Fantasy News
I’m not sure who’s going to win the Fantasy Index Open, but I have settled on one guy I’m confident won’t be lifting the trophy at the end of the season: Rob Dammers of Ringwood, N.J.
Nothing against Dammers. He’s been one of our regulars over the years. He’ll send in a mailbag request once in a while if he has a question about a ranking or strategy theory. I like him. I don’t know him, but I like him.
Dammers is a senior tech analyst. He’s a smart guy.
But I have his 2012 Fantasy Index Open entry in front of me, and I can’t help but shake my head when I look at his tight end rankings. He has neither Rob Gronkowski nor Jimmy Graham in his top 4 at tight end.
Witten, Gresham (Gresham?), Vernon Davis, Gates. That’s Dammers’ top 4. Then he’s got Graham, then another Davis – Fred Davis – before finally working in Gronkowski at 7th, the lowest of all the entries.
I will remind Dammers of this next time he writes in to complain about one of my rankings.
The “people’s choice” rankings for tight ends appear below. These are the averages of the 92 entries in the Fantasy Index Open.
Little difference between Gronk and Graham. The New England tight end received 49 first-place votes, 28 votes for 2nd. 12 put him in 3rd or 4th. And three ranked him lower than 4th – Dammers (7th), Nathan Priest (6th) and Adam Thygeson (5th).
Graham received 37 No. 1 votes, 40 votes for 2nd. 11 put him in 3rd or 4th, and four ranked him lower than 4th. Dammers, Adam Holtz and Bob Tecca all ranked him 5th, and Steve Simon, a dental technician from Waterloo, Iowa, put Graham down at 8th.
I’ve got a few other names in bold that caught my eye.
Fred Davis appears higher than I thought he would. They’ve got a new quarterback and they picked up a pair of wide receivers. Plus he was suspended for four games last year.
Jacob Tamme, I think, should be higher. He’ll catch a lot of balls with Peyton Manning there.
Vernon Davis is too high. He’s a great talent, but he 49ers don’t pass the ball often enough. He’ll be underused.
Jared Cook is too high. He’s got good receiving ability, but the Titans have plenty of wide receivers and could be starting erratic Jake Locker at quarterback for much of the year.
Kellen Winslow, I’m surprised that anybody put him in their top 20 at all. He’s not going to do anything in Seattle.
FANTASY INDEX OPEN -- TE
97.5% NE Rob Gronkowski
97.1% NO Jimmy Graham
85.1% SF Vernon Davis
85.0% GB Jermichael Finley
84.6% SD Antonio Gates
84.4% DAL Jason Witten
83.3% NE Aaron Hernandez
65.4% ATL Tony Gonzalez
64.9% WAS Fred Davis
63.2% DET Brandon Pettigrew
59.3% CIN Jermaine Gresham
56.6% PHI Brent Celek
54.8% HOU Owen Daniels
54.6% DEN Jacob Tamme
50.7% NYJ Dustin Keller
47.0% TEN Jared Cook
46.4% CAR Greg Olsen
38.9% IND Coby Fleener
24.7% PIT Heath Miller
15.5% SEA Kellen Winslow
13.3% JAC Marcedes Lewis
12.4% TB Dallas Clark
12.2% NYG Martellus Bennett
11.9% BAL Ed Dickson
11.8% MIN Kyle Rudolph
—Ian Allan
- Comments [5]
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Posted by Rob Dammers | Jun. 28 at 05:59 AM
thanks for the somewhat harsh/somewhat kind words Ian ( I think!) it's all in good fun. Hey, weren't the guy who said in your FI 2011 edition, in Devone Bess' write-up, "Devone Bess is a better Wes Welker".ouch..still laughing at that one, Ian.If I'm not mistaken, You also had Dallas Clark ranked as a top TE last season..eesh.. I ranked Gronk lower than everyone else, yes.. In statistics, regression toward the mean (also known as regression to the mean) is the phenomenon that if a variable is extreme on its first measurement, it will tend to be closer to the average on a second measurement..there's no way he comes close to 90 recs this season..also, when was the last time a record-setting player even came close to repeating those numbers the following year? Not Manning ( td-record), Lt2 ( TD record, and his 2k season), Brady ( TD record), OJ Simpson,etc..Gronk has a new OC ( McDaniels - who hasn't shown a history of TE-friendly offenses) to deal with, and B. Lloyd..Gronk is 265 LB's on a surgically repaired ankle, and Dc's have spent all offseason working on ways to stop or limit him..he'll be hard-pressed to catch 70 balls this year ( which is only 14 more than Fred Davis caught last year in part time duty)..Graham I have ranked a bit lower than most because it remains to be seen what the Saints offense will look like without Sean Payton calling shots on the sidelines..do you have faith in Joe Vitt?I don't. Witten is Mr consistent.Gresham is in year 3, possible breakout coming? Fred Davis, final 7 games of 2011, avg'd 6-64/gm..with deadbeat QB's like Grossman..you're a big proponent of Shanahan's offenses, tell us what the avg TE production for his teams have been, historically..always ranked in top 3-4 right? I have Vernon Davis ranked at #3, right where everyone else has him slotted.. conversely I don't see how others have Finley ranked so high.. you have to take chances at times, so I took a few, we'll see how it all shakes out....you also take chances with your magazine and I applaud you for doing so....but, you've missed on a few of them over the years.Tatum Bell, anyone?
Posted by Jacob Wilson | Jun. 28 at 06:23 AM
COMIC BOOK GUY: Worst... tight end rankings... EVER.
Posted by IAN ALLAN | Jun. 28 at 09:58 AM
For clarification purposes, I wondered if Davone Bess is a better receiver than Wes Welker. I didn't say Bess would put up better numbers, though (he's in a lesser offense). And I still feel that way. If I were running an NFL team, I would rather have Bess than Welker -- definitely when contracts and age are factored in.
Posted by Nathan Priest | Jun. 28 at 01:50 PM
Obviously, I agree with Rod on Gronkowski as far as him not repeating 2011. I probably am the only entrant to have his own teammate ahead of him as well. You never know with a Belichick-Brady led team who will put up the numbers.
Posted by Rob Dammers | Jul. 03 at 07:55 AM
Jacob Wilson..did you enter the contest? I don't see your name on the list. what is you top 20 TE rankings? who is comic book guy? Ian, Gronk is the 2012 FFI coverboy..may the the curse live on!! ;-)