Saturday, October 2, 2004
Even some top tight ends underachieve
Fantasy football
By John Nemo
Enquirer contributor
Get over here, Shockey! You too, Boo! Hey, you look me in the eye when I'm talking to you, Dallas! The three of you should be ashamed of yourselves. Don't you realize what you've been doing to poor fantasy football owners all across the country? I mean, zero touchdowns among the three of you? Zero? You cannot be serious!
Tight ends are fantasy football's version of vegetables - they're among the least appealing items on the table, but everybody has to have them whether they like it or not. And if you ended up with Jeremy Shockey, Boo Williams or Dallas Clark at your auction or draft, you have reason to don that same sour expression most 10-year-olds get when faced with a plate of lima beans.
The bad news is that things probably aren't going to change anytime soon. Those mid-1990s wonder years of TEs like Ben Coates, Shannon Sharpe and Jay Riemersma scoring almost every week are gone.
The only tight end you can really count on these days is Kansas City's Tony Gonzalez, and even Gonzo has been up and down so far. Through three games, he has 186 yards receiving and only one touchdown, which isn't what fantasy owners were hoping for when they made him the first tight end taken in drafts. Still, Gonzo has proven in the past that he's capable of huge numbers, so you have to stick with him. Besides, who else would you start ahead of him?
Maybe you could make an argument for Randy McMichael, because the only benefit of Miami's offense being worse than most Pop Warner teams is that almost every single pass goes his way. McMichael is leading all tight ends with 74 yards receiving per game.
If you want a tight end who's actually coming close to living up to the hype, San Diego's Antonio Gates qualifies. So far he has 16 catches and 192 yards, and provided his sore foot doesn't keep him out of the lineup, he's a great option.
Watch enough Falcons games and it becomes obvious Michael Vick and Alge Crumpler have some nice chemistry, especially when they get near the goal line. And even though Warrick Dunn continues this shocking trend of stealing all the short-yardage touchdowns, you have to figure sooner or later Crumpler will start getting a few of those 1- and 2-yard TD flips he has seen so often from Vick in the past.
One good thing about San Francisco's dearth of proven talent at wide receiver is that tight end Eric Johnson is nabbing six to seven catches per game. He's right up there with Gates and Gonzo in terms of catches and receiving yards per game, and he does have a touchdown as well.
Then there's the All-Dud Squad: Shockey, Williams, Todd Heap, Freddie Jones, Desmond Clark, Bubba Franks, Dallas Clark, Marcus Pollard, Kellen Winslow and Jerramy Stevens. Whether it has been injuries (Heap, Winslow) or supreme underachievement (everybody else), this group is flat out killing fantasy owners.
Shockey and Williams in particular have devastated more than one fantasy team. Both were supposed to be among the top tight ends of 2004, yet so far they've combined for a mere 167 receiving yards and zero scores. Somebody pass the barf bag already.
Hot box
