I don’t have the exact number of preseason columns led with terms like “plague” and “injuries,” but it’s safe to assume that estimate lies somewhere around 100 percent. Anyone and everyone that plays fantasy football has drafted during the preseason at some point (typically annually), which leads to numerous re-ranks, adjustments and attacking the wire as if you’re Lester Freamon.
Fantasy football rankings 2015: Tight Ends, Preseason Week 4
With Julius Thomas missing a few weeks and Zach Ertz remaining a question mark, we’ve updated our consensus tight end rankings to assist with all those waiver wire transactions on the horizon.
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In 2013, it was Dustin Keller, Kirk Cousins, E.J. Manuel and Le'Veon Bell (among others) who caused owners to panic. Last season it was Cam Newton and Sam Bradford. This season, Jordy Nelson, Kelvin Benjamin and Robert Griffin III have joined the list of those who were dropped only moments after they were drafted. At least among tight ends, only Julius Thomas (out 4-5 weeks), Niles Paul (IR), Antonio Gates (four-game suspension), Zach Ertz (questionable injury that has yet to be elaborated on) and Josh Hill (demoted) have seen their stock drop significantly. Only.
As for those suddenly on the rise, Jordan Reed, Ben Watson, Crockett Gillmore and Rob Housler have all benefited in one way or another from performing well over the past three weeks. Sure, they're not Top-10 material right out of the gates, but if you continue waiting until the very last moment to draft your tight end (once Rob Gronkowski comes off the board, anyways), they'll surely be useful as fliers somewhere down the road.
For now, at least they’re healthy. That’s more than some can say. Here are our fantasy football rankings for tight ends.
(DK: Daniel Kelley; DC: Dan Ciarrocchi; AW: Alex Welch; JD: John Daigle; KA: Kenneth Arthur; SK: Scott Kaliska; MG: Michael Gallagher)
| Rk | Consensus | Tm | DK | DC | AM | JD | SK |
| 1 | Rob Gronkowski | NE | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Jimmy Graham | SEA | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Greg Olsen | CAR | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| 4 | Travis Kelce | KC | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | Martellus Bennett | CHI | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| 6 | Jason Witten | DAL | 6 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 7 |
| 7 | Jordan Cameron | MIA | 9 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
| 8 | Delanie Walker | TEN | 5 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | Zach Ertz | PHI | 17 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 9 |
| 10 | Owen Daniels | DEN | 8 | 19 | 7 | 9 | 15 |
| 11 | Tyler Eifert | CIN | 14 | 14 | 6 | 17 | 11 |
| 12 | Kyle Rudolph | MIN | 16 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 12 |
| 13 | Julius Thomas | JAC | 15 | 8 | 16 | 18 | 10 |
| 14 | Dwayne Allen | IND | 13 | 11 | 13 | 25 | 13 |
| 15 | Coby Fleener | IND | 10 | 21 | 18 | 11 | 22 |
| 16 | Austin Seferian-Jenkins | TB | 21 | 15 | 17 | 13 | 16 |
| 17 | Antonio Gates | SD | 11 | 16 | 22 | 21 | 14 |
| 18 | Jordan Reed | WAS | 24 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 20 |
| 19 | Larry Donnell | NYG | 12 | 17 | 19 | 23 | 18 |
| 20 | Heath Miller | PIT | 26 | 18 | 20 | 19 | 19 |
| 21 | Vernon Davis | SF | 22 | 20 | 23 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | Eric Ebron | DET | 25 | 24 | 21 | 16 | 24 |
| 23 | Jared Cook | STL | 20 | 27 | 30 | 12 | 28 |
| 24 | Charles Clay | BUF | 19 | 23 | 24 | 28 | 23 |
| 25 | Josh Hill | NO | 18 | 26 | 27 | 31 | 17 |
| 26 | Benjamin Watson | NO | 31 | 28 | 14 | 22 | 27 |
| 27 | Ladarius Green | SD | 29 | 22 | 25 | 32 | 25 |
| 28 | Richard Rodgers | GB | 32 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 26 |
| 29 | Scott Chandler | NE | 23 | -- | 32 | 24 | -- |
| 30 | Mychal Rivera | OAK | -- | 32 | 29 | 26 | 30 |
| 31 | Maxx Williams | BAL | 27 | 31 | -- | -- | 29 |
| 32 | Crockett Gillmore | BAL | -- | 30 | 30 | 30 | -- |
| -- | Rob Housler | ARI | -- | 29 | -- | 29 | -- |
| -- | Luke Willson | SEA | 28 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Jacob Tamme | ATL | 30 | -- | -- | -- | 31 |
| -- | Virgil Green | DEN | -- | -- | 31 | -- | 32 |
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SB Nation presents: How to determine fantasy sleepers and busts
