Welcome back to the best time of the year, folks. Fantasy football is upon us. For my part, I will offer up standard league tight end rankings each week by Thursday afternoon. My sole focus this year at FakeTeams is getting the tight end position right. So feel free to keep returning to this space each week to dialogue about a position that can get a little funky.
1. Rob Gronkowski
2. Jordan Reed
3. Travis Kelce
4. Delanie Walker
5. Coby Fleener
6. Greg Olsen
7. Julius Thomas
8. Gary Barnidge
9. Dwayne Allen
10. Jared Cook
Week 1 has some interesting angles. No Tom Brady means some of the luster is gone from Rob Gronkowski—but you never bench Gronk if you own him. Logically, what Gronk lacks in efficiency these first four weeks, he should make up for with volume. I got burned multiple times last season when I pushed Gronk to the #2 spot...I’m not making that mistake again in 2016. Start this stud every week.
Greg Olsen has a brutal matchup, as do Cam Newton and the entire Panthers offense. This game should be far from fantasy-friendly, and I am staying away from it if I can. All that said, Olsen should still be Cam’s favored target as Kelvin Benjamin is going to be on a snap count. Olsen is a solid volume play that will almost never going give you a bagel--but his upside is capped in this matchup against Denver. I rank Olsen three spots lower than the expert consensus over at FantasyPros.
Jared Cook is my guy for top ten upside this week. I have him 10th at the position but he could easily outperform that. I’m giving some credit to Jordy Nelson where it is due, as the Packers maintain that he will not be limited against the Jaguars. Cook sounds like the third fiddle in this offense, though...which is an excellent place to be if your quarterback is Aaron Rodgers.
11. Antonio Gates
12. Zach Ertz
13. Jason Witten
14. Clive Walford
15. Martellus Bennett
16. Eric Ebron
17. Vance McDonald
18. Zach Miller
19. Charles Clay
20. Will Tye
21. Jimmy Graham
22. Jesse James
23. Kyle Rudolph
24. Cameron Brate
Zach Ertz and Jason Witten both take a hit due to their quarterback situations being in flux, but it's the same argument with Gronk--targets should make up for some loss in efficiency.
If I had to choose a Tampa Bay tight end, it would be Cameron Brate. Austin-Seferian Jenkins continues to get himself into trouble, and it sounds like Brate is more trusted in the red zone. To me, it’s a major indictment of ASJ’s game if they are still listing him as a co-starter with Brate. If the guy has been tough to rely on this far, I'd imagine Brate has a better chance at coming down with a red-zone score.
25. Austin Seferian-Jenkins
26. Jordan Cameron
27. Virgil Green
28. Richard Rodgers
29. Crockett Gillmore
30. Tyler Kroft
Virgil Green is another big departure for me. I don’t feel that working the middle or the seam against Luke Keuchly is a place I want my tight end to be. If a Denver receiver does some damage, I think it will be Demaryius Thomas or Emmanuel Sanders on a deep ball. Green has had some positive buzz this season but I’m not ready to use him yet—not even as a second tight end.
Let’s jump on it this week and feel free to haggle with me in the comments.