Drafting Tight Ends Early

Last year, I fielded a quite solid but maybe slightly unspectacular team. I successfully employed the strategy of drafting running backs early and was able to obtain Ahman Green and Deuce McAllister. Then I picked a top quarterback (Aaron Brooks) and a tandem of backups (Jon Kitna and Jay Fiedler) who played well enough at different stages of the season to be worth considering as starters on a weekly basis. As always, receivers were plentiful and Eric Moulds and Donald Driver (an undrafted pickup) anchored a decent WR corps. The kickers and defenses did what kickers and defenses always do in fantasy football, and had both big games that really helped as well as bad games that dragged the team down.

But then there was that other position. For the umpteenth year in a row it seems the tight end was the anchor towed by the rest of my team. But unlike the guy in the beer commercial I did not have a wingman to help me take care of it. Ok, ok – I did have Todd Heap early on in the season, but traded him to shore up several reserve positions when it appeared that the Baltimore offense was going to be so bad that it would make even the Cowboys look prolific. If I had held on to him it would have been a decent position on my team come playoff time. But instead I was left trying to juggle the likes of Alge Crumpler and Mikhael Ricks and hoping to get at least a couple points out of the TE slot. When I lost a playoff game by four points I was left wondering what could have been if I hadn’t had that one throwaway position.

And I have come to believe this is a common occurrence in leagues that require a starting tight end. Let’s face it, there are only three or four tight ends worth owning. The rest give you an occasional play but put up more goose eggs than big point days. And that goose egg is hard to take if your opponent has one of the few studs at that position. I have tried to find those late TE gems, but unlike receivers those late sleepers and free agent pickups don’t exist in the tight end position. Trying to find a tight end that way in past years had me taking part in things like the O. J. Santiago disaster (remember when he was a ’sleeper’?) or relying on Ernie Conwell, figuring that the Rams score so many points that he has to get at least something.

Looking at the early season cheat sheets there are maybe five top Tight Ends capable of being sure-fire every week starters, and the drop-off really occurs after the top three players (Jeremy Shockey, Todd Heap and Tony Gonzalez). The remainder would be that part of the Gilligan’s Island theme song which goes: “And the rest.” Having “and the rest” probably costs you at least three to four points a game.

When the point production at a position falls off that fast it becomes important to draft it earlier. In fact, I am suggesting that after you get those two big running backs the most important priority, in leagues that require a starting tight end every week, is to draft one of the top three tight ends. The quarterback position is much deeper than it has been in recent years and good players will be available in later rounds. Receivers are always available; this past year, for instance, you could have picked up players like Driver and Chad Johnson on waivers. But having to play a Byron Chamberlain against Heap, Gonzalez or Shockey puts you at a disadvantage of about a touchdown every week, particularly if receiving yardage is included. Those three tight ends should again be significantly ahead of anyone else you could play.

Taking one of those top tight ends in the 4th or even the 3rd round is not as crazy as it sounds; the drop-off is simply that big for the rest of the players at that position. If you trust your ability to find talent at the other positions later on, then having one of the few tight ends that can produce can become a big advantage. I plan to draft RB-RB-TE in the first three rounds this year and see if I can finally get over the hump and not only get into the playoffs, but go all the way to the championship.

 
Paul Rosik is a high school math instructor in Deep South Texas. It’s only rumor that he gives extra credit for doing fantasy football statistics for him or for wearing Packer paraphernalia to class. Having grown up in Green Bay, Paul is a lifelong Packers fan and while he has his kids converted, his wife still insists on cheering for the Cowboys.