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To start off the tight end position in fantasy football has never been deep. This off-season and extending into the preseason we are seeing an inordinate amount of first string tight ends take a seat due to injury. That brings up a new dilemma that fantasy owners are not use to. A tight end is supposed to be durable and typically we’ll see maybe one or two dot the injury list that has any fantasy relevance.

When injuries mount that leave the opportunity for someone to step in. Don’t look now but the tight end position continues to be filled with youth. Due to the brute nature of the position, some of these tight ends currently on the injury report might be limited once on the field. After all they’re non fantasy impact is to also block edge rushers in running formations, and pass protect if called upon too.

Here are some tight ends with injury bugs that you need to be on high alert of.

Age Concerns/Risks
Jason Witten- Witten is a bruiser for punishing would be tacklers in the open field. His sure hands and route running have been outstanding with quarterback Tony Romo. Often tight ends can play through injuries and keep their presence on the football field. Witten did that last year, but one has to wonder how the return year from those nagging injuries will affect him. He is 31 and a down year could be looming. The Cowboys drafted Terrence Williams out of Baylor and are loaded at wide receiver this season. Dallas also drafted Gavin Escobar with a high second round pick in this year’s past draft.

Antonio Gates- Fantasy owners now sort of expect what type of stats they’re going to get out of Gates nowadays. He is right there on the bottom part of the top ten fantasy tight ends, and is on the lower end of ten to twelve team leagues for a starter. The Chargers offensive woes have not helped, and they still have done little to surround Gates with viable receiver options.

Tony Gonzalez- His phenomenal season was out of the ordinary, as fantasy owners were waiting for the string of weeks of Gonzalez to come back to Earth to happen. They didn’t, and may not this year either with how explosive Julio Jones and Roddy White are opposite each other. Teams have to pick their poison, and right now it’s with Gonzalez.

Heath Miller- The injury woes of the Steelers have put their 2013 season in jeopardy before it even starts. Plagued by tailback, wide receiver, and tight end injuries, Big Ben, is going to have a heck of a time maintaining his own health. Miller’s return is unknown, but for now Matt Spaeth will be Big Ben’s primary target.

Dennis Pitta- Pitta’s injury was one of the first high profiled injuries of training camp and dealt a big blow for the Ravens offense. Anquan Boldin became a beneficiary of Joe Flacco as the season wore on, but if it were not for the zone Flacco was in, Boldin would have been near useless. A large majority of catches by Boldin were from precision passes from Flacco, while Pitta had the ability to get open and was Flacco’s main primary target during the entire season. Now the Ravens will look at Ed Dickson and newly signed Visanthe Shiancoe to fill Pitta’s shoes.

Fred Davis- The Redskins are one of the few teams that have an arsenal at their disposal and do not need an elite tight end. Davis has never lived up to his billing and now is more of a situational fantasy worthy tight end. Even though he is coming off injury, Washington’s offense is not going to garner him more attention. They’ll keep things the way they were running it last year. A lot of running plays and pistol formations for RG3.

Scott Chandler- Chandler was the Bills old quarterback in Ryan Fitzpatrick’s main threat besides Stevie Johnson. After Chandler returns from injury will have to see who either EJ Manuel or Kevin Kolb figures to target the most in the Bills offense and at tight end. Right now any Bills tight end should be on the waiver wire until further notice.

Rob Gronkowski- The Patriots are know that they have to position Gronk back slowly this go around, as another blow to his arm is going to be even harder to return from. The time table for his return has not been announced, which makes the drafting of him in high rounds risky. He should be back at some point in September, and his replacement Zach Sudfeld should be a representable fill-in minus the touchdowns for those weeks.

Dustin Keller- Keller’s blown out knee was a major blow to the Dolphins. In action in preseason, Ryan Tannehill had already hooked up with Keller on a nice touchdown pass a week prior. Someone is going to have to fill that void, and Miami may have to platoon the position until someone stands out. Charles Clay or last year’s third round pick, Michael Egnew, figure to try and snare a few passes in absence of Keller.

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An ever-growing vital position is at tight end for fantasy football owners. The cream of the crop is a dandy with high caliber players that would even complement a wide receiver one statistically. After that it becomes a notorious crap shoot. Do you settle for a primary red-zone target or one that heeds yards but is non-existent in the red zone. It’s a gamble some take if they see higher value in a wide receiver two or key depth at other positions.

But if you look at the teams that succeed for fantasy playoffs it’s becoming more and more evident that they’re securing the twelve to sixteen lock points every week with a non roller-coaster tight end. Sure they’re paying the draft pick price for it. But when you scan a waiver wire for tight end value it’s just as pitiful at any point of the year.

The tight end position is invaluable, and here are updated tight end rankings after week two of the preseason.

1. Jimmy Graham
2. Rob Gronkowski
3. Jason Witten
4. Tony Gonzalez
5. Kyle Rudolph- Expect Rudolph to expound on last year’s statistics. He will assuredly be a top fantasy tight end surpassing the old veterans Witten and Gonzalez.
6. Vernon Davis
7. Owen Daniels
8. Antonio Gates
9. Jermaine Gresham- The wake up call has come for Gresham, and I think he will respond even with the drafting of Tyler Eifert. Before another tight end being brought it was a detractor for players currently on the roster. Teams are mixing it up more with two tight ends that are versatile. Gresham should continue to be fine and is still young enough to blossom into an even better fantasy tight end.
10. Greg Olsen
11. Jermichael Finley
12. Ed Dickson – Familiarity is often a quarterback’s best friend. Gone is Anquan Boldin and Dennis Pitta to injury. Insert Dickson who lacks the skillset of Pitta but has been and will be a viable option for Flacco once again.
13. Brandon Myers
14. Jordan Cameron- While the preseason hype is on Sudfeld, I believe it has more to do with the Patriots lore than anything else. Cameron has been the big surprise. The display and show he has put on is not going to end once the regular season comes. He’ll continue to do damage and be a safe keep as your TE2 or legitimate depth there as well.
15. Martellus Bennett – With the injuries plaguing and surround the tight end position, Bennett has climbed up the middle tier tight end position rankings. Now he needs to showcase that last season was not a one year wonder.
16. Brandon Pettigrew
17. Dwayne Allen
18. Zach Sudfeld
19. Jared Cook
20. Charles Clay
21. Marcedes Lewis
22. Rob Housler
23. Delanie Walker
24. Heath Miller
25. Scott Chandler
26. Fred Davis
27. Zach Miller
28. Jacob Tamme
29. Jeff Cumberland
30. Brent Celek
31. Tyler Eifert
32. Anthony Fasano
33. Zach Ertz
34. Jordan Reed
35. Tony Scheffler

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Let’s just face it. Ranking defenses and special teams is growing harder and harder in fantasy football. Teams that you wouldn’t expect on a given week can jump off the board with a pick six or two, and propel a mediocre team to fantasy victory. It’s probably the one position you can get away with plugging in “any team” and getting rather lucky four to five times a year. I’m still under the belief that you want to accumulate the easy points as well and then hope for the better. Go after teams that will rank in the top ten in turnovers and sacks.

Here is a look at my new fantasy defensive rankings going into week three of the preseason. Be sure to check in during the fantasy football season for weekly fantasy football rankings.

1. Seattle
2. Cincinnati
3. Arizona
4. San Francisco
5. New England
6. Denver
7. Chicago
8. Cleveland
9. Houston
10. Pittsburgh
11. St. Louis
12. Green Bay
13. New York Giants
14. Philadelphia
15. Dallas
16. Buffalo
17. Atlanta
18. Baltimore
19. Miami
20. New York Jets
21. Tennessee
22. Washington
23. Detroit
24. Carolina
25. Tampa Bay
26. Oakland
27. Kansas City
28. Indianapolis
29. Minnesota
30. Jacksonville
31. San Diego
32. New Orleans

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Being relegated from a starting role to the bullpen can be a huge deterrent for a former ace such as Barry Zito. His performances though warranted it, and the Giants had no choice but to use Zito in spots. He came out of the bullpen for August with his first two appearances showcasing his demotion. He allowed five runs off of six hits in just two innings of action. The last two outings though for Zito have been encouraging. He pitched two scoreless innings against the Washington Nationals and two days later pitched a one run inning against the Marlins on the 16th. Intentions to get Zito some time off are what the Giants are hoping the outcome becomes starting with today’s start against the Giants.

It’s a good spot for him as the Red Sox are coming off their east coast swing from Sunday Night baseball to San Francisco. Thus far in the series it’s been a split at one game apiece. This game today starts off at 345 PST as the Red Sox will be traveling to face the Dodgers Friday. Felix Doubront is coming off a rocky start against the Yankees. Look for that rust to carry over to today’s game against the Giants.

Zito likely has a low inning performance tabbed on him today, and then the Giants will yield to their bullpen.

The plus 143 payout is a good spot here.

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The calendar days are narrowing to September and the inevitable kickoff of the 2013 NFL season. Brigades of quarterbacks flying off the board in round one and two can be halted, as signal callers in your fantasy drafts are prevalent to be as deep as ever. Head back to your old ways of waiting on a quarterback as it looks to be a safe-bet this season. A fantasy starter and dependable point producer can likely be found in mid-round drafts.

Be sure to protect your quarterback with a safeguard backup. Injuries derail teams on the field and that cannot even protect the fantasy worlds of rosters. Here is the latest installment of fantasy quarterback rankings.

! Denotes Rising
^ Denotes Declining

1. Drew Brees
2. Aaron Rodgers
3. Matt Ryan
4. Matthew Stafford
5. Tom Brady
6. Cam Newton
7. Colin Kaepernick ! The trade for Jonathan Baldwin gives Kaepernick more of a promising threat than last year’s developing first round pick in Jenkins. Look for Kaep to produce as a top five quarterback quickly this season, and sustain it.
8. RG3
9. Peyton Manning
10. Andrew Luck
11. Tony Romo
12. Russell Wilson ^ The praise for Wilson is never-ending, but the ridicule seems to be impossible from the media and fans. I’m not impressed with the way the Seahawks offense has functioned in preseason. Even in their rout of the Broncos the over all ending was inflated. Wilson is a winner and so is Seattle, but I believe Wilson’s fantasy value will drift towards Eli Manning’s, Big Ben’s, and Joe Flacco’s. All winners but mediocre fantasy football quarterback options.
13. Joe Flacco
14. Andy Dalton ^ Cincinnati is one of those quiet teams that are good that no one wants to publicize. Besides AJ Green and the Law Firm many people would have are hard time to ascertain other names on the Bengals roster. Give Marvin Lewis credit. He has kept the Bengals relative and that was with quick transgressions of transforming the team. No team has went from an out with the old (Palmer, TJ Housh, Ocho Cinco, C. Benson and many others) and revamped on defense and offense without multiple years of losing as well as the Bengals.
15. Eli Manning
16. Carson Palmer !- It’s obvious that the Cardinals are going to attack to their strengths offensively. That will likely not be in the backfield with extracted former Steeler Rashard Mendenhall trying to supplant numerous young running backs. Palmer has a great set of receivers and an offensive minded head coach in Bruce Arians that will make Palmer fantasy relevant.
17. Ben Roethlisberger ^- It’s sad to see but Big Ben appears to be descending into the Philip Rivers stage of his career. He has resembled what most franchises want out of a young quarterback but has also paid the price. His nimbleness in the pocket is declining and so are his weapons. The Steelers have a conundrum to figure out at receiver and running back, as Roethlisberger will be without Mike Wallace, Plaxico Burress, and Heath Miller for a time period. This spells trouble as the make shift offensive line has been atrocious in the preseason.
18. Matt Schaub
19. Ryan Tannehill !- Miami is a team that is likely a year away from turning the corner as a playoff contender again. To blow past those expectations Tannehill can defy that by uprooting his own lofty goals for 2013. Do not forget it is Tannehill that led the Dolphins to a fourth quarter comeback victory over Seattle and Russ Wilson last year.
20. Mike Vick ^- He has the starting job now but the pressure is as high as the last row atop the Eagles stadium. Vick’s in a make or break season running a new system offense. It looked pretty in college for Chip Kelly, but the NFL is a different ball game where speed is neutralized. Last year Oregon’s first opponent was Arkansas State. Chip Kelly will learn first hand and unfortunately Mike Vick is his first test at this at quarterback.
21. Philip Rivers ^- At this point Rivers may need a new organization that he can grow with as San Diego seems absent minded at protecting Rivers.
22. Christian Ponder
23. Brandon Weeden !- You have to be pleased with Weeden’s progression in preseason. His play has been shined upon from the media conglomerates for his standout performances. I won’t get carried away just yet. This is the same quarterback that had cannon deep ball plays in several games last year, only to have hiccups on other drives. A quarter of play is one thing but can Weeden play four complete quarters?
24. Josh Freeman
25. Alex Smith
26. EJ Manuel
27. Jake Locker
28. Jay Cutler
29. Sam Bradford
30. Blaine Gabbert
31. Mark Sanchez
32. Matt Flynn

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Joe Saunders 2013 season in Seattle has been topsy-turvy to say the least. Tonight Seattle plays an Oakland Athletics team that went from scoring runs at a fierce pace early on in the season, to coming to a halt in the stretch pivotal run of the year. Saunders has given up home runs in four straight games causing the Mariners to have to go to the bullpen in the fifth inning in his last two starts. That’s worrisome on this play today, but Saunders had one of his best starts of this season against Oakland in which he only allowed one run on five hits in seven strong innings. The A’s new young ace, Sonny Gray, gets his third start of his career. Gray has shown strong velocity in his limited action, fanning nine batters his last start on the fifteenth. Saunders is the big worry here, but if he can fret away from one huge costly inning, this game should fall under the total. 8.5 is a tall order for two teams that have not been lighting up the bases. Saunders is also facing a challenge in incumbent new A’s ace in Gray. Pitchers look for every ounce of mental fortitude whether it’s facing a batter he has had a number on over the years or a pitching matchup. He should be up for the challenge as he tries to get one last grip on his career that is fading off into the sunset.