1 Antonio
Gates SD (BYE: 10)
Gates finally shook off various nagging injuries last season
and turned in a career high 1157 receiving yards. This year, the Chargers appear to be without Vincent Jackson, a
situation that can benefit Gates in the long run. At first, defenses will focus on Gates, but if the rest of San
Diego's young skill players can emerge, it should help spread out
attention. As long as he keeps those
injuries subdued, he’ll be a top rated tight end.
2 Vernon Davis
SF (BYE: 9)
Davis has experienced a remarkable turnaround we were all
anticipating. After literally being
thrown of the field and publically berated by his coach, he turned over a new
leaf and posted a monster season leading all tight ends with 13
touchdowns. The turnaround is real and
so is the talent; feel free to draft him among the elite tight ends.
3 Dallas Clark
IND (BYE: 7)
Clark set career highs with 100 receptions and 1106
receiving yards while managing to score 10 touchdowns. He’s always been a good bet to receive his
fair share of targets and scoring opportunities but he took it to a new level
last year. The Colts boast a talented
group of receivers, so there is always the possibility of fewer balls being
thrown his way, but he should still perform at a top-5 level.
4 Jason Witten
DAL (BYE: 4)
Witten turned in a bittersweet season for fantasy owners in
2009. Despite 94 receptions for 1030
yards, he only found the end zone 2 times.
The yardage numbers were enough to keep his value afloat and he
certainly performed well in PPR leagues, but we would have liked to seen more
redzone opportunities. He’s still a
solid fantasy TE, who, with a little more luck, has the potential for a
significant bump in value.
5 Brent Celek
PHI (BYE: 8)
Celek was high on a lot of sleeper lists last year and he
certainly met expectations. He finished
just shy of the 1000-yard mark with 971 receiving yards, but he scored 8 times
and led all tight ends with 25 redzone targets. He worked well in limited time with Kevin Kolb, so there’s no
reason to anticipate a significant drop-off.
6 Jermichael
Finley GB (BYE: 10)
A knee injury caused Finely to miss 3 games in the middle of
last year, but his strong return caught fantasy owners’ attention. He’s managed to carry that momentum into the
preseason catching 6 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown and is quickly
shedding any sleeper status. He has one
of the best quarterbacks in the league throwing to him and receives his fair
share of targets.
7 Visanthe
Shiancoe MIN (BYE: 4)
Shiancoe was already a favorite target of Bret Favre, but he
should benefit greatly from the Sidney Rice injury. You could already make the case that he’s the #2 option, but
Bernard Berrian’s slow training camp may help Shiancoe solidify the role.
8 Tony Gonzalez
ATL (BYE: 8)
The rumors of Tony Gonzalez’s demise were greatly
exaggerated last year. Although his 867
yards was the lowest total since 2002, he led all tight ends with 135 targets
and caught 83 passes for 6 touchdowns.
Of course, you have to worry about his 34 year old frame, but he seems
on pace for another solid season.
9 Owen Daniels
HOU (BYE: 7)
Daniels just returned to practice for the first time on
August 30. Depending on how his
recovery goes, there’s always the possibility of dropping him down in the
rankings. He only played in 8 games
last season after a torn ACL knocked him out for the year and ended a very
promising season. He’s a very valuable
weapon in a potent Texan offense, but the only obstacle is his health.
10 Chris Cooley
WAS (BYE: 9)
A broken ankle caused Cooley’s season to be cut short at 7
games. Like Owen Daniels, it’s risky to
ask a player who is returning from a significant injury to be in the top-10,
but we’re encouraged by Donovan McNabb’s presence. Even though McNabb has sporadically used his tight ends in the
past, Washington starts an uninspiring receiving corps and a geriatric
backfield, so Cooley may return to relevance by default.
