Ian Allan
I’m struggling with the tight end position this year. There are just so many good ones. And there are little concerns with each of them.
I thought I had settled on Antonio Gates as the top guy. Now he’s having his foot looked at; he’s also 30. There’s Jermichael Finley; he’s a little young. Dallas Clark has had a lot of injuries; he could be prone to concussions. Jason Witten doesn’t get used enough in the red zone and could lose some balls with Dez Bryant getting worked into that offense. Tony Gonzalez is too old. New quarterback for Brent Celek. And is Vernon Davis for real?
It’s hard to decide.
Below are the stats for how tight ends were used inside the 10-yard line last year, with pass attempts (throws in their direction), completions and scores (which includes touchdowns and the one 2-point conversion caught by a tight end last year).
TIGHT ENDS RECEIVING INSIDE THE 10, 2010
Shown: all tight ends with at least 4 pass plays (plus a couple of notable others.
Att No TD aa
17 8 6 Greg Olsen (Chi.)
14 6 4 Brent Celek (Phil.)
12 9 5 Heath Miller (Pitt.)
11 3 3 Tony Gonzalez (Atl.)
10 8 8 Visanthe Shiancoe (Minn.)
9 7 7 Dallas Clark (Ind.)
8 4 4 Fred Davis (Wash.)
8 4 3 John Carlson (Sea.)
8 5 2 Jermichael Finley (G.B.)
7 3 3 Kevin Boss (NYG)
7 3 2 Desmond Clark (Chi.)
6 5 5 Vernon Davis (S.F.)
6 4 4 Kellen Winslow (T.B.)
6 2 2 Anthony Fasano (Mia.)
6 2 2 Antonio Gates (S.D.)
5 4 4 Todd Heap (Balt.)
5 3 2 Jason Witten (Dall.)
5 3 2 Joey Haynos (Mia.)
5 2 2 Jeremy Shockey (N.O.)
5 3 1 Dustin Keller (NYJ)
4 3 3 Owen Daniels (Hou.)
4 3 3 Todd Yoder (Wash.)
4 2 2 J.P. Foschi (Cin.)
4 3 2 Benjamin Watson (N.E.)
4 2 2 Jerricho Cotchery (NYJ)
4 1 1 Daniel Graham (Den.)
4 1 1 Tony Scheffler (Den.)
4 2 1 Zach Miller (Jac.)
4 1 1 Jerramy Stevens (T.B.)
4 1 0 Mohamed Massaquoi (Clev.)
4 1 0 Joel Dreessen (Hou.)
ALSO (fewer than 4 atts)
Att No TD aa
3 0 0 Marcedes Lewis (Jac.)
3 0 0 Bo Scaife (Tenn.)
2 2 2 Brandon Pettigrew (Det.)
1 1 1 Zach Miller (Oak.)
1 0 0 Chris Cooley (Wash.)
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Posted by DAVID DIGREGORIO | May. 27 at 04:37 AM
Finley is young and did get banged up last year. But he is really athletic and will catch a lot of balls in a pass first system. I think he is a top 3 TE who you could draft after 7-10 TEs are off the board, depending upon the sophistication of the league members.
Posted by Moishe Steigmann | May. 27 at 11:42 PM
Sorry, David. No way Finley is on the board after 7-10 TEs are drafted. If you want him, for drafting purposes, consider him an elite -- top-3 -- TE if not the #1 TE. Why? Because I guarantee that someone else will.
Posted by C.J. Strohacker | May. 28 at 01:27 AM
I agree with Mr. Steigmann. Everyone will be thinking of Finley as their breakout TE. He'll only fly under the radar in the beginner leagues.
Posted by IAN ALLAN | May. 28 at 02:46 AM
I consider Finley to be right there with the top guys. Maybe he is the No. 1 guy. (At least I hope so, since I've already selected him in both of the leagues I'm in so far). Let me post a poll on this, and we'll see what the people say.