Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

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

 
WEEK 8 RANKINGS  QB  |  RB  |  WR  |  TE  |  K  |  DEF

It was awfully easy for fantasy football owners to be negative about the tight end position this weekend considering the miniscule numbers they had put up recently, the fact that there were more teams on byes in Week 7 than any other week, that Jimmy Graham didn’t play due to injury and that Fred Davis was lost for the season (Achilles) after being targeted just once. But lo and behold, the position fared pretty well, all things considered. True, there were some busts (none bigger than Kyle Rudolph’s zeroes across the board), but we also saw the continuation of some unexpectedly good seasons from Heath Miller and Martellus Bennett, a return to relevance for Dustin Keller and a reminder of what we could expect almost weekly from Dallas Clark.

How will this week turn out? Let’s take a look at our Fantasy Football Week 8 Tight End Rankings and find out.

::RANKINGS UPDATED AS OF OCTOBER 25, 2012::

 
1. Tony Gonzalez (Atlanta Falcons) @ Philadelphia

Gonzalez and the Falcons were one of the six teams who had their bye during Week 7. Despite that, he’s still second at the position in fantasy points, and the leader in receptions and targets. His opposition this week, the Eagles, have been solid overall against tight ends this season, but have had their weak moments as well. They allowed 119 yards to Detroit tight ends in Week 6 and 88 yards to Baltimore tight ends in Week 2.
Point Projection: 13 points

2. Rob Gronkowski (New England Patriots) @ St. Louis

Gronkowski led all tight ends in fantasy points this week after catching six passes for 78 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Patriots’ win over the Jets. His big game propelled him to the position lead for the season in fantasy points, receiving yards and touchdowns (tied with two others), while putting him second in catches and targets. Gronk faces a pretty tough test this week in England against the Rams, who are tied for seventh fewest fantasy points per game allowed to tight ends, allowing just one touchdown and one game of at least 55 receiving yards to players at the position.
Point Projection: 12 points

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3. Heath Miller (Pittsburgh Steelers) vs. Washington

Miller was third in fantasy points among tight ends during Week 5 after posting six receptions for 53 yards and scoring his fifth touchdown in six games during the Steelers win over the Bengals on Sunday night. He was tied for second on the team with eight targets, and is tied for ninth among all tight ends in targets this season. Miller’s also tied for the position lead in touchdowns, tied for fifth in receptions and stands alone in fourth place in fantasy scoring. He should stay atop the leaderboards this week against the Redskins, who have allowed the second-most fantasy points per game and receiving yards to tight ends this year.
Point Projection: 11 points

4. Antonio Gates (San Diego Chargers) @ Cleveland

Gates and the Chargers were on their bye last week, so we didn’t get a chance to discuss the fact that he finally broke out and did some damage in his Week 6 against the Broncos during San Diego’s Monday night collapse. Gates did his part, catching six balls for 81 yards and his first two touchdowns of the season. We fully expect him to continue putting up solid numbers this week against a Cleveland team that, while pretty good against tight ends this year, is overall lousy against the pass.
Point Projection: 10 points

5. Jimmy Graham (New Orleans Saints) @ Denver  **QUESTIONABLE—STATUS UNCERTAIN IN WEEK 8**

Graham didn’t play in the Saints’ win over the Bucs on Sunday due to his ankle injury. The missed game, combined with his bye during Week 6 and limited play during Week 5 when he injured the ankle gives him zero fantasy points over the last three weeks. Nonetheless, he remains tied for eighth in fantasy scoring at his position, and reports as of this writing have him okay for this week’s game in Denver. If so, he has an excellent match-up with the Broncos. They have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points per game in the league to tight ends, having given up five touchdowns in six games to players at the position.
Point Projection: 10 points

6. Aaron Hernandez (New England Patriots) @ St. Louis

Hernandez was targeted seven times by Tom Brady, catching five passes for 54 yards in the process. He was targeted seven times, which was third on the team behind Rob Gronkowski and Wes Welker. Hernandez has not broken 60 yards in any of his three games this season, but we think he’ll get past that this week across the pond, but be kept out of the end zone by the surprisingly solid Rams defense.
Point Projection: 9 points

7. Kyle Rudolph (Minnesota Vikings) vs. Tampa Bay

We mentioned Rudolph in the intro, and he was easily the week’s biggest disappointment. He failed to catch a single pass in Minnesota’s win over Arizona (a game in which Christian Ponder threw for all of 58 yards), and posted zero fantasy points for the second time in four games. Still, Rudolph is tied for seventh among tight ends in targets, is sixth in fantasy points and tied for the position lead in touchdowns. And there’s a lot to like this week in his match-up with Tampa Bay. The Bucs are second-to-last in the NFL in pass defense and have allowed 55 or more yard to tight ends in four of their six games.
Point Projection: 9 points

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

Witten was tied for fourth in targets at his position this week with eight, and though he caught six of those throws, gained a mere 44 yards as Dallas slogged to a win in Carolina. He is actually third in both receptions and targets among tight ends this season, but because he’s averaging fewer than 10 yards per catch and has only one score, hasn’t put up the type of fantasy points that his owners are used to. Witten and the Cowboys play the Giants for the second time this season on Sunday, but we aren’t putting much stock in Witten’s performance during Week 1, when he had only two catches for 10 yards after recovering from a spleen issue. We like him to put up much better numbers this week.
Point Projection: 8 points

9. Brent Celek (Philadelphia Eagles) vs. Atlanta

Celek and the Eagles were off last week, allowing him to be overtaken for the position lead in receiving yards. He’s now fourth, but even before the bye week he struggled a bit, gaining only 42 yards in his previous two games. Celek does have a good opportunity this week against the Falcons, who have given up at least 70 receiving yards to tight ends in half of their six contests on the year.
Point Projection: 8 points

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

For reasons known only to the 49ers, Davis was not even targeted during their win over the Seahawks on Thursday. He expressed frustration over his lack of production afterwards, something his fantasy owners can relate to. San Francisco Alex Smith did throw a touchdown to a tight end against Seattle, but it went to Delanie Walker, who has just five receptions all season. Davis has a tough opponent this week in Arizona, who is giving up the second-fewest fantasy points per game in the league to tight ends, but Davis is just too talented to completely bury – at least for now.
Point Projection: 7 points

11. Dustin Keller (New York Jets) vs. Miami

Keller was second among tight ends in fantasy points this week after being the position’s co-leader in receptions (seven) and leader in receiving yards (93) while scoring a touchdown during the Jets’ OT loss to the Patriots. He’s finally back after a hamstring issue sidelined him for the early portion of the season and may have hampered him even upon his return a couple weeks ago. With the Jets’ lack of receiving weapons, Keller could see a lot of balls thrown his way, so he’s definitely someone that fantasy owners should consider picking up if they are in need of a tight end.
Point Projection: 7 points

12. Martellus Bennett (New York Giants) @ Dallas

Bennett rebounded from some down weeks with five receptions for 79 yards (second among tight ends) during the Giants’ win over the Redskins. For the year he’s seventh at his position in fantasy points, and that’s despite collecting just three points from Weeks 4-6. But we hope Bennett wasn’t thrown off rosters entirely, because he still has some use, including this week against the Cowboys. When facing them in Week 1, he four catches for 40 yards and a touchdown. We don’t expect double-digit points again, but a decent week isn’t out of the question.
Point Projection: 7 points

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We’ve partnered with FanDuel.com to provide our fans an opportunity to play WEEKLY salary cap fantasy football against the Bruno Boys Staff.  In Week 8, we are offering a $500 worth of cash prizes and a the winner gets a seat in our Week 11 Bruno Boys Championship Make sure to sign-up now for a chance to win $8,000 in prize money and take on the Bruno Boys… IT’S JUST $5!!

Please use this link to enter for JUST $5 in Week 8:  $500 IN PAYOUTS/ SEAT IN BBFC  (click to register)

13. Brandon Pettigrew (Detroit Lions) vs. Seattle

Pettigrew’s six targets during Detroit’s loss to Chicago on Monday night were the third-most on the team, as were his five catches, but he could only accumulate 37 yards. He’s tied for fifth at his position in both targets and receptions, but as any Pettigrew owner or Lions fan knows, Pettigrew doesn’t matriculate down the field in large chunks. That lack of yardage, combined with the fact that he’s scored only once this year, has put him lower in scoring at his position than he really should be. We once again don’t like him to gain many yards, but eventually he has to find the end zone again, and we think he’ll do it this week against a Seattle team that has allowed touchdowns to tight ends in back-to-back weeks.
Point Projection: 7 points

14. Brandon Myers (Oakland Raiders) @ Kansas City

Myers tied Owen Daniels this week for the most targets among tight ends (10), and tied Daniels and Dustin Keller for the most receptions (seven) during Oakland’s victory over Jacksonville, but Myers wasn’t nearly as productive as those two, and gained a paltry 44 yards. For the season, he’s sixth among tight ends in receiving yards and tied for eighth in receptions, but with no touchdowns he can’t accumulate enough fantasy points to be anything more than a back-up or bye week fill-in.
Point Projection: 6 points

15. Coby Fleener (Indianapolis Colts) @ Tennessee

Fleener didn’t get much going during the Colts’ win over the Browns, hauling in just a pair of passes for 17 yards. He actually has fewer fantasy points this season than his rookie tight end teammate, Dwayne Allen, but that’s because Fleener has yet to score a touchdown while Allen has two. But Fleener has more receptions and more yards than Allen, and it’s about time Fleener put two feet into the end zone, and if there was ever a week to do it, it’s this week against the Titans. Not only is Tennessee 27th in the NFL against the pass, they have given up more fantasy points per game to tight ends than any other team, with last week being the first time they held opposing tight ends to fewer than 60 receiving yards.
Point Projection: 5 points