fact that you even know who Bubba Franks is is a testament to that.  Shiancoe only caught 42 passes last year, but was statistically a top 5 fantasy tight end.  He won’t rank that high this year, but with Favre at quarterback he’ll remain a solid starting option.

10. John Carlson – Seattle Seahawks
Carlson led the Seahawks in receptions and TDs last year in his rookie season.  He’ll benefit greatly if Matt Hasselbeck can bounce back, but the arrival of T.J. Houshmandzadeh will mean fewer red zone looks.

11. Zach Miller – Oakland Raiders
Miller has as much big-play potential as any tight end in the league, and he’s got a nice rapport with quarterback JaMarcus Russell going (more than a quarter of Russell’s completions last year went to Miller).  The problem is that the Raiders are terrible and Russell doesn’t throw a lot of TDs.  But Miller puts up a lot of yards, and he’ll rarely lay a goose egg– he had 11 games with 40 yards or more last year.

12. Jeremy Shockey – New Orleans Saints
After being traded to the Saints last year, Shockey suffered a sports hernia and had the worst season of his career.  Still, he did catch 50 passes.  And he does have a quarterback who could throw for 5,000 yards.  And he is Jeremy Shockey.  He won’t get back to his mid-decade form, but he’s still worth a late draft pick.

13. Dustin Keller – New York Jets
The Jets passing game is really young and inexperienced, especially now with rookie Mark Sanchez at the helm.  The plus side of that is that Keller has as good a chance as anyone to be the go-to guy in that offense.  The downside is that the Jets air attack is probably going to struggle through some serious growing pains most of the year.

14. Kevin Boss – New York Giants
Boss caught 6 TDs last year, but only 33 receptions overall.  He did most of his damage after Burress went down with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, so that could bode well for his prospects this season.

15. Tony Scheffler – Denver Broncos
Scheffler is a good but unspectacular tight end who probably spent most of last season on your league’s waiver wire.  With the Broncos downgrade at quarterback from Jay Cutler to Kyle Orton, Scheffler is likely to spend all of this season on your league’s waiver wire.

Related posts:

1. 2009 fantasy football rankings: Wide receivers
2. 2009 fantasy football draft rankings: Quarterbacks
3. 2009 fantasy football draft rankings: Running backs
4. Why you shouldn’t draft a kicker or defense until the last two rounds
5. Forbes NFL power rankings: Week 5

Tags: fantasy football Jason Witten NFL rankings tight ends Tony Gonzalez