Empty the Bench

Ranks Preview by Brian Spencer

I was happy to draft Jason Witten towards the top of the fourth round (39th overall) on fantasy draft day this year. (His average Yahoo! draft position was 37th.) He’s been one of the most consistently dominant players at his position for the past 5 years, finishing second overall amongst TEs last year with 81 receptions for 952 yards and 4 TDs.

On top of that, he hasn’t missed a regular-season game since his rookie season in ’03, and with Terrell Owens having moved on to Buffalo, logic said that Witten could be in store for a career-best campaign.

But… meh. In The Year of the Tight End, Witten has been only good, not great, through 8 games. Oh, it’s not that he’s having a bad year, per se: he’s on pace for 88 catches for 782 yards and… 2 TDs. That’s where the letdown comes in: while guys like Greg Olsen and Vernon Davis have pulled down 3 scores in one game already, Witten has only found paydirt once while averaging a career low of 8.9 yards per catch. He’s currently ranked 14th overall amongst tight ends, at least in ETB’s scoring format.

I’m not necessarily going anywhere with this; just an FYI, I guess, that, um… sometimes fourth-round picks don’t pan out? That there’s still 8 more games for fourth-round picks to pan out? Let’s just get to the ranks.

See also:
- Week 10 QB Rankings
- Week 10 RB Rankings
- Week 10 WR Rankings
- Week 10 DEF Rankings

1. Dallas Clark, Indianapolis Colts vs. NE
2. Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers vs. PHI
3. Vernon Davis, San Francisco 49ers vs. CHI
4. Tony Gonzalez, Atlanta Falcons @ CAR
5. Brent Celek, Philadelphia Eagles @ SD
6. Jeremy Shockey, New Orleans Saints @ STL
7. Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys @ GB
8. Greg Olsen, Chicago Bears @ SF
9. Kellen Winslow, Tampa Bay Bucs @ MIA
10. Heath Miller, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. CIN
11. Visanthe Shiancoe, Minnesota Vikings vs. DET
12. John Carlson, Seattle Seahawks @ ARZ
13. Todd Heap, Baltimore Ravens @ CLE
14. Dustin Keller, New York Jets vs. JAX
15. Tony Scheffler, Denver Broncos @ WSH
16. Brandon Pettigrew, Detroit Lions @ MIN
17. Benjamin Watson, New England Patriots @ IND

Possibly Related Content:

1. Fantasy Football – Week 4 TE Rankings


2. Fantasy Football – Week 13 TE Rankings


3. Fantasy Football – Week 3 TE Rankings


4. Fantasy Football – Week 2 TE Rankings


5. Fantasy Football – Week 12 TE Rankings