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"&lt;p&gt;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Recent Fantasy Clicks\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t                                        8-22-08: Tiers of a fantasy clown, Part IV                                        8-21-08: Welcome back, Jack                                    \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t                                        8-20-08: Tiers of a fantasy clown, Part III                                    \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t                                        8-19-08: About last night                                                                            8-18-08: Tiers of a fantasy clown, Part II                                    \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t                                        8-15-08: Tiers of a fantasy clown, Part I                                    \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t                                        8-14-08: Sabathia keeps rolling                                                                            8-13-08: Red Sox-Rangers go nuts at Fenway                                                                            8-12-08: Aaron Rodgers shines                                                                            8-11-08: Updated top 20 average fantasy draft picks                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Tiers Of A Fantasy Clown, Part IV                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Kellen Winslow: Aaron Josefczyk/Icon SMI                                                                                                                                                                &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ah, tight ends. They're the glue of a passing attack -- the exclamation point for good ones ... and the safety net for bad ones. What would the NFL world be without 'em, huh? They are easily the most underrated playmakers in fantasy football (unless you count the Chargers defense/special teams this season). So, with the draft tiers for quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers in the Clicks books, SI.com presents a five-tiered list of the top-32 tight ends -- a mathematical compilation from projections published in eight respected annuals (&lt;i&gt;The Sporting News, ESPN the Mag, Fanball.com&lt;/i&gt;, etc.). The tiers represent the players' average estimates (listed in order of draft preference):Tier 1 (1,000 total yards and 8 TDs)&lt;strong&gt;Kellen Winslow, Jason Witten, Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez&lt;/strong&gt;Tier 2 (850 total yards and 6 TDs)&lt;strong&gt;Dallas Clark, Chris Cooley, Alge Crumpler, Jeremy Shockey, Owen Daniels, Todd Heap&lt;/strong&gt;Tier 3 (700 total yards and 5 TDs)&lt;strong&gt;Heath Miller, Vernon Davis, Tony Scheffler, Donald Lee, Ben Utecht, Greg Olsen, Randy McMichael, Zach Miller, Marcedes Lewis&lt;/strong&gt;Tier 4 (500 total yards and 3 TDs)&lt;strong&gt;Kevin Boss, Dustin Keller, John Carlson, Desmond Clark, Ben Watson, L.J. Smith, Alex Smith, Chris Baker, Leonard Pope, Visanthe Shiancoe, David Martin, Kellen Davis, Michael Gaines&lt;/strong&gt;\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t                            \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t                                 Two Knee-Jerk Thoughts From Niners-Bears                                                    &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;1. I &lt;i&gt;should&lt;/i&gt; spend this time praising Frank Gore (eight carries for 51 yards; 2 catches for 19 yards) for his brief, but dynamic performance in San Francisco's 37-30 road win. Instead, I will apologize to Niners QB J.T. O'Sullivan for my negative assessment in Wednesday's Clicks, questioning his acumen as an NFL signal-caller (kind of like Sterling Sharpe vs. Matt Cassel). O'Sullivan looked superb against the Bears' once-dominant defense, completing 7-of-8 passes for 126 yards and a TD. He also produced two highlights worthy of showing his grandchildren someday: One, a down-and-out bullet pass to tight end &lt;strong&gt;Vernon Davis&lt;/strong&gt; for 40 yards. Then, two plays later, he rolled sprint-right, fended off the Bears pass rush and found wide receiver &lt;strong&gt;Jason Hill&lt;/strong&gt; for a beautiful 37-yard score. Maybe he &lt;i&gt;can&lt;/i&gt; play in this league. Maybe Mike Martz has unearthed a Warner-like gem. 2. I want to believe that Kyle Orton (10-17 for 147 yards and 2 TDs) will become a solid fantasy QB, in the mold of how I think &lt;strong&gt;Jason Campbell&lt;/strong&gt; and Matt Leinart will perform this season. But the Bears are in the middle of a substantial overhaul offensively (moving from &lt;strong&gt;Cedric Benson&lt;/strong&gt; to Matt Forte at RB and from &lt;strong&gt;Bernard Berrian&lt;/strong&gt; to &lt;strong&gt;Mark Bradley&lt;/strong&gt; and Earl Bennett at WR), meaning there'll be more bad days than good in the interim. However, I am impressed with the speed, vision and cutting ability of Forte (11 rushes for 44 yards) ... and I wouldn't bat an eye over starting &lt;strong&gt;Greg Olsen&lt;/strong&gt; (1 catch for 18 yards and 1 TD) at tight end for 14 Sundays this season -- no matter the format.                    \t\t\t\t\t                                           \t\t\t\t\t\t                                   America's Top 10                                                    &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here we go again ... another Click lauding Targets, as in the amount of times a receiver, tight end or running back has the ball thrown his way. Not to keep harping on this, but it's truly one of the best indicators of success for a coming season -- especially in PPR leagues. To wit: SI.com presents a list of the 10 tight ends with the best combination of Targets and Receiving Yards (using '07 stats). Basically, we're talking about guys with minimums of 4.5 Targets Per Game (TPG) and 540 receiving yards:1.\t&lt;strong&gt;Tony Gonzalez&lt;/strong&gt;, Chiefs (10.3 Targets Per Game, 1,172 receiving yards) 2.\t&lt;strong&gt;Kellen Winslow&lt;/strong&gt;, Browns (9.7 TPG, 1,106 receiving yards) 3.\t&lt;strong&gt;Jason Witten&lt;/strong&gt;, Cowboys (9.3 TPG, 1,145 receiving yards) 4.\t&lt;strong&gt;Antonio Gates&lt;/strong&gt;, Chargers (7.4 TPG, 984 yards) 5.\t&lt;strong&gt;Chris Cooley&lt;/strong&gt;, Redskins (7.0 TPG, 786 yards) 6.\t&lt;strong&gt;x-Jeremy Shockey&lt;/strong&gt;, Saints (7.0 TPG, 619 yards) 7.\t&lt;strong&gt;Dallas Clark&lt;/strong&gt;, Colts (6.8 TPG, 616 yards) 8.\t&lt;strong&gt;Owen Daniels&lt;/strong&gt;, Texans (5.9 TPG, 768 yards) 9.\t&lt;strong&gt;Vernon Davis&lt;/strong&gt;, 49ers (6.4 TPG, 509 yards) 10.\t&lt;strong&gt;Tony Scheffler&lt;/strong&gt;, Broncos (4.5 TPG, 549 yards) &lt;i&gt;x- denotes statistics with the New York Giants&lt;/i&gt;                    \t\t\t\t\t                                                                           Five Weekend Quick-Hitters                                                    &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;1. Tenneesse @ Atlanta: If Falcons rookie QB Matt Ryan plays well in all three quarters of his first-ever home start ... does he earn a second home start against Detroit on Sept. 7? 2. New Orleans @ Cincinnati: I'm not a gamblin' man, but what is the Vegas over/under for this game come halftime? I have already grabbed Drew Brees in two fantasy drafts this month for two reasons: 1) He's a lock for 4,400 passing yards and/or 29 TDs, and 2) He only has one cold-weather game in November and December (Week 15 @ Chicago).3. Arizona @ Oakland: Is tight end Zach Miller on the precipice of moving into the Vernon Davis/&lt;strong&gt;Todd Heap&lt;/strong&gt; strata on fantasyland draft boards? 4. Washington @ Carolina: Is first-rounder &lt;strong&gt;Jonathan Stewart&lt;/strong&gt; finally ready to log substantial carries with the Panthers? If not, when does DeAngelo Williams get more love on preseason draft boards?5. New York Giants @ New York Jets: Speaking of Vegas ... what's the over/under on &lt;strong&gt;Eli Manning/Brett Favre&lt;/strong&gt; split-screen shots during the TV broadcast -- before, during and after the game?                                                             Ray Rice, The New Wally Pipp?                                                    &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For those who &lt;i&gt;stole&lt;/i&gt; the injured Willis McGahee in the fourth, fifth or sixth round of their respective drafts, it's encouraging to see the Miami product off crutches and in the pool (doing his best &lt;strong&gt;Michael Phelps&lt;/strong&gt; impression -- just ask him) after knee surgery. But before you start penciling in McGahee for your Week 1 lineup, it might be wise to dump one of your middling running backs (say, &lt;strong&gt;Ahman Green&lt;/strong&gt;) and &lt;i&gt;run&lt;/i&gt;, don't walk, to grab Ravens backup RB Ray Rice off the waiver wire. In fact, I would feel extremely confident starting Rice in McGahee's stead against the Bengals in Week 1 (unless you already have established stars like &lt;strong&gt;LaDainian Tomlinson&lt;/strong&gt; and Larry Johnson). Rice has world-class elusiveness and a lightning-quick burst to match. It's just too bad know one thinks of him like that -- yet.                                              SI.com Celebrity Fantasy League                \t\t\t\t                &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ever dreamt of playing fantasy football against a Hall of Fame safety, &lt;i&gt;Sports Illustrated&lt;/i&gt; football writer, Major League Baseball general manager, world-renowned swimsuit model, professional poker player or best-selling author -- to name a few? SI.com, in conjunction with click here and register today! As a consolation prize for the contest non-winners, you can create new leagues and develop newer rivals on "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/fantasy/2013/12/13/tightend-tiers>