The Late Round Quarterback staff put together their tight end rankings for the 2013 season. The following rankings are based on standard scoring in redraft leagues, where each touchdown is worth six points and one point is rewarded for every 10 rushing or receiving yards.

Average Rank JJ Austan Chad Keith Phil Ladd Sal
Jimmy Graham 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Aaron Hernandez 2 4 2 5 2 2 2 5
Jason Witten 3 2 5 2 3 4 4 3
Rob Gronkowski 4 3 3 7 6 3 3 2
Tony Gonzalez 5 5 4 4 5 6 5 4
Dennis Pitta 6 6 6 3 4 5 6 6
Vernon Davis 7 7 7 9 8 8 8 10
Kyle Rudolph 8 8 10 6 10 10 7 9
Greg Olsen 9 9 8 13 9 12 10 7
Jared Cook 10 10 15 11 7 13 12 8
Owen Daniels 11 11 9 25 12 7 9 12
Martellus Bennett 12 12 N/A 12 11 11 14 11
Brandon Pettigrew 13 13 14 21 15 19 16 16
Jermichael Finley 14 15 12 16 18 18 13 22
Brandon Myers 15 18 N/A 8 13 9 17 15
Antonio Gates 16 17 11 N/A 16 15 11 17
Jordan Cameron 17 14 18 10 19 N/A 18 13
Dwayne Allen 18 16 N/A 19 14 16 24 14
Jermaine Gresham 19 23 13 18 21 17 15 N/A
Dustin Keller 20 21 19 24 20 N/A 21 23
Fred Davis 21 N/A 16 17 23 N/A 20 18
Rob Housler 22 20 N/A 14 25 N/A 25 19
Coby Fleener 23 19 N/A 15 22 N/A 22 24
Tyler Eifert 24 22 N/A 20 17 N/A 23 21
Heath Miller 25 N/A 20 N/A N/A 14 19 20

Noteworthy Trends

With Rob Gronkowski’s health in question, Jimmy Graham easily becomes the top tight end target for 2013. Hampered by injuries last season, Graham still posted the highest point total amongst standard scoring tight ends, including six double-digit performances. Expect his ADP to hover around the front-end of the second round up until August, especially if Gronk continues his health struggles.

The group of writers created the obvious top-5 tight ends for 2013: Graham, Hernandez, Gronkowski, Witten and Gonzalez. Although some voted for Pitta to get a top 5 nod, the majority of the fantasy community realizes this is the top tier at tight end in 2013.

Moving down the list, it’s fairly clear that Pitta, Rudolph, Davis and Olsen make up the next tier of tight ends. I wasn’t as high on Vernon Davis until the Crabtree injury, and without Delanie Walker stealing a handful of targets in the passing game, this could finally be the year that Davis really puts it all together. We’ve seen what he can do in the playoffs, after all.

Jared Cook’s ranking differed from staff writer to staff writer, as Keith Black listed him as his 7th best tight end, while Austan had him all the way down at number 15. Given the fact that he hasn’t produced to his talent in the past and he’s now on a new team, we should expect this type of variance throughout the summer months.

Things get pretty shaky when we move into the teens. We all seem to be fairly high on the breakout potential of Jordan Cameron…except for Phil. Funny, too, because he wasn’t very high on Josh Gordon in our wide receiver rankings. Perhaps he thinks the new regime and Brandon Weeden won’t work. Me? I’m all in on Cameron this year. He’s got great value.

Coby Fleener is another guy that I’m higher on, as is Chad Scott. He’s got a history with new offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, and his versatility is going to make him an attractive add in fantasy this season. The Colts offense could open up a lot for tight end play.

read more