2017 Fantasy Football Rankings – Dynasty Standard

Gronkowski is the standard-bearer at the position when healthy. He doesn’t have to have Tom Brady throwing him passes to be successful. It’s Gronk by a bunch at the top of the rankings. Kelce was able to average more than seven targets a game last season and had at three games with at least ten of them. Having Alex Smith as your quarterback can actually be encouraging since he doesn’t go deep that often and the Chiefs don’t have much at wide receiver to begin with after Jeremy Maclin bolted for Baltimore. Tyreek Hill is fast but didn’t have a 100-yard receiving game last season and had nine games with fewer than 60 receiving yards. The passing game really runs through Kelce. Eifert is in the right situation with the Bengals. He has practically zero competition at the tight end spot and AJ Green stretches the field for him. His durability is the big question mark missing 26 games since 2013. When he’s on the field, he’s a red zone monster with 18 score in 21 games over the last two seasons. If he stays healthy, Eifert can be a game changer at the position. Hunter Henry heads into his second year with a good place to be in Los Angeles. The 22-year-old tight end had a solid rookie season with eight touchdowns on 36 catches for 478 yards. Factor in Antonio Gates and the Chargers threw a total of 15 touchdown passes to tight ends last season. Gates is old and has the occasional foot issues. Henry has a bright future but the Chargers’ offense has almost too many options for now. Jordan Reed is hurt. Again. This time’s it’s a toe injury in the preseason that has him on the PUP list as camp opens. The injury risk with him is big but keep in mind he has consecutive top-10 finishes at the position in each of the last two seasons. Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson left in free agency but Terrelle Pryor gives Washington a deep threat and Josh Doctson is a question mark after he missed last season. He still averages more than eight targets per game and the volume is there for success. Greg Olsen is a tried-and-true favorite at the position with three consecutive 1000-yard seasons heading into 2017. He continues to see a healthy amount of targets in Carolina averaging, 125 per season over the last three years. He’s an integral part of the Panthers offense and continues to produce at a high level. There isn’t much more that you can ask for from a 32-year-old tight end. Sure you want more touchdowns than the three he had last season but he’s durable and produces well. Graham is in the same boat as Olsen as he clicked past 30 last season and Father Time is starting to double-cover him. Last season, he posted his best yards per target (9.8) and yards after catch (5.0) so he’s adding value to the Seattle offense and being more than a possession receiver. The knock on Graham is the red-zone usage. He was targeted a team-high 20 times in the red zone but only three of the came inside the 10-yard line and he only scored once in the red zone. Someone please explain how you don’t target him more inside the 10-yard line?!?! Graham still posted a solid 65-catch, 923-yard, six score effort in 2016 but if the Seahawks used him the right way, he would be higher on the list and closer to his numbers when he was with New Orleans. Ebron comes next and is in the same spot as Graham but younger and with more weaknesses. Ebron doesn’t block well and barely finds the end zone as evidenced by his paltry one touchdown last season. Things should be looking up as the Lions might have stability in the running game for the first time in a while. Anquan Boldin left for Buffalo and that opens up red zone targets for Ebron. At 23, he has time to get this right in the long-term but you’ll need to be patient with his growing pains. Ertz has the potential to do well but comes with a caveat that he performs well on Week 17 when most fantasy leagues have wrapped it up. Last season it was 13 catches for 139 yards and two scores in a meaningless (fantasy-wise) game against Dallas. Ertz gets that targets at touchdowns at the tight end position but the Eagles upgraded their offense. Alshon Jeffrey came from Chicago and Torrey Smith from the 49ers and both will eat into Ertz’s targets. This year could be down for him but the long-term outlook is very positive for him. OJ Howard is the first rookie on the list. He was a solid contributor at Alabama and steps into a good spot in Tampa Bay. Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson will be solidly targeted. The big question here is how often will Tampa run two tight end sets with Howard and Cameron Brate. Brate produced 660 yards and eight touchdowns last season and looked good doing so. The Bucs might be the same as the Chargers if they had more stability in the running game. The next 10 Rudolph set career highs in targets, receptions and yards last season and scored seven times. Minnesota now knows how to use him. Bennett should be the primary tight end on an Aaron Rodgers team but his age holds him back a little. Engram should win the starting job for the Giants and OBJ and Brandon Marshall should provide enough distraction for a good rookie season if he can get the targets. Njoku should be able to compete for the starting role but his quarterback is a huge key. Brock Osweiler and Deshone Kizer would give different results in Cleveland for the tight ends and a young receiving corps. Walker continues to produce in Tennessee but things are changing with a solid ground game and Corey Davis from Western Michigan being a nice receiving threat. Walker, 32, should be okay this season but look for his production to start dropping off after 2017. Hooper, 22, is in a nice spot in Atlanta with an offense that loves to throw. His targets and yardage were low last season and Levine Toilolo and Jacob Tamme didn’t help that situation. The other thing against him is a balanced offense in Atlanta. Last season Matt Ryan threw for 38 touchdowns but no player finished with more than six scores. Yes, including Julio Jones. The good news is that Atlanta tight ends combined for 788 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2016 so the work is there. Can Hooper get a bigger piece of the pie? A couple notes on the bottom half… It’s hard to trust tight ends on the Rams when Jared Goff is still the quarterback, even with the recent addition of Sammy Watkins to the wide receiver group. Witten and Gates are in the twilight of their careers, which leads to their lower ranks. Barnidge comes across as more of a one-trick pony who is still looking for a job. If he lands in the right spot, he could thrive but he is still on the street as of now. He had a solid 2015 with 1,043 yards and nine scores but did little else in his career otherwise. Sefarian-Jenkins has youth (24) going for him but not much else in a dilapidated offense with almost nothing at quarterback. The Jets lost Quincy Enunwa for the season (neck) so the opportunity exists but his level of performance is questionable at best. That suspension he’s facing doesn’t help either. Same for McDonald with Brian Hoyer as his quarterback in San Francisco. Williams lands on the list by default as Baltimore is seemingly running out of receivers left and right. Gresham is a starter in Arizona but the Cardinals seldom use the tight end in the passing game. Butt appears to be a project player who will miss time this season after tearing his ACL in the Orange Bowl around first of the year. Julius Thomas is solely in his position based on playing time. He took two good seasons with Peyton Manning in Denver (2013, 2014; 24 total TDs) and cashed in big in Jacksonville. He also crashed out with 76 catches for 736 yards and nine touchdowns in the last two seasons, combined. He showed potential in his first two games of the season in 2016 but failed to cross 30 yards in any game after that. Vernon Davis only has value if Jordan Reed is dealing with an injury. Shaheen has the size (6-foot-6, 278 pounds) to do damage and he might have a chance to slip into the Bears’ offense right away. Someone has to help Jordan Howard, right?