Week 12 TE Rankings - Standard Leagues

In the immortal words of Chris Tucker, "you got to be a stupid you-know-what to get fired on your day off!"

Contrary to popular opinion, Tucker was actually referring to Johnny Manziel, not Ice Cube.

Manziel's demotion is relevant to the fake game because Josh McCown consistently improves the outlook for Gary Barnidge. The only downside to this development will be the struggle to find a relevant way to throw shade on Johnny Manziel in Week 13. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Let's recap Week 11 for a moment. All you really need to know is that five of the top twelve tight ends were ONE PERCENT owned or less in Yahoo! leagues. That's right, folks. Luminaries such as Vance McDonald, Cameron Brate, Lance Kendricks, Brent Celek, and Darren Fells helped pace the position last week. If that isn't a perfect microcosm of the state of this position, I don't know what is.

Meanwhile, Travis Kelce, Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski, Jason Witten, Jordan Reed, Antonio Gates, and Martellus Bennett all finished outside of the Top 15. So much for "safe" options.

Last week's poster-boy was Eric Ebron, and on a measly two targets he managed zero catches, zero yards, zero TDs, and zero points. And he dropped a touchdown pass. So yes, let's forget about Week 11 and move right along to Week 12.

This week, Rob Gronkowski and the Patriots travel to Denver to take on the league's best pass defense. In my opinion, the moment I bench Gronk is the moment he goes nuts for multiple scores. With Julian Edelman on the shelf and Danny Amendola hobbled, do you expect Gronkowski to step up? Do what you will, but Gronkowski stays put as the #1 TE option in my book.

You will notice that after the "stud" tight end options are listed, there are a couple of throwbacks that crack the Top 12 this week. Brent Celek, Heath Miller, and Zach Miller all have great opportunities to do some damage this week.

Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving!