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When I wrote my rankings last week, I left out Rob Gronkowski for fear he wouldn't play due to injury. However, I seemed to forget that Gronk is a superhuman and can come back from a sidelining injury. My mistake, Gronk. Please resume your role as the number one tight end on my list. So with Gronk now at number one, let's rank 2-25 and some quick hot takes on my reasoning.
Rank | Player | Team | Opponent |
1 | Rob Gronkowski | NE | TEN |
2 | Gary Barnidge | CLE | @SEA |
3 | Greg Olsen | CAR | @NYG |
4 | Jordan Reed | WAS | BUF |
5 | Delanie Walker | TEN | @NE |
6 | Tyler Eifert | CIN | @SF |
7 | Antonio Gates | SD | MIA |
8 | Julius Thomas | JAC | ATL |
9 | Benjamin Watson | NO | DET |
10 | Will Tye | NYG | CAR |
11 | Zach Miller | CHI | @MIN |
12 | Travis Kelce | KC | @BAL |
13 | Richard Rodgers | GB | @OAK |
14 | Heath Miller | PIT | DEN |
15 | Eric Ebron | DET | @NO |
16 | Jacob Tamme | ATL | @JAC |
17 | Vernon Davis | DEN | @PIT |
18 | Jason Witten | DAL | NYJ |
19 | Zach Ertz | PHI | ARI |
20 | Charles Clay | BUF | @WAS |
21 | Austin Seferian-Jenkins | TB | @STL |
22 | Kyle Rudolph | MIN | CHI |
23 | Coby Fleener | IND | HOU |
24 | Clive Walford | OAK | GB |
25 | Ryan Griffin | HOU | @IND |
Eric Ebron is a very safe pick this week if you don't have a tight end that falls in the very limited elite-class. Although he may not be a top-10 guy on my list, he has an extremely high ceiling and he could surpass that mark. Reason being he faces the Saints defense. New Orleans has surrendered the most fantasy points to tight ends this season. To give Ebron an even bigger boost, Brandon Pettigrew, his backup, is out for the remainder of the season. Ebron should see a lot of the field and exploit the Saints terrible pass coverage. I trust Ebron in all lineups.
Like I said last week, I love Will Tye. As an Eagles fan I hate the Giants, but I love Will Tye. He's a consistent tight end that has found his niche in a Giants passing game that feeds ball after ball to Odell Beckham Jr. Tye is also avaiable in a majority of leagues (owned in only 13.1% of ESPN leagues). Unless you have someone above Tye in the rankings, pick him up and play him for a double digit fantasy day.
Vernon Davis could be a sneaky tight end play this week. I always like to throw in one guy who could surprise owners in my rankings each week, and for this edition it's Vernon Davis. Last week he had seven catches for 74 yards, but he also dropped a pass in the fourth that could've but him over the century mark. Davis isn't a homerun tight end by any means, but he could have a good day again this week as he faces a Steelers defense that has been exploited by the tight end position.
For any questions about my rankings or start/sit inquiries, ask me on Twitter @NickPetraccione.