Another week and once again there were plenty of surprises in player performance for Week 9.
Kurt Warner scorched the Chicago Bears’ defense, completing 22 of 31 passes for 261 yards and five touchdowns. Fans may be surprised to see Warner do it in an Arizona Cardinals uniform and not a St. Louis Rams one. Clearly, he turned the clock back.
Maybe more surprising has been the increased importance of tight ends in today’s NFL offenses. This becomes an even more important trend to follow given the settings of most leagues.
If your league utilizes a points-per-reception format, having an effective tight end week in and week out is like having an extra receiver. With fantasy football playoffs about a month away, here are your stock-up and stock-down tight ends.
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Stock Up
Vernon Davis
Despite the San Francisco 49ers’ current four-game losing streak, Davis is having a nice comeback season. He’s already racked up seven touchdowns in his first eight games, including three in a 24-21 loss to the Houston Texans two weeks ago.
Whether Alex Smith or Shaun Hill is throwing the ball, Davis has been playing great and is coming off his first 100-yard game with 10 catches for 102 yards in the 49ers’ 34-27 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Even the addition of Michael Crabtree will help Davis, with defenses having to pay more attention to Crabtree as he grows more comfortable with the offense and becomes a more viable option.
Dallas Clark
Have the Texans put a defender on Clark yet? I’m still not sure, as Clark made it look easy against Houston, catching a whopping 14 passes for 119 yards and helping the Indianapolis Colts stay undefeated with a 20-17 win.
Clark has looked great all season, leading all tight ends with 60 catches for 703 yards and three touchdowns. Peyton Manning may have Reggie Wayne to throw to for the deep stuff, but Clark is his favorite target. His importance may take center stage this week as the Colts roll into a heavyweight matchup Sunday against the New England Patriots.
Brent Celek
Despite not being a household name and going two weeks without recording any fantasy points, Celek is an intricate part of the Philadelphia Eagles’ passing game and is quietly having a stellar season.’ He is tied for fifth with 40 receptions among tight ends, and has two 100-yard receiving games and has scored touchdowns in back-to-back weeks.
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Stock Down
Todd Heap
The Baltimore Ravens have lost four of five games after a 3-0 start and Heap hasn’t helped his team’s cause. He has gone without a touchdown since Week 2, and has not eclipsed 51 receiving yards the past six weeks.
Heap is, at best, a backup fantasy tight end and a bye-week replacement. His best game of the season was Week 1, when he had five catches for 74 yards and one touchdown. Since then he hasn’t had an impact, even with Joe Flacco throwing for the 11th-most yards per game in the NFL this season.
John Carlson
Like Heap, Carlson’s best game goes all the way back to Week 1, when he made six catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns against the lowly Rams. Carlson has done almost nothing since, failing to crack the 55-receiving yard mark and scoring no touchdowns.
Carlson is at best a bye-week replacement and a last-ditch option.
Sleeper
Visanthe Shiancoe might just be Brett Favre’s end zone target for a surging Minnesota Vikings team coming off a bye week. Shiancoe had five touchdowns in his last five games, despite only 22 receptions on the season.
The Vikings play inept defenses the next three games, so Shiancoe is a must-start unless you have Clark as your top tight end.
