Tag Archives: Todd Heap

2009 Tiered Fantasy Rankings: Tight Ends

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TE’s are kind of an afterthought on draft day, I never spend much on them (in terms of auction dollars or high draft picks) but a consistent point scorer at TE is tough to come by. I’ve always figured that if you don’t get a Top 5 guy, one should just wait until the end to take a chance on a kid with high upside. This year seems a little different in my book, as many young pass catching TE’s have nice upside in ’09. Not only that but after the Top 5, there’s plenty of guys that could have big years, and should put up points week in and week out. Not much seperates the 2nd class from themselves, but hopefully my tiers can help you out with the Top 25 TE’s in ’09.

I

  1. Jason Witten (1)
  2. Antonio Gates (2)
  3. Dallas Clark (3)
  4. Tony Gonzalez (4)

This is the top tier, and top it is. The rest of the TE’s aren’t likely to finish in the Top 4, as these guys basically have the spot on lockdown. Witten is my #1 because he’s a TE and a #1 option on his offense without too much taking away touches from him. Think Tony Gonzalez in KC last season, but a better QB for Witten in Dallas. Gates is still a stud despite injuries nagging on his numbers the last couple years. Despite Vincent Jackson’s rise in SD, Gates is still the #1 receiving option, and I expect him to have his best season in the last 3 years. Dallas Clark will be Peyton Manning’s #2 or #3 this season. With Marvin gone, Anthony G and Clark will get a majority of Marvin’s old target, which makes Clark that much more of a solid TE. Tony G might be the best TE of all time, no doubt about it, but he is in a new offense with a lot of talent surrounding him. He’ll do big things in Atlanta, but I don’t think there’s enough balls to get Gonzo as many catches as he had last season. He’s still a top tier guy, but the bottom of that barrell.

II

  1. Chris Cooley (5)
  2. Kellen Winslow (6)

All by themselves in my second tier are Chris Cooley and Kellen Winslow. Cooley never really gets his due, and despite a semi-slow year for the Redskin passing attack in ’08, Cooley should be back in the Top 5 in ’09. Cooley is a big reliable target for Jason Campbell, a quarterback I see taking a big jump in 2009. With much of the focus on Portis and Moss, Cooley will find himself collecting fantasy points like Bengals collect arrests. Kellen Winslow is in a new uniform in ’09 and he’s still one of the most talented TEs out there. Winslow might not have the best QB getting him the ball, but he will have plenty of opportunities to make himself a valueable option for fantasy owners. He’s risky, but the kid is tough and plays through bumps and bruises and low grade muscle tears. I don’t think you’ll regret having Winslow fill your TE spot.

III

  1. Owen Daniels (7)
  2. Zach Miller (8)
  3. Greg Olson (9)
  4. John Carlson (10)

Owen Daniels is the highest returning scorer of this group, and a good argument could be made for him being included in the 2nd tier, but this is my ranking system and I’ll do what I want. Owen sure accumulates the catches, but I think Slaton gets more involved this year, Schaub likes to throw to his receivers, and something in me just sees Owen taking a tiny little step backwards. Still a solid TE option, but not a Top 5 guy. Zach Miller is a stud. JaMarcus Russell and the Raiders look like they are going to be better offensively this season. McFadden is going to play well and the other Raider runners will draw attention too. Russell likes going to Miller, and why not? Sure hands, big body, a QB’s best friend. Greg Olson is shooting up draft boards everywhere because he and Jay Cutler apparently have “chemistry” – ooh that sexy little word. One thing is true, Olson just jacked the starting TE job in Chicago. Another thing, he’s probably got the best hands amongst receivers. Cutler likes it when his guys catch his passes. Not a Top 5 guy in my opinion, but he’s in the Top 10, and his upside is nice. Carlson looks good to me too. I know Jim Mora likes utilizing talented tight ends, and Carlson proved he was one of those in his rookie season where he was the best pass catcher in Seattle. This year he might not lead the team in catches, but he’ll get his fair share, especially if the Hawks offense improves as much as I think they will.

IV

  1. Jeremy Shockey (11)
  2. Visanthe Shiancoe (12)
  3. Tony Scheffler (13)
  4. Anthony Fasano (14)
  5. Dustin Keller (15)
  6. Chase Coffman (16)
  7. Vernon Davis (17)
  8. Brandon Petitgrew (18)
  9. Kevin Boss (19)
  10. Heath Miller (20)
  11. Todd Heap (21)
  12. Bo Scaife (22)
  13. Brent Celek (23)
  14. Jermichael Finley (24)

You’re in a weird league if you need 24 ranked TEs, but if you need more than that I can’t help you. If you think I’m not a fan of TE’s, you’re right on the button. But they are a nessecary evil in most situations, and any of these guys could give you what you need: a big athletic lineman type player that lucks out and catches a touchdown now and then. Right, so Shockey heads my list because he has high upside, a starting job, and he’s real athletic when he catches the ball. He’s in the same tier as unproven TEs that may or may not fizzle out and become nothing because of the whole “when he catches the ball” thing. But he could be great. Shaincoe is very underrated, so I put him here. I think Rosenfels will look for him often. Fasano is solid, will get points and his 15 yard routes are perfect because that’s where Chad Pennington’s arm limits out. Seriously. Dustin Keller has tons of talent and has the most speed on the list, but Kellen Clemmens scares me and the other option is a rookie. Chase Coffman already had more talent than any other TE in Cinci, but now the other guys are injured, and he might walk into TE production right off the bat. Upside. Speaking of upside, draft bust Vernon Davis might finally be a TE worth having now that Martz is gone (where is Martz these days anyway?). But Vernon knows how to disappoint, click clack style. Petitgrew is a young all around solid TE in an offense that will likely see it’s fair share of Matthew Stafford – and he might be the 2nd best receiving option in Detroit. Kevin Boss, he is the TE for the highest paid QB in the NFL – just saying that makes my puke. But Boss doesn’t have sure-fire receiving options on the outside, and he might be the guy that makes up for Burress’s absence. Miller and Heap. Miller won’t ever be grand but Heap might never be fantasy worthy again. Both have their place though, Miller because he manages to catch TDs and is pretty consistent in points, and Heap because he was pro-bowl material for a few years there. Bo Scaife broke onto the scene last year, but I think his production falls a bit as Collins (or Young) become more confident in the receiving options in Tennessee. Brent Celek put up solid numbers in Philadelphia, and now he’s the main guy at TE in that offense. Still, there’s too many talented players on that team for him to acrue too many numbers, right? And last is a back-up, with lots of upside, Finley. Green Bay really likes this kid, but he’s also option #6 or so, just like Celek, but keep an eye out!

theRUNDOWN Review: Week 3

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There’s not much to be said about this group, not all that impressive, and not extremely disappointing either – which is too bad, because either or is at least interesting to reminisce about. As is, this is how this group did this week. LT’s 23 on Monday Night Football gave me a nice boost to get over the century mark and roll to 108 on the week – still, next week will be better!

QB: Tony Romo vs. Packers: I got 16 points from Tony because of his long touchdown pass to Miles Austin – still despite the rolling gut feeling that he was “going off”, I would have been better off taking one of the quarterbacks from the Saints/Broncos game. Dang me!

RB: LaDainian Tomlinson vs. New York Jets: Tomlinson didn’t have a great day, I have to be honest, he carried the ball a bunch of times and managed just 2.7 yards per carry or something gross like that. Still, the Chargers handled the Jets and Tomlinson punched two in from close range. You can’t argue with his 23 fantasy points I guess, but 2.7 per against the Jets? He’ll turn things around, right?

RB: Michael Turner vs. KC: Big Mike in the Wood had a HUGE day, touchdown wise anyway. He didn’t pile up the 200+ yards like he did in Week 1, but Turner did put 3 touchdowns on the Chiefs – I had to love that. He posted 28 points for me.

WR: Plaxico Burress vs. Bengals: 3 catches for 45 yards, 7 fantasy points in a ppr league – thanks Plax. I ditched Brandon Marshall and Larry Fitz so I could put you on my squad – last time I do that!

WR: Steve Smith vs. Minnesota: 4 grabs for 70 yards, but the Panthers needed to get Smith the ball more. Still, it was a risky selection and it back fired a little. 11 points for a WR in a PPR league isn’t much to get excited about.

TE: Jeremy Shockey vs. Denver: Shockey had 8 receptions for 75 yards, not a bad day for the big guy. Anytime a tight end can get my 15 fantasy points I have to appreciate their efforts.

K: Josh Brown vs. Seattle: 8 fantasy points form Mr. Brown and he got booed like he was Johnny Damon leaving for the Yankees- I love that. Still, 8 points is probably an all time high for kickers in this deal for me.

D: Patriots vs. Miami: I don’t know how much they scored. I’m not checking. They got handled. I’ll take a zero and be happy about it.

PAPA’S Week 1 SLEEPERS

David Garrard: Garrard threw another interception without tossing or rushing for a touchdown. He had just 167 yards, which gives him, what, 4 fantasy points? Oops! F

Aaron Rodgers: For how out of sync the Packers looked against Dallas, Rodgers put up some solid numbers. His late touchdown run was a nice helper, and he did throw for just under 300 yards in this one. I think Aaron’s 19 fantasy points were nice. I’ll take an A- just because he didn’t toss a touchdown.

JT O’Sullivan: JT put up 189 yards and two touchdown passes without an interception. He didn’t tear up the yardage totals, but he put in some nice work going for 19 fantasy points of his own – I bet that gets him into the top 10. A

Maurice Jones Drew: “Best runner in Jacksonville hits gold against a Bon Sanders-less Colts team.” Yep! MJD went for 100+ rushing, 50+ receiving, and scored a big touchdown on way to a Jaguars win. Gotta love the short guy (little is a lie, he’s freaking solid). 25 points grades out as an A+

Julius Jones: The Hawks rushed for 245 yards against the worst defense in football, St. Louis, and Julius took 22 rushes for 140 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a pass, giving him 21 fantasy points on the day. A+

Sammy Morris: Down 21-6 at half time the Patriots weren’t in the running mode. Yeah, I didn’t see this coming – obviously. Morris had 3 points giving me an F for this sleeper pick.

Chad Ocho Cinco: Carson Palmer had a really nice day, but it was TJ, not Chad, that was getting it done for the Bengals. Ocho Cinco had Cinco fantasy points. F

Anthony Gonzalez: 2 catches for 37 yards, Peyton went to Marvin more, and Dallas Clark came back this week and stole some looks from Anthony – still, Gonzo grabbed 2 balls for 37 yards in the Colts loss. D for this one.

Derrick Mason: 4 grabs for 42 yards – apparently I was wrong about the Ravens being behind in this one and having to throw to catch up. Mason had 8 fantasy points – that’s a C- maybe.

Todd Heap: 2 catches for 32 yards – I’m beginning to want to drop Mr. Heap. 5 fantays points, maybe a D+

Buffalo: Not a great showing from the Bills – they did enough to get my 8 fantasy points in my game, but they didn’t do what I needed them to do this week, that’s for sure. C-

Papa’S Week 1 Splinter-Butts (bench him, son)

Jamal Lewis: 12 rushes for 56 yards, not bad. 3 catches for 27 yards, not bad. No scores was a bummer, but Jamal didn’t have as bad a game as I thought he’d have. 10 fantasy points for a guy that you should trade for if you can. Boy, does Brady Quinn start next week though?

DeAngelo Williams or Jonathan Stewart: Williams had 10 carries for 27 yards (also 2 catches for 17 yards) and Stewart had 7 carries for 15 yards – but he did have a touchdown. Still, if you started either back hoping for a decent fantasy game, you were tricked. Sitting these guys was a good call.

Chris Perry: You know what, against a very good rush defense Chris had a fine day. 20 carries for 74 yards and a touchdown. I was wrong about his outing, he was a solid start with 16 fantasy points (2 catches for 19 yards as well).

Hines Ward: Hines had his first touchdownless week this season, and he grabbed just 4 passes for 34 yards. Nothing exciting about that.

theRUNDOWN: Week 3

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Week 3 has some happy match-ups – big time sits – and a couple that have me wondering what I’ve got myself into – oh the intrigue! This old man played nick knack paddy whack, gave a dog a bone, and then went with Jill up to the well and filled her pocket full of posies. Believe that ryhme, son! Here’s my best plays of the week.

QB: Tony Romo vs. Packers: I don’t know why, maybe because there will be another guy putting up points on the other team, but Romo is giving me that 4 touchdown vibe. After a tough start, Romo turned it on and burned the Eagles last week. I say he does the same against another good defense.

RB: LaDainian Tomlinson vs. New York Jets: I have to get him right some time right? Is LT too old? Is he done? Is his injury holding him back? I’m answering no to all of those, heck, I’m answering, NO! LT goes off against the Jets – that’s my bet. If he randomly doesn’t play, then I’ll switch my pick to Sproles.

RB: Michael Turner vs. KC: The Burner will be leaving jet streams all over the field on Sunday. The Chiefs are bad – Turner is good, he will run like the wind – the wind carrying a freaking anvil. This kid is a beast, watch him run with admiration. Plus, I always wanted to start LT and Mike in my best options list.

WR: Plaxico Burress vs. Bengals: I have no reason to believe this, but I think the Bengals hold close in this game, put up some points, and keep Eli throwing. If that’s the case, Burress goes wild. Even if it isn’t, I’m sure the Giants will throw in the first half – that would make Burress a nice option.

WR: Steve Smith vs. Minnesota: Because now that I can I will. I love me some Steve Smith – he’s a more seasoned version of Eddie Royal and I believe he torches the Vikings.

TE: Jeremy Shockey vs. Denver: He’s the best receiver they have right now, the safeties in Denver don’t scare me, and this game will be chalked full of points. It just makes sense.

K: Josh Brown vs. Seattle: Not that it matters but I might as well try.

D: Patriots vs. Miami: This defense is putting a lot on their shoulders, seems like they’d dominate this game with all that confidence.

PAPA’S Week 1 SLEEPERS

David Garrard: I know he’s really struggled, but that’s how he’s become a sleeper – Bob’s absence kills the Colts D.

Aaron Rodgers: Against Dallas on the main state? You bet I still like Rodgers. But another good one here and he can’t be considered sleeper material.

JT O’Sullivan: Martz versus the Lions. You bet. Top 10 QB this week.

Maurice Jones Drew: Best runner in Jacksonville hits gold against a Bon Sanders-less Colts team.

Julius Jones: I like Julius to do his thing again, this time against the Rams.

Sammy Morris: He’ll get most of the carries and score a touchdown or two against Miami.

Chad Ocho Cinco: Is it bad when a guy changes his name and then doesn’t do dick? That’s where Mr. 85 is at right now. He’s in sleeper status. I think he has a nice game though, he’ll have to to keep the Bengals in it.

Anthony Gonzalez: The Jaguars don’t scare me in the secondary, and Gonzalez is becoming the #2 in Indy, shhhh… Don’t tell Marvin.

Derrick Mason: Lots of catches, almost 100 yards – that’s worth a sleeper pick.

Todd Heap: Heap will get some this week. Finally. Then you’ll pick him up off the waiver wire and be crushed in Week 4. But still – nice sleeper this week.

Buffalo: Not sure they are a sleeper, but they should handle the Raiders rushing attack.

Papa’S Week 1 Splinter-Butts (bench him, son)

Jamal Lewis: He always runs well against the Ravens, right? Not this time Jamal.

DeAngelo Williams or Jonathan Stewart: It will be the Delhomme to Steve Smith game if the Panthers want a shot – neither back will do much for you this week.

Chris Perry: Another tough one for Chris – ha, seem familiar? The Bengals play a tough schedule – good year for that.

Hines Ward: I don’t think Hines keeps catching touchdowns like this, not this week against a good Eagles secondary anyway.