San Francisco 49ers: Is Vernon Davis the Best Tight End in the NFL?

Recently, ESPN released their Power Rankings of the best tight ends in the NFL. Vernon Davis came in at number four. The three tight ends ranked above him are Jason Witten, Antonio Gates and Dallas Clark.

Notice anything about the top three tight ends on the list? For the majority of Jason Witten's career, he has had Tony Romo throwing him the ball. Antonio Gates' quarterback is Philip Rivers, and Dallas Clark catches passes from one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.

Like Alex Smith, Vernon Davis has seen a new offensive coordinator every year he has been in San Francisco. He has seen Shaun Hill, Alex Smith, Troy Smith, David Carr and J.T. O'Sullivan under center.

Still, no tight end has been more productive since Davis had his breakout year in 2009. Davis has put forth back-to-back seasons of over 900 receiving yards, but what sets him apart are his 20 touchdowns over the last two years. Lackluster QB play and inadequacies on the offensive coaching front weren't enough to hold Davis back from tying the single-season touchdown reception record for tight ends in 2009.

Davis averaged 16.3 yards per reception in 2010. More so than any other tight end, Davis has the potential to take every pass to the house. Perhaps most impressive about Davis' game is his combination of speed and power.

The Vernon Davis seam route was unstoppable in 2009. In 2010, teams did a better job at shutting that play down. For the first three games, Davis was kept out of the end zone. Fortunately for Davis, Mike Johnson took over at offensive coordinator after Week 3. Davis proceeded to go on a tear in the next four games, scoring a touchdown in every game.

Now that Jim Harbaugh is in place as the head coach, Davis should be able to showcase how great of a talent he actually is. Davis is too big for defensive backs to cover or tackle and too fast for linebackers. If anyone benefits from the Harbaugh hiring, it's Davis.

Even though Davis has already seen his breakout year, it's likely we have not seen the best he has to offer yet.