2013 TE Fantasy Football Rankings: Vernon Davis A Top Five Tight End

It was a tale to two halves for Vernon Davis in 2012 as he started the season hot with four touchdowns through the first three weeks, only to fall apart on fantasy owners over the final six weeks, totaling only six receptions in that time.
Davis owners will remember his Monday night performance against the Bears vividly, as he hauled in six receptions for 83-yards and a touchdown in Colin Kaepernick’s first NFL start.

It was after that performance that many of us thought Davis could be headed for a monster second half, but as it turned out, receiver Michael Crabtree posted the big numbers. All this while many owners continued to stick with Davis in the lineup, only to find themselves frustrated and disappointed.

In the NFL playoffs, Davis’s production started off just as he finished the final four games of the regular season, garnering only one reception. After that, the 49ers found themselves playing from behind against the Falcons and Ravens, and in those games Davis reemerged with over 100-yards in each.

Crabtree Down

The loss of Crabtree to a torn Achilles tendon in May is a huge loss for San Francisco, but this could open the door for Davis to see an increase in touches. In what could be one of the more interesting story lines (for fantasy owners) this off-season, the 49ers are almost exclusively working Davis in as a receiver, lining him up outside.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Davis, but it could just be that the coaching staff wants to get rookie Vance McDonald regular work with the first team, and they also want to experiment with Davis as a receiver.
Eight seasons into his career, some may forget that Davis ran a 40-yard dash time under 4.4 when he came out of Maryland. Davis probably has the tools to play on the outside with regularity, and I think we will see the coaching staff use him this way if they feel like it presents a mismatch opportunity.

Another key point to remember is that Davis’s numbers increased when the 49ers fell behind in games. I think we will see more of that in 2013 than we have in recent seasons because of the secondary. This team lost star free safety Dashon Goldson in free agency and will replace him with first-round pick Eric Reid.

No disrespect to Reid, but as a 49er fan, I can’t go into the season expecting a rookie to play at the level we saw from Goldson which made him a Pro Bowl safety over the past few seasons. We should also be concerned about their cornerback corps, so expect quarterbacks like Russell Wilson, Carson Palmer, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Robert Griffin, Andrew Luck, Cam Newton and even Sam Bradford with his new weapons (and an upgraded offensive line) to find success against this defense and open the door for more passing opportunities against those quarterbacks.

Add it up, and while Davis is a bigger gamble on draft day than Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Jimmy Graham and even Rob Gronkowski, I’m willing to view him as a top-five option at his position, in light of the current situation with Aaron Hernandez which makes me sick to my stomach to think about right now.

1	Jimmy Graham, NO
2	Rob Gronkowski, NE (I)
3	Jason Witten, DAL
4	Tony Gonzalez, ATL
5	Vernon Davis, SF
6	Greg Olsen, CAR
7	Dennis Pitta, BAL
8	Kyle Rudolph, MIN
9	Antonio Gates, SD
10	Owen Daniels, HOU
11	Jermichael Finley, GB
12	Jared Cook, STL
13	Dustin Keller, MIA
14	Fred Davis, WAS
15	Brandon Myers, NYG
16	Martellus Bennett, CHI
17	Dwayne Allen, IND
18	Jordan Cameron, CLE
19	Brandon Pettigrew, DET
20	Rob Housler, ARZ
21	Jermaine Gresham, CIN
22	Brent Celek, PHI
23	Tyler Eifert, CIN
24	Heath Miller, PIT (I)
25	Luke Stocker, TB
26	Coby Fleener, IND
27	David Ausberry, OAK
28	Travis Kelce, KC
29	Marcedes Lewis, JAX
30	Jake Ballard, NE
31	Zach Miller, SEA
32	Ed Dickson, BAL
33	Tony Moeaki, KC
34	Jeff Cumberland, NYJ
35	Delanie Walker, TEN
36	Scott Chandler, BUF (I)
37	Matt Spaeth, PIT
38	Julius Thomas, DEN
39	Taylor Thompson, TEN
40	Jacob Tamme, DEN
41	Vance McDonald, SF
42	Mychal Rivera, OAK
43	Kellen Winslow Jr, NYJ
44	Anthony Fasano, KC
45	Zach Ertz, PHI
46	Jordan Reed, WAS
47	Luke Willson, SEA
48	Lance Kendricks, STL
49	James Casey, PHI
50	Ladarius Green, SD

2013 Fantasy Rankings: QB | RB | WR | K | D/ST