Tight End Rankings: Week Sixteen

Rob Gronkowski vs. MIA
Last week Rob Gronkowski left his Fantasy Owners high and dry as Aaron Hernandez did all the work in a blowout of the Denver Broncos. This week he faces a Miami Dolphins team that has only allowed four touchdowns to tight ends all season. But lucky for Gronk, half of those touchdowns were scored by him and teammate Hernandez in their week one win against Miami. His consistency is unrivaled this season and before last weeks rare scoreless game, Gronk had scored 10 touchdowns in the previous six weeks. Miami lost its best pass coverage linebackers in Koa Misi for the season last week, which gives New England an even better advantage over the middle.

Tony Gonzalez @ NO
Despite being an NFL ancient 35 years old Tony Gonzales continues to pile stats on to his hall of fame career. If you throw out last weeks weak showing during a drubbing of the punch-less Jags, Gonzales has averaged 72 yards a game with three scores over the past six weeks. And this is with Julio Jones and Roddy White putting up some huge numbers over than span. Despite all of Atlanta’s weapons Gonzo has the second most tight end targets in the league and is third in receptions and touchdowns. New Orleans has only allowed six tight end touchdowns this season but in their first meeting in week 10 Gonzo had 71 yards and score. This is a big game for both teams as the position themselves for the playoffs so expect a high scoring affair as both offense ramp it up.

Jermichael Finley vs. CHI
The roller coaster ride continues for Jermichael Finley who over the past four weeks had either less than 40 yards or over 80. With Jennings out and the Packers finally losing their first game I would expect them to re-focus and try and get Finley the ball more often. Finley had by far his best game of the season in the Packers first game against Chicago with 85 yards and three touchdowns and is one shy of possessing half of the eight scores that Chicago has allowed this season to tight ends. The Bears placed free safety Chris Conte on injured reserve this week and his direct backup Major Wright has missed the past two games with a shoulder injury. If Wright can’t go the baton passes to third stringer Brandon Meriweather.

Jason Witten vs. PHI
The NFC East is still up for grabs, which has to make the NFL schedule makers giddy for this weeks Cowboys/Eagles game. This is what the late season divisional matchups are all about. The Eagles disemboweled the Cowboys in week eight 34-7 and even Jerry Jones has admitted he is scared for this weeks game. Luckily for the Cowboys, Tony Romo has been in a Daunte Culpepper-like Jedi state the last two games with 570 yards and seven touchdowns. None of those scores went to Witten but with the Philadelphia defense having to concern itself with the three-headed Dallas wide receiving monster, Witten should find some open room to work with. Asante Samuel suffered a mild hamstring injury and should play but hamstrings are always fickle and if he goes out again Philly will be in trouble. Despite a slow couple of weeks Witten still has the fourth highest targets for his position and will continue to see shots his way.

Aaron Hernandez vs. MIA
After a quiet middle of the season Aaron Hernandez has gone on a roll the past two weeks snagging 213 yards and a score. He had one of his best games of the year against Miami in week one with 103 yards and a score and should continue to see looks from Tom Brady as opposing teams over compensate for Gronkowski. The Dolphins haven’t given up a touchdown to a tight end since week seven, but at this point it is hard to bet against the Patriots passing offense.

Jimmy Graham vs. ATL
Jimmy Graham hasn’t had a 100-yard game since week 6, but has made up for it over that stretch with six touchdowns. He leads all tight tends in targets per game with 9.3 and even in the couple games where he was held in check he still had at least seven targets so you know Drew Brees is always looking for him even if he’s covered. Graham snagged a score and 82 yards in the previous matchup with Atlanta but the Falcons plan on getting cornerbacks Brent Grimes and Kelvin Hayden back this week, which could make things a little difficult. But no matter who is on the field for the Falcons, Graham gets too many looks from Brees not to be one of the best starts of the week.

Antonio Gates @ DET
Despite the Chargers struggles this season Antonio Gates has consistently plowed ahead. He has scored a touchdown in five of the last nine weeks and six total over that time period. Detroit has been very solid against opposing tight ends, only allowing five scores but they have been burned by a couple of the top echelon guys like Witten and Graham. Somehow, of the five touchdowns they’ve allowed, two were to Visanthe Shiancoe who has been almost none existent for the Vikings this year. Defensive backs Chris Houston, Aaron Berry and Louis Delmas have all been fighting through knee injuries and if one or more of them

can’t go the Lions defense will suffer. Gates is still too good not to start no matter his opponent and the Chargers are playing like their pants are on fire so he should have a good week in the Motor City.

Vernon Davis @ SEA
If you look at his career numbers against Seattle, the story is pretty bleak for Vernon Davis. Nine games, 381 yards and three scores equals a horrible stat line. But if you look closer it was really just a horrible first for games. In the last five games, Davis has averaged 66 yards and scored two of his three touchdowns. While the 49ers passing game has been mediocre this year Vernon is the second option behind Michael Crabtree and will need to play a vital roll down the home stretch for the 49ers to keep winning. Potentially good news for Davis is that the Seahawks recently signed cornerback Philip Adams, who was recently cut by New England’s worst passing defense in the league. Adams will likely just be a backup but it shows that Seattle has struggled some with its secondary.

Dustin Keller vs. NYG
The Giants defense has been on a slide of epic proportions for the past several weeks. Tight ends have dominated the Giants in the second half of the season with seven scores over the past seven weeks. Despite stiff competition for touches from Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Burress, Dustin Keller has actually posted a career high in yards and with a touchdown this week would match last years career high of five. Things have been so bad for the Giants defensively that last week against Washington they benched third string cornerback Prince Amukamara. Keller excels up the seam and this week could be his best chance to snag his second 100-yard game of the season.

Owen Daniels @ IND
Most would have considered the switch to TJ Yates a death knell for an already diseased season by Owen Daniels. After two injury plagued seasons Owen has finally healthy, unfortunately no one else on his team has been. This week he faces the Colts who after notching their first win of the season to guarantee that they won’t join the Lions as the only other 0-16 team could see a massive let down in effort to secure Andrew Luck. They’ve allowed three tight end scores over the past three weeks as well as a 100-yard game to Jared Cook last week.

Sleepers:

Kellen Winslow @ CAR
If I gave you three guesses to name one of the two tight ends who are tied with Rob Gronkowski in targets with 105, I am betting that none of the guesses would be for Brandon Pettigrew or Kellen Winslow. Winslow along with the rest of the Bucs passing game has had a lackluster season. Carolina has allowed productive games to the likes of Gonzales, Davis, Graham and the aforementioned Pettigrew and much of that has to do with the injuries they’ve suffered. With Charles Godfrey out and Captain Munnerlyn questionable, Carolina could be down to two starters in the secondary. The biggest factor for Winslow will be if Josh Freeman is behind center or not. If Freeman is able to go I like Winslow’s chances to put up some good numbers against a battered Carolina secondary.

Daniel Fells @ BUF
Daniel Fells has been about as invisible as the Holy Spirit in Denver for the past eight weeks. Tim Tebow doesn’t pass a ton, and when he does its almost exclusively to his wide receivers. Over the last eight weeks Fells has three receptions for 30 yards, that’s it. But if you are desperate for a tight end championship week, it’s possible that he could make an impact against the Bills who are the worst team in the league against tight ends. They’ve allowed an average of 60 yards a game and a league high 10 touchdowns to the position. They have only allowed three tight ends to top 80 yards all season but just can’t cover tight ends in the redzone. If Anthony Fasano can score twice against the Bills, so can Fells.

Visanthe Shiancoe @ WAS
One of the Vikings biggest problems this year has been their tendency to ignore their tight ends. Which is why Visanthe Shiancoe’s best output of the season was 58 yards against the Chiefs in week four. Washington cornerback Josh Wilson suffered a concussion last week and it remains to be seen if he will start this week. If not, Shank will likely be going up against third stringer Kevin Barnes. Washington is tied with five other teams for the third most touchdowns allowed to tight ends with seven and have allowed three in the past five weeks to Witten and Gronkowski. Shank is in a contract year and after commenting on the lack of overall effort this week he is going to need to step it up since he will be under the microscope.

Brent Celek @ DAL
Brent Celek fans have been waiting for it all season and his breakout day finally happened last week against the Jets. Often ignored by Michael Vick Celek was finally given a chance to shine and he did it to the tune of 156 yards and his third touchdown of the year. This week he faces a divisional rival in the Cowboys who he put up 94 yards and a score against earlier this season. The Cowboys