Fantasy Football Rankings 2006: Tight Ends

Fantasy Fallout: Tight Ends for 2006.   But enough about Jennifer Lopez. 

What can make or break your fantasy team is your usage of the Tight End. Some of these guys can work like a WR #1 (2005: Antonio Gates), and can cost you a high pick. With others, you can plug them in against a weak defense and watch them vulture the red-zone TD’s (Ben Watson or Heath Miller). Sometimes it pays off in big dividends to play a no-name TE (Courtney Anderson, week 1), and sometimes a well known TE can screw you for a whole season (Bubba Franks). Really, there are no guarantees other than that you need to grab one of the first 10 guys on this list or you’re going to be struggling to plug a hole all season long.

#1. Antonio Gates - Gates just IS the #1. I wish there were a way I could say “well, he’s not really that good, and those numbers are just Drew Brees neglecting his other receivers for the last two years.” Ok, so what if he was? Gates put up WR #1 numbers and then some. 89 receptions, over a thousand yards, and 10 TD’s in 2005 make me think that even Phillip Rivers can’t stop the machine. Now, here’s what I will say: Gates will probably go in round 2, round three if you’re lucky. I do have this feeling in the back of my mind that Rivers will be spreading the ball around, so I would let someone else jump on Gates, and then take a premier WR instead. If it’s round three and he’s still there, then by all means, take him.