2011 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings: ESPN vs. Yahoo ADP Values

It seems like Vernon Davis is falling out of favor as one of the true elite tight ends for fantasy football based on the 49ers' struggles from 2010, and the projected issues they might have this season.

As a 49er fan, I can tell you that recent years have been hard to watch, but I can promise you that new head coach Jim Harbaugh’s offensive scheme and play-calling will be superior to the garbage this team had a year ago.

Heck, at the start of the season, OC Jimmy Raye couldn’t even get the plays called in time so that the offense wouldn’t eat up their timeouts and take penalties during the game. Raye was fired after three games, but that was just the start of a horrible offensive season.

Through it all, Davis still managed to total 914 yards and seven touchdowns.

While many fantasy owners will scoff at the fact that Alex Smith is still the starting quarterback, he loves Davis and will target him early and often. Bringing back the West Coast Offense, will allow the 49ers to move the football up and down the field with the passing game, and I anticipate that Davis will return to totaling the kind of numbers that should make him worthy of being drafted as the second tight end this summer.

If you look at the ESPN vs. Yahoo ADP values below, you will notice that Davis is going somewhere around the sixth to seventh round. Still, a top-five overall tight end selection, Davis is worthy of your consideration as early as the fifth round, but I wouldn’t go any lower than the sixth to draft him.

Below I have a few tight ends that I find to be over or undervalued based on the ADP values listed in this article. Good luck at your draft and may this information help you when selecting your tight end(s).

Overvalued

Jimmy Graham: ESPN ADP 115.1, Yahoo ADP 70.4—Don’t get me wrong, I think Graham could be one of the future top-five options to draft at tight end, but this summer he’s struggled in camp and the team still has David Thomas around. Look for Graham to fail to live up to his lofty expectations in the first month or two of this season, and that makes his ADP on Yahoo overvalued as a fringe seventh-round selection.

I find his ESPN ADP to be about right as he’s listed at 115.1, and that would put him as an upside backup or at least one of the later starting tight ends this year. If you must have Graham in the middle rounds of your draft, just make sure you back him up with a respectable veteran like Tony Gonzalez or even Rob Gronkowski of the Patriots.

Undervalued

Aaron Hernandez: ESPN ADP 131.7, Yahoo ADP 129.6—Don’t sleep on the Patriots No.2 tight end as he could grow into a starter in at least 12 team leagues, by the end of September. Tom Brady loves to spread the football around, and he should be in line for another MVP season, which means he will take care of his tight ends, once again.

You can nab Hernandez up around the 13th round in ESPN or Yahoo leagues, and that makes him a nice backup for your team. Factor in that Gronkowski has a history of health problems in his past, and Hernandez could be an elite scorer at this position if his partner in crime should miss a significant amount of time.

More ESPN vs. Yahoo ADP Values – QB | RB | WR | TE 

		ESPN ADP	Yahoo ADP
1	Antonio Gates	35.7	34.9
2	Dallas Clark	49.4	47.9
3	Jason Witten	52.2	50.0
4	Jermichael Finley	55.4	41.9
5	Vernon Davis	61.2	52.6
6	Owen Daniels	76.4	64.7
7	Marcedes Lewis	86.1	115.5
8	Kellen Winslow	99.7	90.9
9	Greg Olsen	110.4	128.2
10	Jimmy Graham	115.1	70.4
11	Rob Gronkowski	122.1	104.5
12	Tony Gonzalez	123.6	76.4
13	Zach Miller	124.3	98.9
14	Brandon Pettigrew	130.1	122.4
15	Aaron Hernandez	131.7	129.6
16	Dustin Keller	134.4	127.4
17	Todd Heap	138.3	125.7
18	Chris Cooley	140.8	127.8
19	Brent Celek	141.8	129.1
20	Tony Moeaki	145.5	132.7

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