Fantasy Football Week 4 Rankings: Top 25 Tight Ends

Tight end has continued to be a position with a lot of highs and a lot of lows.  While some of the elite options are struggling early on (Antonio Gates and Jason Witten), there have been some big breakouts over the first three weeks (Dennis Pitta and Martellus Bennett).  Let’s take a look on how it all comes together for this week’s rankings:

1. Jimmy Graham – New Orleans Saints – at Green Bay
2. Rob Gronkowski – New England Patriots – at Buffalo
3. Vernon Davis – San Francisco 49ers – at New York Jets
4. Tony Gonzalez – Atlanta Falcons – vs. Carolina
5. Antonio Gates – San Diego Chargers – at Kansas City
6. Dennis Pitta – Baltimore Ravens – vs. Cleveland
7. Brandon Pettigrew – Detroit Lions – vs. Minnesota
8. Jermichael Finley – Green Bay Packers – vs. New Orleans
9. Kyle Rudolph – Minnesota Vikings – at Detroit
10. Martellus Bennett – New York Giants – at Philadelphia
11. Owen Daniels – Houston Texans – vs. Tennessee
12. Brent Celek – Philadelphia Eagles – vs. New York Giants
13. Jason Witten – Dallas Cowboys – vs. Chicago
14. Scott Chandler – Buffalo Bills – vs. New England
15. Jared Cook – Tennessee Titans – at Houston
16. Jacob Tamme – Denver Broncos – vs. Oakland
17. Brandon Myers – Oakland Raiders – at Denver
18. Jermaine Gresham – Cincinnati Bengals – at Jacksonville
19. Greg Olsen – Carolina Panthers – at Atlanta
20. Fred Davis – Washington Redskins – at Tampa Bay
21. Dutin Keller – New York Jets – vs. San Francisco
22. Tony Moeaki – Kansas City Chiefs – vs. San Diego
23. Anthony Fasano – Miami Dolphins – at Arizona
24. Marcedes Lewis – Jacksonville Jaguars – vs. Cincinnati
25. Dallas Clark – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – vs. Washington

Thoughts:

• The New York Jets defense has to move forward without Darrelle Revis.  While he wouldn’t have been defending Vernon Davis anyways, his loss is going to have an impact on every aspect of how the Jets run their defense.  As it is, Davis has been a monster this season (13 receptions for 169 yards and 4 TD), and there is every reason to think that he will continue to produce.
• Would anyone have predicted that the three most targeted tight ends through three weeks would be Jimmy Graham (31), Dennis Pitta (30) and Tony Gonzalez (28)?  Graham obviously isn’t the surprise and Gonzalez is maybe a mild one, but no one would’ve guessed Pitta.  There is no reason to think that he won’t continue to function as an important piece of a high-powered offense, making him a TE1 for the foreseeable future.
• Jermichael Finley just hasn’t been very good this season and, while the Saints’ defense has been poor as well, they have allowed just 3 passing TD on the season.  I expect better days to be ahead, but with other tight ends emerging he’s sliding down the rankings until he shows us more.
• While Martellus Bennett has been a major force in the Giants’ offense this season, he has dropped a few passes, and will definitely have to battle for touches (especially with the emergence of Ramses Barden in Week 3).  Is he a TE1?  Absolutely, but until he proves he can continue to produce when all of the Giants’ weapons are healthy, he has to be suppressed a little bit.
• It’s pretty obvious that Jason Witten was affected by his injury a lot more than anyone could’ve imagined.  He continues to struggle, though you have to think that he will right the ship before long.  Don’t give up hope, but monitor the situation for now.
• Fantasy owners will have to monitor the news on Jared Cook and Dustin Keller to make sure they are playing before depending on them.  For now, they are going to be included in the rankings, but be prepared to go with another option.
• Brandon Myers continued to be perfect, catching each of the 15 passes he has been targeted on this season.  How much longer can this really last?  Throw that risk in with the fact that he has yet to find the end zone and Myers becomes more of a mid-to-low level TE2.
• We continue to wait for the Peyton Manning-Jacob Tamme combination to thrive, thanks to their familiarity.  Unfortunately, it hasn’t really happened yet, as Tamme has just 10 receptions for 87 yards and 1 TD.  Until Tamme starts to produce, how can we trust him?  The matchup is favorable, however, so consider him a viable plug-in option, just not someone to use on a weekly basis.
• Until Robert Griffin III shows that he is going to go to Fred Davis, it’s impossible to use him.  Davis has just 11 receptions for 142 yards and 0 TD on the year, as the Redskins rookie QB looks elsewhere often.

Make sure to check out the rest of our Week 4 rankings:

• Top 25 Quarterbacks