The golden era of tight ends
I remember when drafting a tight end early was considered the "expert play."
It wasn't that long ago, really. You took Tony Gonzalez or Shannon Sharpe in the third or fourth round and laughed while everyone else scraped around with names like Kyle Brady and Daniel Graham.
The value in having one of the premier tight ends was obvious because there just weren't many scoring points. The guys actually racking up yards and touchdowns were freaks of nature. In 2003, Itula Mili was No. 5 fantasy tight end and averaged 4.57 fantasy points per game. In 2000, Ken Dilger ranked 7th at 4.48 points per game. That was the norm for the second and third tier of tight ends.
But thanks to the road paved by Gonzalez and Sharpe, we're in the glorious midst of a golden era at the position. We know it's a copycat league, and more and more teams are targeting their tight ends in the passing game instead of using them as mere blockers.
Need proof? Here's how many tight ends have scored at least 100 fantasy points over the last 10 seasons:
1999: 3 (Wesley Walls, Tony Gonzalez, Rickey Dudley)
2000: 3 (Gonzalez, Shannon Sharpe, Freddie Jones)
2001: 2 (Gonzalez, Marcus Pollard)
2002: 3 (Todd Heap, Gonzalez, Jeremy Shockey)
2003: 2 (Gonzalez, Sharpe)
2004: 6 (Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Alge Crumpler, Randy McMichael, Shockey)
2005: 7 (Gates, Shockey, Heap, Chris Cooley, Crumpler, Witten, Gonzalez)
2006: 7 (Gates, Crumpler, Gonzalez, Heap, Cooley, Kellen Winslow, Shockey)
2007: 6 (Witten, Gates, Gonzalez, Winslow, Dallas Clark, Cooley)
2008: 5 (Gonzalez, Witten, Clark, Gates, Visanthe Shiancoe)
We're predicting that in 2009, this number will rise to unprecedented heights. Rotoworld's draft guide says 10 tight ends will crack the 100-point barrier. I'm going with 11. The position is just insanely deep.
So armed with this knowledge, it should be easy to pass on Jason Witten and Tony Gonzalez. You can bide your time when Dallas Clark and Antonio Gates come off the board. I'd even let someone else take Chris Cooley and Kellen Winslow.
You can be comfortable with Greg Olsen, Owen Daniels, Dustin Keller, Zach Miller or John Carlson as your starting tight end. Even the backup tight ends like Vernon Davis, Brent Celek and Anthony Fasano have some upside and should probably be packaged with your third-tier starting tight end.
Of course you'll lose a little something to the people that have the studs. But you'll gain a lot more by using that fourth-round pick on someone like Dwayne Bowe or Darren McFadden.
It's valuetown time at the tight end position. Jump on it.
I remember when drafting a tight end early was considered the "expert play."
It wasn't that long ago, really. You took Tony Gonzalez or Shannon Sharpe in the third or fourth round and laughed while everyone else scraped around with names like Kyle Brady and Daniel Graham.
The value in having one of the premier tight ends was obvious because there just weren't many scoring points. The guys actually racking up yards and touchdowns were freaks of nature. In 2003, Itula Mili was No. 5 fantasy tight end and averaged 4.57 fantasy points per game. In 2000, Ken Dilger ranked 7th at 4.48 points per game. That was the norm for the second and third tier of tight ends.
But thanks to the road paved by Gonzalez and Sharpe, we're in the glorious midst of a golden era at the position. We know it's a copycat league, and more and more teams are targeting their tight ends in the passing game instead of using them as mere blockers.
Need proof? Here's how many tight ends have scored at least 100 fantasy points over the last 10 seasons:
1999: 3 (Wesley Walls, Tony Gonzalez, Rickey Dudley)
2000: 3 (Gonzalez, Shannon Sharpe, Freddie Jones)
2001: 2 (Gonzalez, Marcus Pollard)
2002: 3 (Todd Heap, Gonzalez, Jeremy Shockey)
2003: 2 (Gonzalez, Sharpe)
2004: 6 (Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Alge Crumpler, Randy McMichael, Shockey)
2005: 7 (Gates, Shockey, Heap, Chris Cooley, Crumpler, Witten, Gonzalez)
2006: 7 (Gates, Crumpler, Gonzalez, Heap, Cooley, Kellen Winslow, Shockey)
2007: 6 (Witten, Gates, Gonzalez, Winslow, Dallas Clark, Cooley)
2008: 5 (Gonzalez, Witten, Clark, Gates, Visanthe Shiancoe)
We're predicting that in 2009, this number will rise to unprecedented heights. Rotoworld's draft guide says 10 tight ends will crack the 100-point barrier. I'm going with 11. The position is just insanely deep.
So armed with this knowledge, it should be easy to pass on Jason Witten and Tony Gonzalez. You can bide your time when Dallas Clark and Antonio Gates come off the board. I'd even let someone else take Chris Cooley and Kellen Winslow.
You can be comfortable with Greg Olsen, Owen Daniels, Dustin Keller, Zach Miller or John Carlson as your starting tight end. Even the backup tight ends like Vernon Davis, Brent Celek and Anthony Fasano have some upside and should probably be packaged with your third-tier starting tight end.
Of course you'll lose a little something to the people that have the studs. But you'll gain a lot more by using that fourth-round pick on someone like Dwayne Bowe or Darren McFadden.
It's valuetown time at the tight end position. Jump on it.
