Week 7 TE Rankings

A fun week for TE rankings with Gronk almost definitely back & Jimmy Graham out. I tweeted this earlier, but its entirely possible Gronk may not play that much this week. Think about it this way - the Patriots are notorious for being as deceptive as they can with their injury report. Why now, would they make it clear that Gronk will be back, giving the Jets time to prepare? There are two possible reasons for this. 1.) It really was a major clubhouse issue and some guys were questions Gronk's commitment to the team, so they needed to make it public and get that out of the way. 2.) He will be used sparingly and mostly as a decoy while they ease him in to the speed of a real game. Either way, if he is playing, he instantly becomes the best red zone target for Brady. Because of that it its my philosophy that unless you have one of the great options this year, you are starting him immediately.

1. Julius Thomas
2. Tony Gonzalez
3. Jordan Cameron
4. Antonio Gates
5. Rob Gronkowski
6. Jason Witten
7. Vernon Davis
8. Jermichael Finley
9. Martellus Bennett
10. Heath Miller
11. Kyle Rudolph
12. Charles Clay
13. Coby Fleener
14. Greg Olsen
15. Scott Chandler
16. Timothy Wright
17. Jordan Reed
18. Zach Ertz
19. Jeff Cumberland
20. Sean McGrath
21. Brandon Myers
22. Garrett Graham
23. Delanie Walker
24. Jared Cook
25. Brandon Pettigrew
26. Joseph Fauria
27. Dallas Clark
28. Clay Harbor
29. Tyler Eifert
30. Levine Toilolo
31. Brent Celek

Jordan Cameron #3 - #6 on ESPN Rankings

The Jordan Cameron hype train has died down a little bit the past two weeks. A lot of people are wondering Weeden's return has spelled the demise of Cameron's value. Don't be one of those people. Cameron jumped to elite numbers at the beginning of the season behind Weeden and he is very capable of doing it again. This week should be a great return to that.

Greg Olsen #13 - #10 on ESPN rankings

The Rams are very tough against tight ends, the one spot they are decent against. They are allowing the 5th fewest points to opposing tight ends and have only allowed touchdowns to much better players Jason Witten and Vernon Davis.

Scott Chandler #14 - #21 on ESPN Rankings

Chandler is a fantastic goal line target, standing at 6'7". He got a touchdown with Thad Lewis last week, and inexperienced QBs tend to target their TEs because they are big targets who don't usually have an elite defender in coverage.

Timothy Wright #15 - #22 on ESPN Rankings

The inexperienced QB statement from above applies here as well. Wright has quickly established himself as one of Mike Glennon's favorite targets. It will be interesting to see if Mike Williams changes this, but for now I really like Wright. Falcons have allowed 5 TDs in five weeks to TEs.

Zach Ertz #17 - #29 on ESPN Rankings

This might be the most aggressive ranking I made the entire week. I love Ertz. It seems to have flown on the radar, but after last week he was officially moved from #2 on the official depth chart to "Co-Starter". He also received 6 targets to Brent Celek's 1 target last week. He is an amazing playmaker. If he had enough catches to qualify, he would have ranked 2nd in yards per catch for tight ends, squarely between Vernon Davis and Jimmy Graham.

Deeper looks...Brandon Myers has become a non-factor, and I ranked him accordingly, but he does have a great matchup this week. I didn't highlight Jordan Reed, but I feel similarly on him as I do for Ertz. I really like fellow rookie Tyler Eifert but its clear he isn't ready to take on a major role yet. I ranked Jared Cook lowly, and I've said it before but there is no reason he should be owned. I also mentioned on twitter, Joseph Fauria should not be really be considered a great option. He might get a touchdown, but if not he isn't an option. Its one of my mantras that you don't chase touchdowns.

Thanks for reading and as always feel free to leave a comment or tweet me @LopsidedTrades.