Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

With the entire regular season in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to take a look back at 2009 and how the players lived up to, or failed to live up to, their expectations. That’s right, it’s time for our annual installment of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. And, for the most part, 2009 was good to the tight end position. Coming off a year in which just eight tight ends surpassed the 90 point mark for the 2008 fantasy football season, tight ends re-established themselves as pass catchers in 2009 with every member of the top-10 surpassing the century mark in fantasy points.

While the usual names of Dallas Clark, Antonio Gates, Jason Witten, and Tony Gonzalez were among that group, many new faces had a real fantasy impact at the tight end position. None of which was more surprising than Vernon Davis of the San Francisco 49ers. Despite his incredible athletic abilities, Davis just never showed a handle on the NFL game as his career highs prior to 2009 were a mere 509 receiving yards and 4 TDs back in 2007. Davis crushed those numbers in 2009, finishing the year with 965 receiving yards and 13 TDs, a number that tied Gates’ single-season record for the tight end position. Those totals were enough to give Davis the top spot at season’s end among fantasy tight ends, and the top spot in our list of THE GOOD tight ends for 2009.

THE GOOD

1. Vernon Davis (San Francisco 49ers) — We’ll be the first to admit that our pre-season projections were way off when it came to Vernon Davis, a man we ranked as the 20th tight end going into the year. But, any expert that tells you they knew the 49ers’ tight end was due for a break out season is just flat out lying. Despite receiving constant praise for the physical specimen he was, Davis just never lived up to the hype prior to 2009. In fact, in three years in the league, he had totaled just 1,132 receiving yards and 9 TDs, numbers he either came close to matching or surpassed in 2009 with his 965 receiving yards and 13 TDs. Those numbers were good enough to give Davis the top spot among fantasy tight ends at season’s end, begging the question of whether 2009 or the three years prior were the aberration?

Heading into 2010, Davis’ value will undoubtedly be high. While he may not be some fantasy owners No. 1 at the tight end position, a spot in the top-5 seems a guarantee. And, those who do grab him will not be disappointed. The 49ers demonstrated in the second half of 2009 that they are dedicated to getting the passing game going, and with a whole off-season to work on the development of Alex Smith, Michael Crabtree, Josh Morgan and Davis, getting the aerial attack off the ground shouldn’t be a problem come next season.

2. Brent Celek (Philadelphia Eagles) — Based on Celek’s performance in the 2008 post-season, in which he caught 19 passes for 151 yards and three TDs, we labeled the Eagles’ tight end as a sleeper in our Pre-Season Webazine. Yet, even we were impressed with the season Celek put together. Hauling in 76 passes, Celek racked up 971 receiving yards and 8 TDs, placing him fourth among tight ends in fantasy points for the year. While the totals are definitely nice, what fantasy owners enjoyed even more was his consistent play week in and week out. On the year, Celek had twelve games of 7+ fantasy points, excellent production from the tight end slot.

Things could get even better come 2010 should the Eagles figure out there quarterback situation this off-season. With DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin’s continued development, opposing defenses will have to direct plenty of attention to the outside, which should leave Celek plenty of room to work with in the middle of the field. As such, he seems to be a sure fire TE1 for 2010.

3. Visanthe Shiancoe (Minnesota Vikings) — Brett Favre’s arrival in Minnesota did increase expectations for Minnesota Vikings’ tight end, Visanthe Shiancoe. After all, as everybody knows, Favre loves utilizing his tight ends, especially in the red zone. The extra pressure, though, did not phase the tight end at all. In fact, he performed better than many even projected, catching 56 passes for 511 yards and a ridiculous 11 TDs, making him just one of three TEs (Vernon Davis and Dallas Clark were the others) to reach the end zone in the double digits. Overall, Shiancoe finished the season just two points shy of the top-5 fantasy tight ends.

While he may have missed out on the top-5 this time around, Shiancoe will definitely have a shot at cracking it in 2010 should Brett Favre return for one more year. Not only will the tight end have more time to work with Favre in the off-season, but he’ll also benefit from the fact that opposing defenses will have to place so much focus on Minny’s other playmakers, including Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin, and Sidney Rice, leaving Shiancoe with plenty of one-on-one opportunities against linebackers.

4. Dallas Clark (Indianapolis Colts) — Coming into the 2009 season, Clark was projected just a bit behind the big three of Jason Witten, Antonio Gates, and Tony Gonzalez. Yet, by season’s end, he outproduced all of them. In fact, he outproduced every tight end not named Vernon Davis as he finished the year with 163 fantasy points thanks to his 100 receptions, which he used to post 1,106 yards and 10 TDs.

While he occupies the tight end position, Clark is built more like a wide receiver, something Peyton Manning and the Colts take full advantage of by lining him up in the slot against linebackers. The results speak for themselves, and they should continue to do so in 2010.

5. Antonio Gates (San Diego Chargers) — Due to a slight dip in production from 2007 to 2008 that saw Gates rack up 280 fewer yards and one less score, the Chargers’ tight end occupied only the No. 3 slot in our pre-season tight end rankings, and that’s where exactly where he wound up come season’s end. With the San Diego Chargers continuing their transformation from a run first team to a squad that airs it out, Gates got back on track in 2009, notching 1,157 receiving yards and 8 TDs over the season for 156 fantasy points as he completed the season scoring no fewer than four fantasy points in any game.

The continued emphasis on the passing game and the emergence of Vincent Jackson contributed greatly to Gates’ success this past season and will once again lead to him being of the first few tight ends selected in fantasy drafts next year. And, we have no problem with Gates going that high as he should be able to build off the success he had in the second half of this season, in which he had six TDs over his last six games

6. Heath Miller (Pittsburgh Steelers) — Not only did Heath Miller double his TD total from 2008 in 2009 with six trips to the end zone, as he once again became a favorite red zone target of Big Ben’s, he also saw his yardage total increase by 275, finishing the year with 789, a career best. Miller’s success was largely due to change in offensive philosophy that the Pittsburgh Steelers underwent this past season. With their defense struggling to shut opponents down, the Steelers could no longer use their ground game to control games; instead, they had to rely on the aerial attack to keep things close. The result was an increase in opportunities for all of the Steelers’ pass catchers, including Miller.

The return of Troy Polamalu and the continued development of running back, Rashard Mendenhall, could very well lead the Steelers to curb their pass attempts in 2010, but we wouldn’t let that scare you away from Miller. Outside of 2008, Miller has scored at least 5 TDs in every season of his career. A trend that will very likely continue next season.

7. Kellen Winslow (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) — The knock on Winslow has always been about the tight end’s health because when on the field he is a top tier talent. Playing in 16 games in 2009, he proved that once again. In his first season playing for the Bucs, Winslow totaled his second highest yardage output with 884 and tied his career high in TDs with 5 on the year. Sure, his 2009 campaign could have been better had the Bucs had any sort of stability and solid play from the QB position, but I don’t think many of Winslow’s fantasy owners are disappointed with his season totals.

The one positive about the Bucs’ quarterback position in 2009 was that rookie Josh Freeman got a significant amount of playing time - something that should lead to improved play next year. A better year for Freeman could indeed lead to better numbers for Winslow. Either way, he is a low-end top-10 option at the position.

8. Tony Gonzalez (Atlanta Falcons) — Gonzo’s 2009 numbers may not have matched his 1,058 yard and 10 TD showing in 2008, but the 867 yards and 6 TDs he scored where still enough to have him finish in the top-5 among fantasy tight ends. They also prove that the veteran still has plenty left in his tank.

While Gonzalez will be 34 going into 2010, fantasy owners shouldn’t let that scare them away from taking a gamble on Gonzalez. A healthy Matt Ryan and Michael Turner and a second year in the Falcon’s system should be enough to counter any decline in Gonzo’s play because of his age. As such, draft him as the elite option he is.

Missing The Cut: Jermichael Finley (Green Bay Packers), Owen Daniels (Houston Texans), Greg Olsen (Chicago Bears), Fred Davis (Washington Redskins)

2009 The Good:  QB  |  RB  |  WR  |  TE  |  K  |  DEF

2009 The Bad:  QB  |  RB  |  WR  |  TE  |  K  |  DEF

2009 The Ugly:  QB  |  RB  |  WR  |  TE  |  K |  DEF

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