Fantasy Big Board: Tight Ends
It's all fun and games in fantasy, until someone gets hurt, or in our case, drafts the guy who gets hurt. Most of you don't know who I am, or what my knowledge level is on fantasy, and I get that. To briefly describe my history, I have mainly used cbssports.com leagues, with 12 teams, no flex position, and 5 on the bench and in a draft format where the 12th pick gets the 13th and the 1st pick gets the 24th and 25th and so on. I have played for about 10 years or so with two or more teams, and have either won or gotten second in each of the last five years (as I don't remember before that). I also won about $275 on FanDuel last season, which isn't a lot, but I only spent about $50. I'm above average for sure, and it all has to do with not only the draft, but the waiver wire as well and not buying into the wrong people.
Today, with my tiers in tight ends, the first tier is only one player, and he is Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots. He is the only tight end in fantasy history to even be considered a number one selection by a team, and he is capable of putting up the highest score on your team. He is tier one, but he is not worth the first selection in my mind, because the rest of the tight ends are way closer together from a skill perspective, as shown in tier two.
Tier two: Jordan Reed (Washington), Jimmy Graham (Seattle), Gary Barnidge (Cleveland), Travis Kelce (Kansas City), Tyler Eifert (Cincinnati), Greg Olsen (Carolina), Julius Thomas (Jacksonville), Delanie Walker (Tennessee). It's kind of weird that at least half of these tight ends are on mediocre or worse teams, like Gary Barnidge. Be careful with him and Delanie Walker, to a lesser degree, as the QB situation is crazy in Cleveland, and unproven in Tennessee. Then again, Barnidge surprised everybody last year. I'd still be cautious though. Jimmy Graham could have "Gronk" status if he didn't sustain injuries and didn't leave Drew Brees, but he still could prove to be the second best tight end. Julius Thomas looks to play every game this year and have a bounce back season.
Tier three: Zach Ertz (Philadelphia), Martellus Bennett (New England), Ladarius Green (Pittsburgh), Antonio Gates (San Diego), Kyle Rudolph (Minnesota), Richard Rodgers (Green Bay), Jason Witten (Dallas), Eric Ebron (Detroit), Austin Seferian-Jenkins (Tampa Bay). This is a unique group, a group filled with people with different QB situations, people on the rise, on the fall, and heck, one of these guys is even a second-string tight end. But they all have potential to be starter worthy, if everything goes right. For instance, Antonio Gates could still be the old Gates and get 900 yards and six TDs, or be starter worthy. Or, last year Richard Rodgers had 58 receptions and 8 touchdowns, and people think that was a bad season. Ladarius Green now is in Ben Roethlisberger's offense, and could finally have that breakout season. These guys can all succeed, and all bust.
Tier four: Ben Watson (Baltimore), Coby Fleener (New Orleans), Jared Cook (Green Bay), Zach Miller (Chicago), Hunter Henry (San Diego), Jace Amaro (New York Jets). These are guys who you shouldn't start more than 1-2 weeks in the season, but are guys for if you want a backup TE and none of the aforementioned players are available. We have two second string tight ends, and one of them is a rookie in Jared Cook and Hunter Henry, respectively. Also, there is an aging veteran in Ben Watson, a tight end that defines what an average tight end should be in Zach Miller, an underachiever in Coby Fleener who is only here based on the fact that he is in New Orleans with Brees, and a guy who is here solely on potential in Jace Amaro. They are all worth a look as a backup, but like I said, they are BACKUPS.
