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PPR Target Report: Tight Ends

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In the one fantasy football league that I participate in every year, we recently moved to a 0.5 point PPR format and I liked the move. I am not sure how it was decided to go with a 0.5 point per reception rather than a full point, but take it from me, having the right receivers rostered and in your lineup can make all the difference from week to week. Last season, my team lost one game by 1.3 points and another by 0.8 points, so know which receivers to play week to week could be the difference between winning and losing. Thus the reason for the PPR Report, which I will write on a weekly basis through the end of the season. This report will provide you with the receivers who are seeing more and more targets from week to week, and also take a look at some receivers who are losing targets as well.

With that said, let's take a look at the top targeted Tight Ends over the last three seasons (based on their 3 year average) with some thoughts on how offseason moves could impact their 2012 performance. Let's take a look after the jump:

Player

Targets

Receptions

Rec. Yards

YPC

TDs

Witten, Jason TE DAL

123

89

991

11.1

5

Gonzalez, Tony TE ATL

121

78

799

10.2

6

Winslow, Kellen TE SEA

115

73

792

10.8

4

Davis, Vernon TE SF

106

67

890

13.3

9

Keller, Dustin TE NYJ

100

55

675

12.3

4

Pettigrew, Brandon TE DET

97

62

617

10

4

Graham, Jimmy TE NO

96

65

833

12.8

8

Celek, Brent TE PHI

96

60

764

12.7

6

Gronkowski, Rob TE NE

92

66

936

14.2

14

Gates, Antonio TE SD

90

64

906

14.2

8

Olsen, Greg TE CAR

89

49

519

10.6

6

Gresham, Jermaine TE CIN

88

54

534

9.9

5

Hernandez, Aaron TE NE

88

62

736

11.9

6

Clark, Dallas TE TB

83

57

602

10.6

5

Miller, Heath TE PIT

80

56

644

11.5

3

Miller, Zach TE SEA

78

50

574

11.5

3

Lewis, Marcedes TE JAC

77

43

559

13

4

Shiancoe, Visanthe TE NE

76

46

502

10.9

5

Watson, Benjamin TE CLE

71

45

526

11.7

3

Daniels, Owen TE HOU

70

44

556

12.6

3

With Brandon Lloyd added to the corp of receivers in New England, Tom Brady may look to target him a bit more than Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez in 2013. It was reported recently that Hernandez stayed late after practice to take handoffs from Brady, in an effort to get him more looks this season. Should be interesting to watch this offense for sure.

With Laurent Robinson off to Jacksonville in the offseason, and Miles Austin down with another hamstring injury, one would think the Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo may give Jason Witten a few more looks in the red zone this season. Witten's targets were down a bit last season, as Romo looked to give more targets to Dez Bryant, Austin and Robinson. That could change in 2013 and Witten's targets, receptions, yards and touchdowns may benefit as a result.

I am high on Chargers Tight End Antonio Gates this season. He appears healthy and could put up a monster season in the Chargers air it out offense. Vincent Jackson has left for Tampa, so Gates targets could return to the 2009 levels where he had 79 receptions, 1,157 yards and 8 touchdowns. I look for Gates to put up double digit touchdowns this season as long as he can stay healthy.

One guy not on this list is Broncos TIght End Jacob Tamme who could quicky become a favorite of Peyton Manning's this season. Back in 2009, Colts tight end Dallas Clark had 100+ receptions, 1,100 yards and 10 scores. If Tamme can approach just 70% of those numbers, he is a must starter in leagues where you have to roster a tight end.