Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

- Written by Kyle Smith
- Edited by Marc Caviglia
- Predictions are based on Staff Consensus

::RANKINGS UPDATED AS OF DECEMBER 10, 2011::

Week 13 wasn’t exactly a grandiose one for fantasy football tight ends. Only four players at the position managed to register double-digit point totals, and just six tight ends scored touchdowns during the week. Making matters worse, of those six players, it’s likely that four of them weren’t in the lineups of fantasy owners. While Rob Gronkowski scored three (again), and Jermichael Finley also added a score, the other tight ends who found the end zone were Travis Beckum, Evan Moore, Kyle Rudolph and Joel Dreesen. For Beckum, Rudolph and Dreesen, those touchdown receptions were their only catches in their respective games, and Moore had just two catches. Unfortunately, the bad news for some fantasy owners doesn’t end with the numerous mediocre performances. Fred Davis, who had 99 receiving yards last week, and who is No. 5 among tight ends in fantasy scoring this season, has been suspended four games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, and his season has come to an end right as the fantasy playoffs begin. Take a look at our Fantasy Football Week 14 Tight End Rankings to see how your pass catcher stacks up against the rest.

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Standard Scoring

Pass TD: 4 points |  All Other TDs: 6 points
25 Passing Yards: 1 point |  All Turnovers: -2 points

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1. Rob Gronkowski (New England Patriots) @ Washington

Gronkowski had five catches for 64 yards and another pair of touchdown catches last week against the Colts, marking the third time in his last four games that he’s scored twice. He is the number one tight end in fantasy scoring this season, leads the entire NFL in touchdown catches with 13, and is ninth in receiving yards with 924. Of the 12 games he’s played this season, Gronkowski has scored in eight of them, including at least one in each of his last five games. The Redskins pose no serious threat to stop him, because while they are among the better teams in the league in fantasy points allowed to tight ends this season, they have faced few elite players at the position.
Point Projection: 15 points

2. Jimmy Graham (New Orleans Saints) @ Tennessee

Graham’s prolific season continued last week against Detroit, as he caught eight passes for 89 yards, though he didn’t find the end zone. It was the third consecutive game in which Graham has collected at least 80 receiving yards, and he’s now fifth in the NFL with 1,046 yards for the season and second in the league with 75 receptions. On top of that, he has a golden match-up this week against the Titans. Tennessee has given up the fourth-most receiving yards in the league to opposing tight ends and has allowed the sixth-most fantasy points in the league to players at that position. They haven’t held an opposing team’s tight ends to fewer than 50 yards since Week 3.
Point Projection: 14 points

3. Jason Witten (Dallas Cowboys) vs. New York Giants

Though Witten had five receptions last week in the Cowboys’ brutal loss to the Cardinals, he collected only 47 receiving yards. He hasn’t hauled in more than five passes since Week 3 this season, and has managed fewer than 50 receiving yards in three of his last four outings. But we love his match-up with the G-Men this week, who have given up the fourth-most fantasy points in the league to tight ends, and against whom Witten has done damage against throughout his career. In New York’s last five games, tight ends have scored six touchdowns while averaging 8.2 catches for 99.2 yards per contest.
Point Projection: 13 points

4. Antonio Gates (San Diego Chargers) vs. Buffalo

San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers threw three touchdowns last week in the team’s win over Jacksonville, but surprisingly, none of those scores went to Gates. He did catch a team-high six passes for 70 yards in the contest, and has accumulated at least seven fantasy points in all but one of his past seven games. He goes up against the Bills this week, and Buffalo has a difficult time holding down tight ends. Here are just some of the numbers that tight ends have put up against the Bills this season – Rob Gronkowski: 7 catches, 109 yards, 2 touchdowns; Fred Davis: 8 catches, 94 yards; Jake Ballard: 5 catches, 81 yards; Jermaine Gresham: 4 catches, 70 yards, 1 touchdown; Dustin Keller (two games): 8 catches, 125 yards, 2 touchdowns. See what we’re getting at here?
Point Projection: 13 points

5. Jermichael Finley (Green Bay Packers) vs. Oakland

The Packers squeaked out a win over the Giants last week, and Finley was a big part of it, with six catches for 87 yards and a touchdown. He was targeted 11 times in the game, which was second on the team behind Greg Jennings. The 87 yards were the most that Finley has accumulated in a game this season, and his total of 14 fantasy points marked just the third time this year that he managed double-digit fantasy points. It was Finley’s third touchdown over his last six games, and he’s playing a Raiders team this week that has allowed two touchdowns to tight ends over their past three games.
Point Projection: 12 points

6. Tony Gonzalez (Atlanta Falcons) @ Carolina

If there’s a way for a future Hall of Fame player to have a quietly excellent season, Gonzalez has found the formula. He had a season-high 100 receiving yards last week against the Texans (on seven catches), and has now had double-digit fantasy points in three of his last four games. He’s now third at the tight end position in fantasy scoring, because he’s second at the position in receptions (66), third in touchdowns (seven), and fifth in yards (730). And while he did have his worst game of the season in Week 6 with only 29 yards on three catches, he hasn’t been held to less than six fantasy points in any other contest this season, and we certainly don’t expect a repeat performance.
Point Projection: 11 points

7. Vernon Davis (San Francisco 49ers) @ Arizona

Davis led the 49ers with five receptions and eight targets last week against the Rams, but he could only manage a lousy 32 yards in the game. He should have had more than three fantasy points, but he had a case of the butterfingers and dropped a pass in the end zone even though there was no Rams defender within three or four yards of him. He’ll likely have another chance to find the end zone this week against the Cardinals. He had 67 yards and a touchdown against them in Week 11, and that ran his streak of consecutive seasons with a touchdown against the Cardinals to six (which happens to be how many years he’s been in the NFL).
Point Projection: 10 points

8. Aaron Hernandez (New England Patriots) @ Washington

Hernandez had nine targets last week against Indianapolis, which was three more than fellow tight end Rob Gronkowski. And while Hernandez latched on to seven of those passes, he managed a paltry 43 yards (6.1 yards per catch). He seems to frequently get more looks than Gronkowski, and often more catches (17 in the last three games compared to Gronk’s 13), but isn’t getting the opportunities inside the 20. Hernandez hasn’t scored since Week 9, but we think that streak is going to come to an end this week.
Point Projection: 9 points

9. Brent Celek (Philadelphia Eagles) @ Miami

The Eagles were horrific last Thursday against the Seahawks, and that included Celek, who came up with just 21 yards on three receptions. That broke his string of six consecutive games with at least five fantasy points, and five games with 50 or more receiving yards. He has every opportunity to get back on track this week against the Dolphins. Michael Vick should be back, and only five teams in the league have allowed more receiving yards to opposing tight ends than the Dolphins have.
Point Projection: 8 points

10. Kellen Winslow (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) @ Jacksonville

The Bucs managed little offensively last week against Carolina with quarterback Josh Freeman sidelined due to injury and Josh Johnson starting under center. But Freeman is expected back this week, and Winslow – who had four catches for 41 yards against the Panthers – should benefit. Only two teams have allowed more fantasy points to tight ends than Jacksonville, and no team has given up more receptions to players at that position. In half of the Jaguars’ games this year, tight ends have compiled at least 75 receiving yards, and five times they’ve scored double-digit fantasy points.
Point Projection: 8 points

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We’ve partnered with DraftStreet.com to provide our fans an opportunity to play WEEKLY salary cap fantasy football against the Bruno Boys Staff.  Through the first nine weeks of the NFL season we have given away over $5,600 in cash prizes. This week, we are offering a $350 free roll in which the TOP 20 win prize money. Make sure to sign-up now for a chance to win money and take on the Bruno Boys… IT’S FREE!!

Please use this link to enter:  Week 14 $350 Contest  (click to register)

11. Dustin Keller (New York Jets) vs. Kansas City

Keller is a frustrating player for fantasy owners, because he’ll have outstanding games, like in Week 12 against Buffalo (64 yards, two touchdowns), and follow them with stinkers like last week’s three-catch, 12-yard outing against Washington. The three teams that Keller has amassed double-digit fantasy points against (Buffalo, Dallas and Jacksonville) are each among the 10 worst in the league at stopping opposing tight ends from scoring fantasy points. So too are the Chiefs, who have given up the fifth-most fantasy points in the NFL to tight ends. At the very least, fantasy owners should consider Keller as an option if they don’t have one of the upper-tier players.
Point Projection: 7 points

12. Brandon Pettigrew (Detroit Lions) vs. Minnesota

The most memorable thing Pettigrew did last week against the Saints was put his hands on a referee and gain a 15-yard personal foul penalty, which Lions players are apt to do. As for his actual play in the game, he had just a pair of catches for 15 yards while being targeted five times. When you examine Pettigrew’s recent lack of productivity, he deserves a spot lower in the rankings, but we can’t shake off the memory of his 11-catch, 112-yard game the last time he faced the Vikings back in Week 3.
Point Projection: 7 points

13. Jermaine Gresham (Cincinnati Bengals) vs. Houston

The Bengals were whacked by the Steelers last week, and it was so bad that Gresham was actually second on the team in receiving yards – with 37. The good news for fantasy owners is that his three points was actually his second-lowest total of the season, as he’s had at least eight points in five of his nine games this year. The bad news for fantasy owners is that Gresham faces Houston this week, and only two teams have allowed fewer fantasy points to tight ends than they have. But Tony Gonzalez did gain 100 yards against them last week, and so did Jimmy Graham earlier in the year. While we realize Gresham isn’t in the class of those two players, the point is that Houston is not completely invulnerable to tight ends.
Point Projection: 6 points

14. Jake Ballard (New York Giants) @ Dallas

Ballard was set up for a good game last week against the Packers and their lousy defense against opposing tight ends, but it didn’t happen. He caught only three passes for 47 yards as the aforementioned Travis Beckum was the tight end on the receiving end of a long touchdown instead of Ballard. We would like to believe in Ballard, but his play of late has been sub-standard. He hasn’t gained at least 50 yards since Week 9, and has five or fewer fantasy points in five of his last six games.Still, this one has the makings of a high scoring contest, and Ballard could put together a solid showing in the national startm.
Point Projection: 6 points

15. Anthony Fasano (Miami Dolphins) vs. Philadelphia

As the Dolphins have improved, Fasano has shown signs of life. He led the Dolphins with 66 receiving yards last week in their beat-down of Oakland, and he’s collected at least six fantasy points in five of his past seven contests. Of course, he’s also had one game with zero receiving yards and another with eight (though he did score in that game) during his streak of success, so you never really can tell with him, which is why we’ve been reluctant to put him in our top-20. But he’s clearly earned it, especially this week against the Eagles, who have allowed 171 yards to opposing tight ends in their last two games.
Point Projection: 5 points