Fantasy Football 2014
Week 1 Tight Ends
By Jesse Jordan
Week 1 Tight Ends
By Jesse Jordan
As I sat in the recliner pondering my Tight End Rankings for week 1, I couldn’t help but just sit and watch my 4-month old. He laid in the middle of the floor staring at the TV, and occasionally would let out a “coo” or flash a big smile, but overall he was so content with just sitting there. For those of you who listen to our podcast The Winter Brew you know that this is exactly how I feel toward the Tight End position. If I was lucky enough to land one of the top 3 Tight Ends for week 1 I may let out a big COO, or if I was looking at starting any of the guys in the Top 10 I would probably be smiling. The real truth is that I’m more than likely starting someone ranked outside of the Top 10 on my list and am just fine with it. I am content with going to battle with the likes of Dennis Pitta, Charles Clay, or even Antonio Gates. That’s right I’ve got Gates being the man in San Diego, well at least this early in the season, if you own Gates hopefully that means you own Green as well as I think he will be the guy to own later in the season. Anyways, here are my Tight End breakdowns for week 1. To make things easier on myself I will break them down into Tier sections and will talk about the tier as a whole.
Tier 1 – Graham, Gronk, and J. Thomas
If you own any of these three you should feel pretty confident that you most likely have just been spotted a touchdown lead in your week 1 matchup. These guys are so far above everyone else if you own them you must start them. Keep an eye on Gronk’s week 1 status and have someone available just in case he doesn’t play.
Tier 2 – Davis, Reed, Cameron, and Rudolph
These guys can be interchanged at spots 4-8 but I believe Davis gets the higher ranking because of his matchup. The Cowboys defense will be giving up plenty of points and yards this season. I like Reed and Cameron based on their first names and the fact that I think they will be huge contributors to their teams offenses this year. Rudolph in my mind is this season’s TE breakout player and had a really good preseason for the Vikings.
Tier 3 – Ertz, Olsen, Witten, Pitta, and Bennet
All five of these guys are solid starts in Week 1. Normally I don’t think I will have Witten this low but playing the 49ers will be an automatic drop for almost all Tight Ends. Ertz gets the bump this week playing the Jaguars, although I think they have improved they are still the Jaguars and will be giving up plenty of yards and points to the Eagles in week 1. Olsen, Pitta, and Bennet will probably be in the lower half of the top 12 all season long for me.
The rest of the field
If you don’t have anybody in my top 12 for Week 1 don’t panic as it most likely means you waited on TE this year in the draft and should have some other positional advantage over your opponent. If this was your strategy it’ll be important to at least find a Tight End that isn’t going to kill you by putting up a goose egg. Any of the guys rated 13-20 should give you some sort of production in Week 1.
Rank Player Team Opponent
1 Jimmy Graham Saints Falcons
2 Rob Gronkowski Patriots Dolphins
3 Julius Thomas Broncos Colts
4 Veron Davis 49ers Cowboys
5 Jordan Reed Redskins Texans
6 Jordan Cameron Browns Steelers
7 Kyle Rudolph Vikings Rams
8 Zach Ertz Eagles Jaguars
9 Greg Olsen Panthers Buccaneers
10 Jason Witten Cowboys 49ers
11 Dennis Pitta Ravens Bengals
12 Martellus Bennet Bears Bills
13 Coby Fleener Colts Broncos
14 Antonio Gates Chargers Cardinals
15 Charles Clay Dolphins Patriots
16 Tyler Eifert Bengals Ravens
17 Richard Rodgers Packers Seahawks
18 Rob Housler Cardinals Chargers
19 Ladrius Green Chargers Cardinals
20 Eric Ebron Lions Giants
Tier 1 – Graham, Gronk, and J. Thomas
If you own any of these three you should feel pretty confident that you most likely have just been spotted a touchdown lead in your week 1 matchup. These guys are so far above everyone else if you own them you must start them. Keep an eye on Gronk’s week 1 status and have someone available just in case he doesn’t play.
Tier 2 – Davis, Reed, Cameron, and Rudolph
These guys can be interchanged at spots 4-8 but I believe Davis gets the higher ranking because of his matchup. The Cowboys defense will be giving up plenty of points and yards this season. I like Reed and Cameron based on their first names and the fact that I think they will be huge contributors to their teams offenses this year. Rudolph in my mind is this season’s TE breakout player and had a really good preseason for the Vikings.
Tier 3 – Ertz, Olsen, Witten, Pitta, and Bennet
All five of these guys are solid starts in Week 1. Normally I don’t think I will have Witten this low but playing the 49ers will be an automatic drop for almost all Tight Ends. Ertz gets the bump this week playing the Jaguars, although I think they have improved they are still the Jaguars and will be giving up plenty of yards and points to the Eagles in week 1. Olsen, Pitta, and Bennet will probably be in the lower half of the top 12 all season long for me.
The rest of the field
If you don’t have anybody in my top 12 for Week 1 don’t panic as it most likely means you waited on TE this year in the draft and should have some other positional advantage over your opponent. If this was your strategy it’ll be important to at least find a Tight End that isn’t going to kill you by putting up a goose egg. Any of the guys rated 13-20 should give you some sort of production in Week 1.
Rank Player Team Opponent
1 Jimmy Graham Saints Falcons
2 Rob Gronkowski Patriots Dolphins
3 Julius Thomas Broncos Colts
4 Veron Davis 49ers Cowboys
5 Jordan Reed Redskins Texans
6 Jordan Cameron Browns Steelers
7 Kyle Rudolph Vikings Rams
8 Zach Ertz Eagles Jaguars
9 Greg Olsen Panthers Buccaneers
10 Jason Witten Cowboys 49ers
11 Dennis Pitta Ravens Bengals
12 Martellus Bennet Bears Bills
13 Coby Fleener Colts Broncos
14 Antonio Gates Chargers Cardinals
15 Charles Clay Dolphins Patriots
16 Tyler Eifert Bengals Ravens
17 Richard Rodgers Packers Seahawks
18 Rob Housler Cardinals Chargers
19 Ladrius Green Chargers Cardinals
20 Eric Ebron Lions Giants
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