2011 Fantasy Football Composite Staff Rankings: Tight End

by mahoney1213 on Aug 15, 2011 2:18 PM EDT in 2011 Fantasy Football Position Rankings

Next stop on our NFL Tour is Tight End. Over the years, Tight End appeared to be the thinnest fantasy position. It was Shannon Sharpe then everyone else, Ben Coates then everyone else, or Tony Gonzalez then everyone else. Nowadays things are quite different with Tight Ends morphing into Wide Receivers. If you miss out on a top Tight End, don't fret; you have about 20 other useful Tight Ends available to draft. 2010 was full of usefulness: Antonio Gates went bananas until injuries de-railed his season, while a rookie Tight End (Rob Gronkowski) scored ten touchdowns.

2011 is scattered with potential breakouts, a strong upper tier of 5 tight ends and contributing veterans.

TE Rankings after the jump compiled by the best of the best: TJ Mahoney (mahoney1213), Evan Levine (eklevine),Scott Kaliska (dukeallstar) and Kenny Stein (Humbled Fan)...

If you're looking for other rankings, check out Fantasy Rundown, which provides rankings from other sources on the internet

		TM	EL	SK	KS
1	Antonio Gates, Chargers	2	1	1	1
2	Jason Witten, Cowboys	4	4	3	2
3	Dallas Clark, Colts	3	2	2	8
4	Vernon Davis, 49ers	5	3	4	3
5	Jermichael Finley, Packers	1	5	5	7
6	Kellen Winslow, Bucs	9	12	7	5
7	Mercedes Lewis, Jaguars	10	6	13	4
8	Chris Cooley, Redskins	11	17	9	6
9	Zach Miller, Seahawks	7	9	12	16
10	Rob Gronkowski, Patriots	16	10	6	12
11	Owen Daniels, Texans	6	8	8	23
12	Jimmy Graham, Saints	8	7	15	19
13	Dustin Keller, Jets	15	13	16	10
14	Aaron Hernandez, Patriots	13	11	11	20
15	Brandon Pettigrew, Lions	19	14	14	9
16	Tony Gonzalez, Falcons	20	15	10	11
17	Greg Olsen, Panthers	12	16	24	21
18	Jermaine Gresham, Bengals	18	18	19	22
19	Tony Moeaki, Chiefs	22	19	22	14
20	Todd Heap, Cardinals	28	22	20	15
21	Jared Cook, Titans	14	23	23	26
22	Ben Watson, Browns	17	24	21	24
23	Heath Miller, Steelers	29	25	17	18
24	Visanthe Shiancoe, Vikings	25	30	27	17
25	Kevin Boss, Raiders	21	27	25	27
26	Brent Celek, Eagles	-	21	18	13
27	Ed Dickson, Ravens	27	20	26	30
28	Jacob Tamme, Colts	32	26	28	28
29	Anthony Fasano, Dolphins	31	31	29	29
30	Fred Davis, Redskins	26	32	-	25
31	John Carlson, Seahawks	-	28	32	-
32	Kyle Rudolph, Vikings	-	29	31	-
33	Lance Kendricks, Rams	23	-	-	-
34	Julius Thomas, Broncos	24	-	-	-
35	Shawn Nelson, Bills	30	-	-	-
36	Jeremy Shockey, Panthers	-	-	30	-
37	Tony Scheffler, Lions	-	-	-	31
38	Joel Dreesen, Texans	-	-	-	32

Not surprisingly, Antonio Gates lands number one as 3 of the 4 rankers agreed that Gates would have had a record-breaking season had he stayed healthy. The top 5 players appear on most "expert's" list in some variation. You could be comfortable with any of the players in the top 12 as your starting tight end (Just keep an eye on Chris Cooley's knee if he becomes your starter).

My 2 cents: If you miss out on the upper tier, don't panic. Value can be had even below the top 12. Jared Cook is a popular break-out pick in Tennesee, and Greg Olsen goes from virtually unused in Chicago to a security blanket for Cam Newton in Carolina. If a Tight End Run starts, don't join in because you think it's the thing to do. Fill out your team otherwise.

Love it? Hate it? Let us know in the comments.

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