Heading into training camp most fantasy football sites and analysts have ranked fantasy players for the 2012 in some format or another. Every day of training camp those rankings will shift. For example, if a certain receiver sees his long-term contract awarded to a teammate, he will likely fall down the rankings and his backup will see a large gain.
Recently I delivered my Aggregate QB Rankings and Aggregate RB Rankings, and now I will take a quick look at the Tight Ends. Overall the rankings seem to agree on the top two at the position, but there is not a clear decision on which player is #1 overall.
As before, I chose ten different sites to aggregate my player position rankings, incorporating major fantasy football league sites and other sites that dedicate themselves to more frequent and in-depth analysis of players and the world of fantasy football. The list includes: ESPN staff rankings, 4for4.com staff rankings, ProFootballFocus.com, NFL.com, TheFakeFootball.com staff rankings, FFToday.com, FFToolbox.com, CBS’ Jamey Eisenberg, KFFL.com and FantasySharks.com staff rankings.
Below are the aggregated QB rankings with additional thoughts, outliers and observations. The number in parentheses depicts the average across all 10 sites.
The Top 2
1. Rob Gronkowski, NE (1.4) – 6 of 10 sites chose Gronkowski #1 overall. The concern with him is that the TDs are not sustainable with all the mouths to feed in New England. Take away 7 of his 18 total and he was still the #1 TE last season.
2. Jimmy Graham, NO (1.6) – He received the other four 1st place votes and the rest were all 2’s. He could easily push for most targets of any WR/TE again this season and the only question with him or Gronk is if you want to pay a 2nd rounder for them.
Really good, just not Grahamkowski good
3. Antonio Gates, SD (4.2) – 4 rankings had him at 3rd overall, while 4fo4 and FFToolBox placed him down at 6th. Gates finished 2 TDs out of 3rd in fantasy points for TEs last season, despite missing 4 games and never practicing during the week. Hard to bet against him, but make sure you are not simply betting on the name.
4. Aaron Hernandez, NE (4.8) – He finished 3rd in fantasy points for TEs last year and 4 rankings have him right there again. ESPN put him at 7th and KFFL unimaginably ranked him as the 11th best TE this season! There may be a lot of mouths to feed in Boston, but Brady is serving them and they all will get theirs.
5. Jason Witten, DAL (5.4) – 4for4 loves Witten this season as the 3rd overall TE. TheFakeFootball and ProFootballFocus are not buying as much and place him at 7th. Laurent Robinson is gone, so Witten might come close again to double digit TDs and 1,000 yards.
6. Jermichael Finley, GB (5.7) – FFToolBox is all-in on Finley at 3rd TE overall this season. No one else is quite as certain and for a guy that had over 70 yards only 3 times last season I remain more cautious than optimistic.
7. Vernon Davis, SF (5.9) – ESPN is buying at 4th overall and four other rankings have him at 5th for a guy who finished as the 8th best TE in fantasy last season. Over his last five games, including playoffs, he did average over 100 yards and had 5 TDs so does that momentum carry over? With added weapons at WR and RB, and Smith still the QB, 7th overall sounds about right.
Solid but just not elite
8. Fred Davis, WAS (8.7) – mostly 8’s and 9’s from the group of rankers, though FFToday has no faith in Davis and rookie RGIII placing him down at 13th overall for TEs.
9. Tony Gonzalez, ATL (9.7) – Gonzalez finished 4th among TEs last season but his highest ranking is an 8 from ESPN and 4for4 and Jamey Eisenberg have him outside of the top 10 at 11th overall. Gonzalez still has the hands and is on his farewell campaign so maybe magic will be in the air at the Georgia Dome.
10. Brandon Pettigrew, DET (11.2) – FantasySharks put him in at 8th overall. 6 of the other 10 rankings had him at 11th or worse, making him a borderline TE1 in 12 team leagues. He finished 3rd in receptions, but 11th in yards by a TE last season, showing he is better suited for PPR.
Take your pick
11. Brent Celek, PHI (11.7) – 4for4 ranked him at 9th overall, while the rest had him in double digits. Just not too much to get excited about when there are four other playmakers ahead of him on the offense.
12. Jermaine Gresham, CIN (12.6) – Gresham had the most variation in rankings for any TE. KFFL has him as their 4th overall and Jamey Eisenberg put him at 8th. On the other end of the spectrum FFToday placed him down at 17th and ESPN saw no better than the 18th in 2012. Unfortunately I cannot explain the KFFL ranking and ESPN seems too low, so 12 seems fine for now.
13. Dustin Keller, NYJ (13.2) – FFToday loves him at 6th overall, while Jamey Eisenberg likely fears the QB situation as much as I do, and placed him down at 18th overall.
14. Jacob Tamme, DEN (13.2) – 10th overall from NFL and 19th from KFFL. Many are expecting greatness as he reunites with Peyton, but the unknown keeps him out of the top 10.
15. Owen Daniels, HOU (15.6) – 4for4 and ESPN liked him enough at 13th overall with the rest leaving him at 15 or higher in the rankings. Enough potential, but not enough opportunity with that running game.
16. Jared Cook, TEN (15.6) – FFToday and ESPN were higher than most at 10th and 11th overall. A physical freak, Cook finished the season with 21 catches for 335 yards in his last 3 games. Most likely TE sleeper from just about everyone this season.
I will be looking back at the rankings closer to fantasy drafts and as we get into the pre-season. WRs are next up so check back soon.
Follow Luke Wetta on Twitter @FFGator or at Fantasy Football Aggregator
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