Tight End Shuffle Up: Antonio Gates, value play

I don’t know about you, but it’s felt like a messy tight end summer to me. Some trendy picks have been hurt or slow off the mark this summer. Unlike most of the other positions, I don’t see tight end teeming with options at all price points. This is not a buyer’s market.

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The usual Shuffle Up disclaimers apply. The prices are unscientific and just a way to compare the players. When players are at the same price, it means they are considered even. I do not compare prices with other shuffles (or compare prices between different positions), and I do every shuffle from scratch. Season to taste, and your own particular league rules and parameters. I assumed a half-point PPR system, in theory, as I composed these.

Tier 0

$31 Rob Gronkowski

I tried a couple of mock/MFL teams with early Gronkowski and didn’t like how the rosters turned out; felt like I was chasing it at the other six-point positions. Unscientific as that may be, it’s not something I’ll continue to do in the remainder of draft season. No denying how dynamic Gronkowski is when on the field. Of course, he’s tied to four games of Jimmy Garoppolo to start off.

Tier 1

$28 Jordan Reed
$26 Greg Olsen

Reed is the upside play here (ballistic down the stretch in 2015, a legitimate league winner) while Olsen is the steady floor guy (hasn’t missed a game since 2007). It’s a shame you finally have to pay up for Olsen, after he’s been a sneaky value for several years.

Tier 2

$21 Travis Kelce
$20 Delanie Walker
$16 Coby Fleener
$14 Zach Ertz

I am no longer willing to chase Kelse with the idea that the Chiefs will significantly change his role; it’s a slippery slope to make draft decisions based on a coaching shift. But as Kelce inches closer to boring veteran space, you no longer have to pay the “shiny new toy” cost in many leagues . . . Mixed feelings on so much of this tight end board, with Ertz in the middle of it all. The talent, I love it. The Philly quarterbacks, hard to feel great about them. Brent Celek will be in the way, somewhat. And Ertz has never been a dynamic touchdown man.

Tier 3

$13 Antonio Gates
$13 Gary Barnidge
$11 Julius Thomas
$11 Dwayne Allen
$11 Martellus Bennett
$9 Jason Witten

Even in the late stages of his career, Gates has remained a solid fantasy asset: TE13, TE8, TE2, TE11. And last year’s finish came with five missed games in the mix; you get to replace him when he’s not playing. Gates is eight touchdowns away from Tony Gonzalez on the position TD list, and Philip Rivers has already pointed to the record as a team goal. And it’s not like you have to pay handsomely for this narrative; just take it when your league mates give you Gates in the medium rounds.

Tier 4

$7 Charles Clay
$7 Tyler Eifert
$7 Eric Ebron
$6 Clive Walford
$6 Zach Miller

I don’t draft into problems, they’re going to find us anyway. Thus, I don’t have any Eifert, and I won’t unless the price comes down significantly . . . I was pro-Ebron before that nagging ankle injury. Walford has become my go-to instead in many pools; Oakland has a skinny usage tree and they’re looking for something to hang the hat on at the goal line.

Tier 5

$4 Jared Cook
$3 Virgil Green
$3 Jordan Cameron
$3 Vance McDonald
$3 Jimmy Graham
$2 Kyle Rudolph
$2 Jesse James
$1 Will Tye
$1 Ladarius Green
$1 Austin Seferian-Jenkins