Many experts rank Gates as a TE to snag, especially since most people won't snag him until the end of their draft. I bought into the hype and snagged him recently in a local money league.
Considering the Charger offense overall, what are some realistic expectations for Gates? Where does he finish in the TE pack this year? Should I be looking to deal him if he has a good game in week one -- or expect a number of good games from him and start him weekly with confidence?
I gots him in the MIKL. I have no idea what to expect from him this yr. He basically had a couple of good games towards the end of the yr last yr. I admitt ive bought into the hype.
Gates is still very raw...but heres the thing. He really wont do any worse than those TE's taken after the top 4 or so, but he has the potential be put up some very nice numbers.
He will have up and down games, just like all TE's and for that matter all players on SD.
I like him for this year, I have him rated #8 among TE's with the potential to be top 5
I too have Gates. But I wouldn't say Ive bought into the hype. Every year Gonzo slips past me and I look for the one TE who could do well considering his situation.
The best projections Ive seen for Gates so far are around 60 catches, just under 700 yards, and 5 TDs. This puts him behind only Gonzo and just behing Heap.
The hype has a lot to do with the fact that Gates is a converted WR who has the attendant WR tools (like Gonzalez). What he does not have is a proven track record or a high-powered offense - and he'll be doing a lot of blocking on behalf of Mssr. Tomlinson.
That said, he's a good flyer pick because, like Gonzo in KC, there is not exactly a stable of stud WRs clamoring for catches in San Diego.
Always hard to tell how a relative newcomer will do, but he looks like a good grab as a starter in the mid-late rounds, and even better if you snare him as a backup (I've got him behind Gonzo ).
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Hugh M. Griz
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I've targeted Gates this year and was able to grab him in two leagues. He seems to be slowly going higher in drafts, which seems to be making him less of a value as more people have him on their radar. I wouldn't draft him too early, since historically speaking TE's 5-10 aren't separated by much (statistically speaking), but he's my favorite "breakout TE" canidate to outperform his draft position with Jeremy Stevens at a very close second.
I am 2-for-2 in snagging Antonio Gates as my back-up TE to Todd Heap in two redraft leagues so far this year. Let's separate hype from potential and see what we learned from last year in the latter half of the season.
In 2003, Antonio Gates really didn't exist in the NFL until the 2nd half of the season. However, if you would have projected his target stats over a full season, he would have been right there with Gonzalez as perhaps the 2nd or 3rd most targetted TE all year long. In addition, his redzone targetting would have finished Top 5 based on the same method of extrapolation.
110 passing targets [3rd behind Heap (1) and Gonzo (2)]
50% conversion of targets
55 receptions
715 yards (13 ypc)
6 TD's (4 will be redzone, 2 will be 30+ breakaways)
Those numbers look a lot like a Shannon Sharpe type of season and a Top 5 TE rating. I think he's a good looking prospect this year to go off in a big way.
I like Gates' potential, but as some others pointed out he is going earlier and earlier in every draft. I haven't drafted him, because the whole purpose of doing so is to get good value.
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by Warpigs » Wed Sep 01, 2004 7:33 am 
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