Fantasy Football 2014: TE Rankings after Week 3 Preseason

1. player. 15. Fantasy baseball owners talk about positional scarcity a lot because of the lineup structure in baseball, and if your league requires a TE to be started every week there is a strong case for taking Graham in the first round based on the precipitous drop off to the rest of the tight end class. Graham scored 211 points in ESPN Standard leagues and no other tight end was within 50 points of him. In fact, there weren’t ten tight ends within 100 points of him meaning the drop off from Graham to a replacement player off the waiver wire is absolutely game-changing for any owner.  He comes into the season head and shoulders above everyone else based on his consistency, durability, and the fact that he’s still the main focus of the Saints offense. If anything, he could get even more looks based on the departures of Darren Sproles and Lance Moore.  Graham is locked in at #1 and makes a nice #1 pick for your team this season.. TE. New Orleans Saints. Jimmy Graham

2. player. 45. The Broncos TE is definitely a nightmare mismatch in the same class as Gronk on Graham, but his only limiting factor is that he is in an offense with lots of options either equal with or even ahead of him in terms of gameplan and targets.  He did finish third at the position in fantasy scoring last season which is impressive for a first-year starter regardless of team and situation.  Thomas’s situation actually improved this offseason with the departure of Eric Decker, and he got another bump in value with the injury to Wes Welker.  With Welker dealing with another concussion, look for Thomas to get even more red zone looks and become the team’s true second option in the receiving game.  His usage is the one question mark since Peyton does spread the ball around and he isn’t the #1 option like Graham is, but Thomas should be in store for another monster season.. TE. Denver Broncos. Julius Thomas

47. Gronk can be every bit as dominant as Graham <em>if he’s heathy</em>. Gronk hasn’t played at all this preseason, but all the Patriots coaches and Gronk himself seem confident he’ll be back week 1.  Even if he is, there is definitely the potential for some rust in the early part of the season after his brutal ACL injury last season.  Gronk is one of the few who could challenge Graham for the best TE title, and you’ll need to get him early because of that potential.  There is definitely questions about Gronk’s durability and health, though, so make sure if you draft him you get a solid backup who can produce solid numbers for a couple weeks if you need some fill-in.. TE. New England Patriots. Rob Gronkowski. 3. player