Your Fantasy Football Reality Check No. 5, Tight Ends

Once again, we welcome in Stephen Lamare from Gridiron Goddess.net to share his expertise on fantasy football. Today, he is talking tight ends.

Hello again and welcome back to your Fantasy Football Reality Check.

This week, we’re going to turn the spotlight on the tight-end position. The dilemma in the draft practically every year is that everyone covets Antonio Gates, but no one wants to pull the trigger too early. Allow me to offer my own perspective on these underappreciated multi-taskers.

Now, I’m not about to tell you that it’s a priority in the draft, but it isn’t a position where I’d recommend you putting no thought into. Twice last season alone did I win games with Chris Cooley catching late-in-the-fantasy-game TD’, one of which was in the playoffs to propel me to a championship. I also lost a game due to a Jason Witten touchdown grab on a Monday-night contest last year.

I can’t take the stance that your tight end is a make-or-break contributor to your fantasy season, but I can tell you that the top six can be as effective as any receiver in any given game. As unpredictable as this position is from week to week, the top six provide plenty of stability in your passing game.

The teams that end up being the ones to call out a tight end first usually are the teams that drafted two running backs in the first couple of rounds, and missed out on at least one of the top 15 receivers.

If it's your team that finds itself in this predicament, I applaud you for using a little common sense.

Let’s face it, the No. 1 TE is FAR superior to the No. 10 TE. Conversely, as I mentioned last week, the No. 1 WR is virtually interchangeable with the No. 10 WR. Given this REALITY CHECK, if the top wideouts are off the board, I see no reason to ignore drafting the best remaining talent that you can insert into your starting lineup.

Better to take a chance on a proven quality tight end then settle for a middle-of-the-road receiver and consequently leaving the draft with a mediocre TE as well.

Since the flow of the draft largely dictates where you’ll draft each position, I’m urging you to exercise your best discretion in determining when to pickup your TE. Again, it isn’t a huge priority in my draft until the first three come off the board—then I’m on
full alert.

Focus on the top six everybody!!

TEs you‘ll relish owning

1 Antonio Gates
2 Jason Witten
3 Kellen Winslow
4 Tony Gonzalez
5 Dallas Clark
6 Chris Cooley

TEs with some ups and some downs

7 Jeremy Shockey
8 Tony Scheffler
9 Heath Miller
10 Todd Heap
11 Alge Crumpler
12 Vernon Davis

TEs I hope you‘re only considering for a bye week

13 Donald Lee
14 Benjamin Watson
15 Owen Daniels
16 L.J. Smith
17 Greg Olsen
18 Ben Utecht

That wraps up your Gridiron Goddess Fantasy-Reality Check for the tight ends. I’ll be back next week to continue your complimentary fantasy season preview. Until then, it's time for you to focus; we’re just a few weeks away from the start of the regular season!

Happy Football!

~Stephen Lamare