Top 5 rookie tight ends for fantasy football
In fantasy football, there is no need to draft a tight end with a high draft choice even though the elite guys -- Dallas Clark, Antonio Gates, Vernon Davis, etc. -- will post numbers that are off the charts compared to what we could expect from a tight end in the past.
Patience is a virtue. In other words,there are plenty of values that you can find later in the draft.
Although there are some rookies in this draft class that have value on a long-term, keeper basis, none should be drafted as your starting tight end if you're in a shallow league.
Here are the top five rookie fantasy tight ends for 2010:
1. Jermaine Gresham, Bengals: Gresham, who missed the 2009 season at Oklahoma, was the only tight end drafted in the first round of this year's draft. Gresham was a touchdown-scoring machine for the Sooners as he scored a combined 25 touchdowns in his sophomore and junior seasons. Considering he had 103 receptions over those two seasons, he scored on more than 24 percent of his receptions. His touches, however, might be limited due to the off-season addition of receivers Antonio Bryant, Matt Jones, rookies Jordan Shipley and Dezmon Briscoe.
2. Rob Gronkowski, Patriots: Gronkowski, who was the second TE drafted, is more of a 1(a) than a 2 on our list. Like Gresham, Gronkowski missed the 2009 season at Arizona, but he is a big, athletic tight end. Even though he missed three games in 2008 as well, he scored ten touchdowns as a sophomore. He fills a big offensive need for the Patriots, who lost Ben Watson and Chris Baker and may be without Wes Welker to start the season as he rehabs his ACL.
3. Ed Dickson, Ravens: Dickson, who was the first of two tight ends drafted by the Ravens, isn't the world's greatest (or even a good) blocker, but he has the athleticism, downfield speed and receiving skills to produce solid numbers if he gets enough targets. The Ravens, who are a run-first team, still have Todd Heap in front of Dickson and have added Anquan Boldin and Donte' Stallworth to the receiving corps in the off-season.
4. Aaron Hernandez, Patriots: Hernandez had 68 receptions for 850 yards and five touchdowns in his junior season with the Florida Gators and is an athletic, pass-catching tight end. While tight end was a need for the Patriots, they also drafted Gronkowski ahead of him.
5. Dennis Pitta, Ravens: Like the Patriots, the Ravens drafted two tight ends in the first four rounds of this year's draft. As a 24-year-old rookie, Pitta is both a good blocker and a good receiver. At BYU, Pitta finished he collegiate career with 221 receptions for 2,901 yards and 21 touchdowns.
See our other rookie rankings for fantasy football: Top 5 QBs | Top 10 RBs | Top 10 WRs
