In fantasy football a good tight end
is getting easier to find. About 7 years ago there used to be only
two tight ends that were really valuable, Ben Coates and Shannon
Sharpe. In the last few years the tight end position has become an
important part of many NFL offenses and that has been reflected in
fantasy football scoring with quality tight ends like Tony Gonzalez,
Jeremy Shockey, Randy McMichael and Todd Heap just to name a few.
Now entering the NFL is Kellen
Winslow Jr. Any die-hard football fan knows that his dad was the
greatest tight end to ever lace it up in the NFL. Kellen Winslow
Jr. is stronger and faster then his dad so the sky is the limit for his
production.
Todd Heap is solid but last year he
had a disappointing season. His receptions, yardage and touchdowns
were down from 2002.
2003 -- 57 receptions, 693 yards -- 3 touchdowns
2002 -- 68 receptions, 836 yards - 6 touchdowns
His lack of production was the result of having to deal with different
quarterbacks throwing him the ball due to injuries and the fact that the
Ravens have no real receiving threats on the outside.
Second year quarterback Kyle Boller
will start the season as the number one but that doesn’t impress me, and
the Ravens have done nothing to improve their receivers coming into this
season.
There are a couple of other reasons
to like Kellen Winslow.
(1) He will have three-time
Pro Bowl quarterback Jeff Garcia throwing him the ball.
(2) The Browns have good wide
receivers on the outside such as Andre Davis, Dennis Northcutt and
Quincy Morgan to keep defenses from focusing on him.
(3) Cleveland traded a second
round pick in order to move up one spot to select him. They will use him
often to justify giving up such a high draft choice for him.
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Let's start at the
beginning. The following table shows Todd Heap's NFL career
numbers...
|
Season |
Games |
Receptions |
Yards |
TD's |
| 2001 |
11 |
16 |
206 |
1 |
|
2002 |
16 |
68 |
836 |
6 |
| 2003 |
16 |
57 |
603 |
3 |
|
Career |
44 |
141 |
1735 |
10 |
Now let's compare
those to Kellen Winslow's NFL career numbers...
|
Season |
Games |
Receptions |
Yards |
TD's |
| 2001 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2002 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2003 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Career |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Okay, so that comparison is a little unfair but it is the basis for my
argument. It comes down to Production vs. Potential.
[Editor's Note: Hey,
that's my tag-line !!]
Heap
has led the Ravens in receiving the last two years and looks to be a
perennial Pro-bowler. I expect his numbers will be better in 2004 than
even his 2002 season because his quarterback, Kyle Boller, has had a
whole year adjust to the pro game. It is only natural to assume they
should be more comfortable in their second season together.
I agree Winslow is
immensely talented but he has never faced anyone that hits as hard as
Ray Lewis. After getting smacked in the mouth a couple of times he might
start to get a little gun shy. The point is that we don't know what will
happen.
The other thing that
makes me a little hesitant is Jeff Garcia will be his quarterback.
Garcia is a good quarterback but he has never utilized his tight end
like they do in Baltimore. Of course, Jeff has never had a tight
end like Winslow but then again we just don't know if he will find him
enough to outperform Heap.
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