The tight end position in fantasy football is easily one of the most frustrating roster spots to manage. Basically if you don’t get New England Patriots stud tight end Rob Gronkowski, you’re likely to be at a severe disadvantage at the position.
If you’re in a larger league, snagging a well-producing fantasy tight end is going to be a stretch.
Here is a short summary of last season’s tight ends and what they stand to offer fantasy owners this year.
In 2014, Gronk finished the year with 30 more fantasy points than the No. 2 ranked tight end, San Diego Chargers’ Antonio Gates. From there, the gap only gets larger.
In reviewing the current outlook for viable tight ends for 2015, the scenario is quite grim. Like in the situation with Gates mentioned above, he is serving a four-game suspension. Do we risk picking him up hoping that he’ll resume his stellar form from last season when he returns Week 5? That’s a big risk.
Perhaps we draft his backup, Ladarius Green. Although hoping Green will put up the monster stats Gates did last year is a long shot.
Another fabulous, past tight end prospect was former New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham. However, with his current Seattle Seahawks team, can we count on him this season to earn high-end fantasy points? He reported recently that in Seattle’s heavy run scheme he will primarily be used to block for Marshawn Lynch. That could but a major dent into his fantasy production. Lynch owners, you are welcome.
Next in pecking order of production from last year are Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen and Chicago Bears tight end Martellus Bennett.
They’re decent options, however when you look at their fantasy points from last season, they scored 48 and 53 points lower than Gronk last year, respectively. They’ll see an uptick this year due to the fact that the Panthers are without wideout Kelvin Benjamin and the Bears have moved along from Brandon Marshall. So, their 2015 outlook isn’t too shabby.
Next in ranking is former Denver Broncos’ stud tight end Julius Thomas who is now signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. While he may make a worthy middle-tier TE2 this season, with the Jags, we really won’t find out until four-to-five weeks into the season because he broke his hand. My apologies if you have already drafted Thomas. If you check the waiver wire, pickings are slim.
Next in line to produce middling fantasy points which could be hit to miss from week-to-week are Coby Fleener, Delanie Walker, Travis Kelce, and Jason Witten. One look at this list and we can admit this isn’t the sexiest group of fantasy options. However, Kelce, who just suffered an slight ankle sprain in practice, offers the best upside of the group.
While Fleener ranked sixth-overall in fantasy points in 2014, this could easily change. The Indianapolis Colts also have tight end Dwayne Allen along with an army of wide receivers for Andrew Luck to pass to this year. Fleener is no guarantee to lock in the fantasy stats he did last season.
In a small, eight or 10 person league, the tight end options listed above could suffice. However, in larger 14 to 16 team leagues the position is spread incredibly thin. In deep leagues, we are looking at relying on guys like Zach Ertz (mending from groin surgery), Jared Cook, and Owen Daniels, depending on where people select their tight end.
Just to gain perspective at this tier, Cook ranked 15th overall in fantasy points last season averaging only 5.9 per game.
Additionally, we simply cannot trust guys like Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph who has posted only 535 yards and five touchdowns in his past two partial seasons. And, how about San Francisco 49ers Vernon Davis from 2014 - what a mess.
So ways to get around the quickly thinning tight end pool would be to cut the position altogether and add an extra wide receiver slot. Or perhaps create a two-quarterback or two flex positon league so we don’t lose an extra position.
However, for those who want to target Gronk or Olsen, that would take all the fun away. So the best proposal here would be to make the tight end position a flex only. Meaning however many flex spots are on the league, they would include a wide receiver, running back or tight end. This way we don’t leave some of the upper performing tight ends out. We simply have the option to not draft the position and get stuck with the underperforming guys who don’t even receive targets some games.
How frustrating was it last season to own New York Giants tight end Larry Donnell who scored three touchdowns one week followed by zero points the next week, then 0.6 points the following game? Yuck.
With only about a week left to draft in fantasy football, altering the tight end option in your favorite fantasy league or getting in the ear of your commissioner to do so may be worth checking into.