1. Jason Witten
T.O.’s departure makes the sure handed Witten even more important in the Cowboys’ offense. Look for OC Garret to move him around and Romo to target him at least eight-to-10 balls per game.
2. Antonio Gates
Rumor has it that Gates is finally healthy. If so, look out for a big fantasy campaign in 2009 as the Chargers have the outside threats to diminish attention paid towards the stud TE and Rivers and Gates have an excellent rapport.
3. Tony Gonzalez
Everything appears set for another superb season by Gonzalez. Coming off a 96 catch, 10 plus TD season, he now teams with Matt Ryan and will be deadly across the middle and in the red zone.
4. Dallas Clark
With the loss of Marvin Harrison, Clark’s role takes on even more importance in the Colts’ offense as he becomes Peyton’s No. 2 option. He’s a nightmare for Linebackers and Safeties to cover, and Manning’s pinpoint location always seems to find him.
5. Greg Olsen
The happiest man at the Cutler signing was first and foremost Cutler, second Olsen. The talented TE raised his level of play in 2008 and now having a legit NFL QB throwing the ball to him, rather than Orton, his numbers should improve greatly.
6. Kellen Winslow
It’s worth keeping an eye on the QB situation, but this is a great position for Winslow to become a top flight fantasy football TE once again. With Antonio Bryant on the outside, it’ll free up Winslow in one-on-one match-ups which he should exploit.
7. Chris Cooley
Cooley’s just a shade below the top-tier TEs but solid nonetheless. While his catch total in 2008 was solid, he only reached the end zone once, but look for that number to increase as they head into year two under Jim Zorn.
8. John Carlson
Carlson’s rookie year was extremely impressive in that he led the team in receiving and did so without Matt Hasselback behind center. With Hasselback back and healthy, and Carlson entering year two, he could end up a top five fantasy TE by year’s end.
9. Owen Daniels
Daniels is another TE who had a big 2008 but failed to reach the end zone often. This year should be another strong campaign; after Andre Johnson, he’s definitely Matt Schaub’s No. 2 and an excellent option down the seam.
10. Dustin Keller
It took until the midpoint of last season before the Jets realized what they had in Keller. With exceptional speed for a TE, no LB or Safety is going to cover him, and with a young QB behind center, look for Keller to be a safety valve and focal point in Rex Ryan’s offense.
FFGeekBlog
August 17th, 2009 at 12:30
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Man, it seems like forever since there's been any significant change at the TE position… you see the same names near the top of the list year after year.
FFGeekBlog
August 17th, 2009 at 16:30
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Man, it seems like forever since there's been any significant change at the TE position… you see the same names near the top of the list year after year.