Fantasy football rankings, Week 4: Tight ends

Bye weeks are going to ravage some positions this week. With Marshawn Lynch, Montee Ball, Zac Stacy, Giovani Bernard, Andre Ellington and others out for Week 4, running back is a disaster area (seriously, the bottom few spots on this week's top 50 is rough).

For tight end, though, that's not the big news. Sure, losing Julius Thomas hurts. Maybe Jordan Cameron, too, but his owners have already been dealing with that. But the Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals and St. Louis Rams don't really have fantasy-relevant tight ends, so it's not like fantasy owners are out some crucial piece.

Jason Witten was firmly in the top five, top six of preseason tight-end rankings, but through three weeks he has eight total fantasy points. Charles Clay, who most expected to be at the back end of the top 10 or so, has seven. Kyle Rudolph was a popular rising selection; he had 14 before getting hurt Sunday. Even Antonio Gates, who had that huge Week 2, followed it up with a complete fantasy no-show in Week 3.

• Vernon Davis missed Week 3 with an ankle injury. He had a big Week 1 before his Week 2 was cut off early, so he hasn't exactly been a fantasy darling so far. It looks like he's good to go for Sunday in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles that should offer lots of points, so fantasy owners should be excited.
• Jordan Reed (hamstring) has already said he's out for Washington's Thursday night game this week, and his Week 5 status is a big question mark as well. Anyone who dived on Niles Paul when Reed got hurt has reaped the benefits, but there's bound to be a lot of Reed owners who didn't get Paul, and that's been rough sledding.
• Dennis Pitta suffered a second right hip dislocation in Sunday's game. That will end his season, and there's a definite chance it'll end his longer-than-that. I don't know why this injury bothers me so much, but it makes me sadder than most injuries. For fantasy, it (probably) means good things for Owen Daniels, who now takes over the primary tight end role in a Gary Kubiak offense, which has meant good things in the past.