My Top Five - Tight Ends

Tight end may be my favorite offensive position. These guys are some of the most underappreciated guys in the league. We know tight ends because of the receiving skills, but they are asked to do so much more. The best of the best have multiple tools. They can catch the ball, run block and pass block. A tight end that can't block might as well be an oversized wide receiver. Without further delay, my top five tight ends:

1. Dallas Clark
2. Tony Gonzalez
3. Brent Celek
4. Antonio Gates
5. Jason Witten

Clark is an obvious choice for the best TE in the league. Part of one of the best offenses in the league, Clark is the most reliable receiver for the Colts. That's right, I'll take Clark over Reggie Wayne any day. Wayne is an outstanding receiver, but Clark is the guy I'm looking for if I'm Peyton Manning and the game is on the line. Manning seems to trust Clark as much as (if not more than) he did Marvin Harrison. 2009 was the first season where he played in all sixteen games and set career highs in receptions (100) and yards (1,106) while his 10 touchdown receptions were one short of his career high, set in 2007. 2010 should be more of the same for Clark.

Having spent the first twelve seasons of his career in Kansas City, Gonzalez continued his dominance last season in Atlanta. Providing a boost to an emerging offense, he caught 83 balls for 867 yards and 6 touchdowns. That yardage total was his lowest since 2002. He's had four 1,000-yard seasons in his career and while he may only have a year or two left in the tank, he'll be a top TE until the day he retires.

My sleeper fantasy TE last season, Celek paid great dividends in his first full season as a starter in Philadelphia. He set career highs in all major categories, posting 76 receptions for 971 yards and 8 touchdowns. Some may say that Celek is a little high on this list, but I'd point you to two Eagles games early in the 2009 season. Kevin Kolb was starting in place of the injured Donovan McNabb in games against the Saints and Chiefs. In each of those games Celek caught 8 passes for 104 yards, with one touchdown coming against the Chiefs. Kolb relied heavily on Celek in those two games, and it was obvious that the two had already built a strong relationship, probably from their days together in 2007 and 2008 on the second-team offense. Expect even better numbers from Celek this year as Kolb steps in as the new starting QB in Philly.

Gates and Witten are nearly even on this list, but one had to go before the other. Each has played seven seasons, with Gates having more receiving yards to nab fourth on my list. Gates seemed to come out of nowhere in 2004, catching 81 balls for 964 yards and 13 touchdowns after a 24/389/2 season the year before. Since then he's had less than 900 receiving yards only once, in 2008. He rebounded quite well in 2009 posting a career high with 1,157 yards. Gates was part of a three-headed monster in San Diego with Ladanian Tomlinson and Vincent Jackson. Tomlinson is now in New York and Jackson is threatening a holdout, so Gates could play an even bigger role in San Diego this year. He may even be the deciding factor in who wins the AFC West. No pressure.

Witten seems to always be playing second fiddle in Dallas. First it was Terrell Owens, now its Miles Austin and maybe even Dez Bryant (I'll mention Roy Williams when he proves he can play). Even with that, Witten is always a threat on the field. He has an outstanding relationship with Tony Romo and is the only receiver to be catching his passes since he became the Cowboys' starting QB in 2006. He posted his second 1,000-yard season in 2009, but only caught two touchdown passes.

Tight ends have been growing in importance over the past few seasons, and there are many more deserving of honorable mention: Chris Cooley, Jeremy Shockey, Owen Daniels, Heath Miller, Todd Heap, and Jermichael Finley.

There's probably one more name in everyone's mind: Vernon Davis. He had an outstanding season with San Francisco in 2009, with 965 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. But I just can't figure out where to place him. Could he knock someone from my top five? Probably. But at the same time he may not even be as good as Cooley and Schockey. He hasn't given a clear indication of what direction he's headed. When he does, I'll know how to rank him.