Fantasy Football: Rookie Tight Ends

Let’s imagine for a second that the fantasy football draft is taking place. Now he’s in his 13th round and you realize you forgot to draft a tight end. All the big names (Witten, Gates, Ton-Gon, even Heap) disappeared hours ago and Robert Royal doesn’t look very promising. Well rookie, here’s a look at some rookies who could help your team and make an immediate impact this year.

First, we’ll start with the most obvious choice: Brandon Pettigrew. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound rookie ends a class of talented young offensive players for the Detroit Lions. Pettigrew will be surrounded by Calvin Johnson, Kevin Smith and also a recent draft pick Matthew Stafford when (and if) the Lions offense the Lions take the field.

It’s obvious to see that Pettigrew was the best tight end in this year’s draft. After all, the Lions snatched him up quickly, making him the first tight end to be drafted in 2009. Lately, the Lions have also had a knack for finding explosive offensive talent (without Joey Harrington). Don’t expect Pettigrew to put up Antonio Gates-style numbers. But he’s still the Lions’ best option at tight end.

Another rookie tight end worth checking out is Chase Coffman. Coffman’s burly frame (6’6″, 244 pounds) carries a greater risk on draft day than Pettigrew. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals to begin with. They averaged just 150.4 passing yards per game last year. Second , Coffman will play second fiddle to Reggie Kelly. But there’s an upside! He’s behind Reggie Kelly to begin with! Kelly went on to a disappointing second season last year, which should allow Marvin Lewis a look at him yet. closest to Coffman If Lewis wants a touchdown scored by his tight end, then Coffman is the answer, not Kelly.

While I wouldn’t recommend relying too heavily on Pettigrew and Coffman, they are viable relief and/or bench players for the bye week (they ARE on the Bengals and Lions, after all). Pettigrew offers the biggest upside, and who knows, he might be able to put up some decent numbers. If he does, you can finally talk some trash to that guy in your league who supposedly “discovered” Matt Forte before “anyone had even heard of him.”

However, if your draft is still underway and you still want to wait for a tight end, well, Jermaine Gresham is out next year.