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A tight end by many fantasy owners is over looked. Keying in on high valuable position players such as quarterback, running back, and wide receiver is the bulk of a successful draft and season. The cream of the crop at the top of leagues though typically have a narrow gap of separation points wise. You need to have success at the tight end, defense, kicker, and flex positions in order to hoist your league trophy and money league prize. In order to do that you need to be thinking of a tight end plan, especially if you do not plan on getting a top tier one.

Here is an early look at the rankings of tight ends. Stay tuned for updates throughout the preseason and regular season.

1. Jimmy Graham- The Saints do keep marching in, with Drew Brees and monster tight end Jimmy Graham.
2. Jason Witten- The Cowboys have had issues year after year building a winning team. Witten has not been one of those issues.
3. Rob Gronkowski- You have to hope all the hoopla surrounding Gronkowski’s injuries will be erased and his play on the field will speak for itself once again.
4. Tony Gonzalez- The Falcons pursued Gonzalez to come back, and why not? He seems to have plenty left in the tank, and would have likely regretted watching a powerful Falcons team return in 2013.
5. Kyle Rudolph- I like how Christian Ponder developed last year. He still had his woes and may be a game manager, but the Vikings do not need him to be superman. He is about eight feet behind him already in the backfield. Rudolph should post similar numbers and will be there a round or two after the top four tight ends go. He is a valuable tier two tight end If you can get him.
6. Vernon Davis
7. Greg Olsen
8. Owen Daniels
9. Antonio Gates
10. Jermaine Gresham
11. Brandon Pettigrew
12. Ed Dickson
13. Jermichael Finley
14. Heath Miller
15. Jared Cook
16. Dustin Keller
17. Fred Davis
18. Jake Ballard
19. Coby Fleener
20. Delanie Walker
21. Martellus Bennett
22. Dwayne Allen
23. Scott Chandler
24. Kellen Winslow Jr
25. Rob Housler
26. Visanthe Shiancoe

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The spike and rise of offenses in the NFL involving their tight ends as focal points has seen a large shift of use over the past few years. We know about the Jimmy Graham’s, Rob Gronkowski’s, Jason Witten’s, and Tony Gonzalez’s of the first tier automatics. One can argue that as teams have platooned out their running backfields the same has happened at tight end.

Teams have an arsenal at their disposal when it comes to a tight end, and they can use them for an array of situations. The big down playmaker tight end is there, along with the short yardage tight end that can block for pass protection. Mixing the two together forms that added advantage to an offense. While the scale of high fantasy numbers won’t come close to the yardage and touchdowns of the first tier tight ends, you can land yourself a solid six to twelve fantasy points with the depth that is now at the entire tight end position in football.

There were plenty of moves in offseason at tight end and though none are expected to fly off the board in your drafts, drafting an appropriate tight end can be all the difference in squeezing out a win or a loss.

1. Jared Cook
Cook has always had the skill set that’s impressed people. For Cook though I believe it was more of an situational issue with the Tennessee Titans. The Titans offense never found itself with poor play from Jake Locker and CJ2K’s decline. Reuniting with Jeff Fisher and an offense that has weapons should put Cook in a decent TE2 with a possibility of spot starts.

2. Dustin Keller-
Miami did a lot of investing on the defensive side of the football and with Mike Wallace’s contract. Tannehill will have a safety net with Keller, but will Tannehill have enough time to throw the football with a revamped offensive line? Keller did enough as a Jet with the worst quarterback in Mark Sanchez, so that’s why I rank him second of new tight ends in new places.

3. Delanie Walker-
If Vernon Davis had went down to injury at any point, Walker would have been a fine fill in. A lot of Walker’s success came with Alex Smith, who had issues targeting and finding a number one wide receiver as a 49er. That was partly due to the toned down pass plays the 49ers had in place for Smith. Walker possibly fed off of Davis more than anything. Landing in Tennessee could be a big problem for Walker if Locker does not show any advancements on the field.

4. Martellus Bennett-
Bennett looks like a great signing but I’m going to categorize him as a one year wonder for now. He had opportunities his entire career, and finally had a break through as a New York Giant a year ago. I believe teams did not see Bennett as a threat and that’s how he snuck back on the fantasy radar a year ago. Chicago has an offensive minded coach now, and if Bennett struggles I would not be surprised for him to see limited snaps.

5. Brandon Myers-
I may have Myers rated too low in this ranking out of anybody listed so far. In actuality the difference statistically from Cook to Myers thus far should not be much of a difference between a tenth and twelth round pick. Myers shined last year as Raider, which was a team that produced for fantasy owners late in games when behind. As a Giant, Myers automatically steps in to a great situation.

6. Kellen Winslow Jr-
This is the last hooray for Winslow to showcase whatever he has left. His years as a Cleveland Brown seem far distant, before he washed out as a Buccaneer. The Jets are going to give him every opportunity to produce again. If he has came back to full health, Winslow Jr could be a backup tight end in deeper fantasy leagues.
7. Anthony Fasano-
Fasano is on the far backside of his tight end career. But over the years Andy Reid has always been one to have an off balance when it comes to percentages of the run game to pass game. Kansas City is expected to be balanced with Alex Smith and a quarterback friendly game plan. That alone could give Fasano a breakout game or two during 2013. His value is not worth drafting at this time.

8. Visanthe Shiancoe-
This was an emergency veteran signing by the Baltimore Ravens when their young stud Dennis Pitta went down. Schiancoe was non-existent on the fantasy radar last season because he did absolutely nothing. A resurrection at age 33 would be a huge shock. Baltimore signed him for a reason though, and New England has been a destination that has limited careers before. Two years ago in his last season as a Viking, Schiancoe had just 400 yards receiving with and just a few scores. One highlight for Schiancoe is that Joe Flacco loves to get the ball to his tight ends.

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The days of summer can last just as long as they use to when you were out of school as a youngster. It’s the down time of the year typically, and for a sports fan is ever so toned down. You pick up your Sports Illustrated or favorite sports magazine and your reading snippets on previews of your favorite teams and teams that are dangerous. Just like the previews at the theatre you have to wait that extra three to four months before the show begins.

Just like movie previews the snippets from the article sometimes can be a total 360 of the actual outcome. Just like over/under NFL team total outcomes which can be viewed along with week one NFL lines and NFL totals

From a fantasy sports perspective hopefully you’ve come to the annual decision to limit yourself to a certain amount of leagues. You’re not only doing yourself a disservice but your fellow buddies as well if you join an over abundance of leagues. Fantasy leagues are more competitive than ever and there is nothing worse than an owner not as active as the other eight to thirteen fantasy owners.

Seeding is on the line each and every week. The phrase “tanking the season” is illustrated in the professional sports world in arguments that teams are chasing a draft pick rather than concentrating on the finish line. The same happens in fantasy football when an owner gets over committed in leagues and ditches a sure losing team for more concentration in a different cash league.

If you’re the commissioner develop rules in place that can limit that from happening, or develop a keeper league that forces almost all owners to have solid interest for an entire fantasy season.

One other area I want to touch on while were in the month of many fantasy drafts being conducted. Know your commissioner especially if you’re going to join a money league. How many times have you been approached by a buddy of a buddy that wants to see if you want to join a money league? All of you more than likely.

When it comes down to payment or payout you connection with the commissioner might end up being as drawn out as the A-Rod and biogenesis pending suspensions.

I’ve heard all too often of people never seeing the money they put into a league. You have to figure that payouts in fantasy leagues come right after Christmas and the holiday season. If you do not have a trustworthy commissioner you will not see a penny of it back. Pressing after a week or two in a low-stakes money league becomes an after thought by you, and that is that. You’ve got an avatar league title to show for your money league victory.

Go into a league knowing your commissioner 100 percent. If you do not know your commissioner all too well, than make sure there is assurance of payout. Sites like LeagueSafe and other ventures should be much safer than handing over cash to a buddy to deliver to an alleged commissioner.

That’s all in this blog post. Follow me on twitter @cimini for tidbits daily in the sports world, and keep coming back to notjustagame.com for resourceful fantasy sports and handicapping information.

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Sometimes in baseball it takes that wake up call to get a team going. St. Louis experienced that in their four game losing stretch to their division rivals Pittsburgh. It appeared the Pirates gained momentum and all signs were pointing against a slump for the Cardinals without Yadier Molina. The Cardinals are not going to just fade away in the division. They have elite pitching, that even if their bats are struggling outstanding pitching can win games for them. Right now the talk of poor run support from the Cardinals has disappeared over the last two games. Even in their last loss to Pittsburgh they hit the ball well (13). St. Louis is going against a tough opposing pitcher in Tony Cingrani, but I believe the value play is on St. Louis here. At +150 take them as a moneyline play, and catapult your day with three premium plays offered

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Last years success by rookie quarterbacks was at a pinnacle of achievement compared to years past success. Ben Roethlisberger and some other quarterbacks have had success but not to the extent that Ryan Tannehill, Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, and RG3 did in the same year. You can add Colin Kaepernick into that same discussion even though he was drafted a year earlier.

Defenses and NFL coaching staffs as a whole are all about adjusting to new looks. Advanced scouting sooner or later catches up to athletes. Just ask Mike Vick and the mini-success of the wildcat offense.

Of those five quarterbacks three will likely come down to Earth just a little bit, or experience more woes than they are accustomed to based on their success last season. All five can just ask Cam Newton how quick NFL defenses can adjust from year to year.

My suggestion is to not bank on any of the five from being your no questions asked number one fantasy football starter from day one in 2013.

Ranked from highest to lowest in order I believe they’ll finish statistically, with current value factored in as well

1. Andrew Luck
Luck made rookie mistakes mentally last year with his arm, but he had the best quarter to quarter progression of any of the rookie quarterbacks last year. The Colts never really held him down with play call management, and you would expect the Colts to compliment him a bit more with the running game this season.

2. RG3
There is a lot to be seen from RG3 from a health standpoint once he takes the field. Nowadays though a young athlete that trains at maximum capacity for rehabilitation you can’t expect the old adage, “it takes two years” to come back to full strength. Athletes are defeating science more and more and defeating that old adage. RG3 has already proven before at Baylor that a serious knee injury will not hurt his psyche. He understands the ins and outs of the game of football. With a quiet confidence amongst his head coach, Mike Shanahan, the two should develop nicely in year two

3. Ryan Tannehill
This is a surprise for most to see Tannehill sitting in the middle of the pack of the second year quarterbacks (besides Kap). Unlike the other four quarterbacks, Tannehill was held in check for the most part by the play calling of the Dolphins. They utilized their whole tandem of running backs, and game managed Tannehill. Expect Coach Philbin to trust his quarterback even more in year two. I honestly believe Tannehill was ready for more advanced play calling last season. These two have a history dating back to Tannehill’s college days. Miami might shock some people this year in the AFC East.

4. Russ Wilson
Wilson had the Tim Tebow factor as a rookie last season, in which he just found a way to win certain games. The Seahawks never appeared completely out of the game no matter what the circumstances were. Yet, I never became fully impressed with Wilson until the playoffs last year. In the regular season his quarterback play was erratic at times, and overvalued. Seattle has a great team overall and I think that bolsters Wilson’s presence on the team. An injury to big play receiver Percy Harvin does not bode well for Wilson either. I expect the competitive pressure from the rest of the division to hurt Wilson’s play as the season stretches beyond September.

5. Colin Kaepernick
He might prove me completely wrong, but I just do not like the sample size of Kaepernick’s games from a season ago. A full season of how he played and I’d be sky high on him like everyone else. His playoff performances were astounding as well, but the bulk of his success come on the read option. Defenses will figure that out to a better degree than the tactic the Ravens used in hitting Kaepernick. Speed has always been taken away from great running quarterbacks at some point (Vick, Newton, etc). Especially when it comes to the amount of volume break away runs over the course of a game. Kaepernick is going to need to do more with his arm than his legs in his second year as starter. I do not believe from a fantasy standpoint and his current projections that he will be able to live up to that billing.

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Journeymen football players often have not fared well in the twilight years of their career—especially at quarterback. Many prognosticators have tabbed quarterback Carson Palmer as a bottom of the pack quarterback in terms of fantasy sports. This could very well be true. I wouldn’t go that far to rank him with the likes of Jake Locker and Matt Flynn.

Palmer’s career has a chance to be revived somewhat in the desert of Glendale, Arizona. Lets not forget just a few short seasons ago he was everyone’s favorite fantasy backup quarterback. That’s an exaggeration but he was a guy that if you grabbed yourself a sure-fire starting quarterback (Brees, Brady, etc) you had no problem putting him in for a bye week cover or if an injury presented itself.

As a Bengal his career had many plights at the end of it, including a bitter argument with the front office on wanting a trade demand. They let Palmer reside in California before finally trading him away to the Oakland Raiders. His time in Oakland was basically another gap stop as his year and a half fared about as well as every quarterback in Oakland’s has since Rich Gannon.

Now though, Palmer is in Arizona where he gets to be surrounded by a team that on the surface has the talent to produce. They’ve just been missing that key ingredient since Kurt Warner left, and that is a quarterback. The Max Hall’s, Matt Leinart’s, John Skelton’s, Kevin Kolb’s, and Derek Anderson’s of the world are not going to get it done.

When Anquan Boldin left Arizona for Baltimore many were stunned that the Cardinals didn’t want to pay him enough. Future trangressions since he left all speak for themselves on how the Cardinals front office handles key ingredients. They seemed to have lost their will to attain a quarterback after Kurt Warner left.
Maybe they thought bringing in a veteran such as Derek Anderson would be good enough with Larry Fitzgerald at wide receiver. Who knows. In the end the quarterback experiments have turned out to be by far the worst in football over the last three seasons.

Carson steps in with the lowest of expectations possible. Arizona is in a division that many believe will be a runaway between the 49ers and Seahawks with the possibility of the Rams being a threat as well. Arizona does not even cross the minds of consideration in the division.

Arizona’s defense has hung in there for three years with their poor offensive situations. Almost every win the Cardinals pulled out was because of their defense. Add to the equation a veteran quarterback and an offensive line that should be average or better, and the Cardinals can make some noise in this division.

Lets put it this way, there is not another team that is expected to finish last in their division that has a higher ceiling in the NFL.

Deep down Carson Palmer knows this is a chance for him to make a huge statement to resurrect his career, and say officially “I told you so” to the Bengals organization. Carson’s arm has stayed strong even as a Raider. He threw over 4000 yards with 22 touchdowns last season, and had thirteen the year prior in only nine games.

Carson has had a solid camp thus far, and I expect him to carry things over into preseason action. The feed the hunger campaign is about to start in Arizona, and this one involves the starving of pass receptions to Larry Fitzgerald last season. For a player of his caliber to have only four touchdowns and 800 yards, speaks volumes to how poor the Cardinals quarterback situation truly was last season.

Palmer will get the ball to Fitzgerald. The emergence of second year receiver Michael Floyd and veteran Andre Roberts should give Carson Palmer the best set of receivers he has had since Chad Johnson,TJ Housh, and Chris Henry.

Keep in mind Palmer is just 33 years old. A few years younger than both Brady and Manning, and a full year younger than Drew Brees. He may seem too old but he has a few solid years left in the tank if the Cardinals can protect him. I’m not buying into the all out full hype of Russ Wilson and Colin Kaepernick’s first year success. This Arizona team can make some divisional noise as well.