TE Value Analysis Recap

1) Jason Witten
ADP: 43.7 (4th round, 8th pick)
Value: Appropriately Valued

2008 Finish: 2nd

Recap: Despite all the bad things that happened to the Cowboys in 2008, and the injuries that Witten suffered, he was still a stud TE.

2) Antonio Gates
ADP: 44.3 (4th round, 8th pick)
Value: Over Valued

2008 Finish: 4th

Recap: Gates proved once again that he has no problem playing through injuries, which is something I should have known already. Gates turned into another fine season in 2008.

3) Kellen Winslow
ADP: 50.0 (5th round, 2nd pick)
Value: Appropriately Valued

2008 Finish: 22nd

Overview: Winslow missed 6 games with injuries, and suffered along with the rest of the offense through the other 10 games. He was decent TE1 when he played, but the injuries killed him this year.

4) Tony Gonzalez
ADP: 61.5 (6th round, 1st pick)
Value: Over Valued

2008 Finish: 1st

Recap: In a move that nobody saw coming, KC used Tyler Thigpen as their starter, and also adopted the spread offense. Gonzalez was as dominant as ever once that occurred, posting a monster 2nd half of 627 yards and 7 TDs.

5) Dallas Clark
ADP: 66.5 (6th round, 6th pick)
Value: Over Valued

What's Changed: Offseason knee surgery for QB Peyton Manning and WR Marvin Harrison.

Overview: Much like Jennings, I went the wrong way with Clark, predicting less receptions and yards to catch up to the TDs, where instead while his TDs did decrease, his yardage increased quite a bit. This was due to the fact I felt Harrison would rebound, thus that impacted my ranking on Clark.

6) Chris Cooley
ADP: 72.6 (7th round, 1st pick)
Value: Appropriately Valued

2008 Finish: 9th

Recap: Cooley provided excellent yardage for his owners, but the 1 TD stung quite a bit. Still, he was a solid fantasy TE.

7) Jeremy Shockey
ADP: 77.9 (7th round, 6th pick)
Value: Under Valued

What's Changed: Jeremy Shockey is the new starting TE.

Overview: Shockey battled his usual assortment of nagging injuries, and he also just never fully integrated himself into the offense.

8) Vernon Davis
ADP: 95.8 (8th round, 12th pick)
Value: Appropriately Valued

2008 Finish: Fantasy football graveyard.

Recap: Pretty hard to perform when you're too busy pissing your coach off.

9) Todd Heap
ADP: 100.6 (8th round, 4th pick)
Value: Under Valued

2008 Finish: 23rd

Recap: Heap was told to block, so he blocked, and rarely caught passes.

10) Heath Miller
ADP: 111.1 (9th round, 3rd pick)
Value: Under Valued

2008 Finish: 16th

Recap: Miller was another victim of the non-existent Steelers passing attack. There just weren't enough balls thrown his way.

11) Ben Watson
ADP: 121.0 (10th round, 1st pick)
Value: Over Valued

2008 Finish: Fantasy football graveyard

Recap: NE is finally souring on the super-talented Watson as he's just not a very good football player.

12) Alge Crumpler
ADP: 129.2 (10th round, 9th pick)
Value: Under Valued

2008 Finish: Fantasy football graveyard.

Recap: Crumpler never recovered from his knee injuries, and he never passed Bo Scaife to start.

Sleepers:

13) Tony Scheffler
ADP: 136.4 (11th round, 4th pick)
Value: Under Valued

2008 Finish: 12th

Overview: Scheffler started hot, but then missed 4 games, which took a toll on his stats. He was certainly a TE1 when he played.

14) Owen Daniels
ADP: 155.1 (12th round, 11th pick)
Value: Under Valued

2008 Finish: 6th

Overview: Daniels was indeed the best draft day bargain among TEs, turning in an excellent season for his owners.

16) Greg Olsen
ADP: 175.0 (14th round, 5th pick)
Value: Appropriately Valued

What's Changed: 11th

Overview: Olsen still split too much time with Desmond Clark, but he impressed when on the field and turned in a solid TE1 season.

TE Summary:

Hits: Witten, Cooley, Watson, sleepers
Misses: Everyone else.

Another bad group here. My sleepers all turned out to be great value picks, and I owned 2/3 TEs of that group in both of my leagues. They allowed you to focus on all the other positions in the first 10 rounds, and then grab your starting TE after that, which is awesome flexibility. Another thing I plan to improve upon next year along with the value analysis is explaining what I'll be doing in my drafts. I avoided all TEs before the sleepers last year, and I should have been more clear as that would have been quite helpful for those who decided to go with that approach.