Do Tight Ends matter in Fantasy Football?

Of course, in fantasy football everything matters, and fantasy owners out there cannot afford to overlook the Tight End position. With that said there are just a handful of truly great tight ends, and FF owners must be careful not to take a blocking TE but one who can go out and get your team some stats each week. So I am not going to rank Vernon Davis, even though he has been a very good fantasy football TE. I am not ranking him because of the situation with the San Francisco 49er QB’s. I believe that team as a whole will suffer. So with that said let us take a look at my top five fantasy TE’s for the 2011 season:

1.Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers– there is some risk given his foot issues, however we can effectively argue that he is the greatest TE to ever play football. On top of that he plays on a team with a great QB. Furthermore San Diego led the NFL is passing yards a year ago.
2.Jason Whitten, Dallas Cowboys– I have him ranked higher than most, because he is a trusted part of the Dallas offense and that might be important this year. He averages over 90 catches a year, and I am betting that goes up a bit.
3.Jermichael Finley, Green Bay Packers– Again this is a guy coming off an injury so there is some risk, but he is the definition of elite TE. He is freakish athlete and wants to have a break out year
4.Jimmy Graham, New Orleans Saints– the bet here is Graham will have an expanded role in the Saints offense. He plays with one of the best QB’s of this generation, and the Saints love to throw the ball.
5.Dallas Clark, Indianapolis Colts– Sure he is older and sure there is an injury risk. The big knock on him is he has only played in all 16 games once in his NFL career. However, he plays with Peyton Manning and has had some very big seasons recently.

FF owners should not overlook Owen Daniels of the Houston Texas, and Zach Miller now of the Oakland Raiders. Of course all of this depends on how your specific league is set up.