FanHouse Kellen Winslow

It was hard not to feel a little burnt by Vernon Davis last week. He talks the good talk and it was impossible not to back him up in this space. Well, rest assured that last week was just a speed bump in the ways of fantasy football. Davis should return to his lofty position amongst the elite pass-catching tight end options this week. The 49ers will make sure Davis is involved early and often and a rebound seems to be in the cards.

One other guy known for his talking more so than most and hasn't been gaining a lot of talk in this space is Kellen Winlsow. Ah yes, it's time to acknowledge the solid season he is having. He's thriving on a pretty bad football team, but that doesn't matter to us fantasy owners. Show us the stats and talk all you want soldier, we like it that way. He's got a great rapport building with Josh Freeman and clearly is the best option for the Bucs. He draws the Saints this weekend and he'll be sniffing for the end zone and seeking to continue his ascension. And that's why he's leading us off this week. As for the rest of the ranks ...

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Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games.

Riser of the Week: With the help of Brett Favre's arm, Sidney Rice is becoming a star in the NFL. Favre's affinity for Rice isn't really difficult to figure, either. At 6-foot-4 and blessed with incredible athleticism, Rice is the rare breed of receiver that can play as both a deep threat and possession receiver, which has made him Favre's favorite target. With a 7-catch, 201-yard effort Sunday, Rice now has compiled 27 catches and 553 yards in the past four games. He still needs to score more touchdowns -- he only has two this season -- but he's gathering enough yardage to make up for it in the meantime. The Vikings' remaining schedule isn't especially tough, either, so don't even think about benching Rice.

The list of reliable, legit and valuable fantasy tight end options is shrinking with each injury. We still know who can and can't trust to an extent, but there is certainly a big plunge into uncertainty and inconsistency once we go past the usual suspects. In this odd year of ups and downs at the tight end position, it couldn't be more fitting that the once cast aside and left for dead Vernon Davis leads the way this week and perhaps for the remainder of the season.

Davis has shed the bust label and now he's even talking up a storm heading into Thursday night against the Bears. Surprisingly, I won't be shocked if he backs up all the smack. Yes, it's that kind of season.

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Talk about two tight ends headed in different directions -- Vernon Davis and John Carlson have similar situations with offensive lines that need help protecting the quarterback. But Davis isn't going to stick back and help protect Alex Smith. Carlson, on the other hand, is being asked to block a lot these days. If Carlson wasn't facing a Lions defense this week, he'd be ranked a lot lower than where he sits.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is near the top of every major statistical category that quarterbacks track. Even though Manning has always put up incredible numbers, Dallas Clark said this week, "You probably never thought he (Manning)could raise his level of play, but he has." Not that Manning needed another reason to target Clark, but I bet Clark gets an extra red zone look or two just as a debt of gratitude from the All-Pro quarterback.

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Running back Larry Johnson will not be in uniform Sunday at Jacksonville when the Kansas City Chiefs return from their bye and attempt to reverse the damage of a 1-6 start. That in itself is a small victory for a rebuilding Chiefs organization, which did its level best to severely punish a longtime problem player who crossed a line most agree constitutes conduct detrimental to the NFL.

And that disciplinary action -- a two-week suspension without pay imposed by Chiefs management, that was later arbitrated by the NFL Management Council, the NFL Players Association, Johnson and the Chiefs to return a week's salary to Johnson -- was neither endorsed nor encouraged by the league office, multiple NFL sources said.

Rather, the NFL told the Chiefs they should avoid issuing a suspension (and encountering the subsequent hearing, NFLPA involvement, settlement, etc.), and simply fine Johnson $10,000.

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There are plenty of solid options to be had this weekend at the tight end position. Sure, Dallas Clark, Jason Witten and Vernon Davis are all on the bye week. If you need to replace one of those guys this week, you'll be able to get by via playing the matchups correctly. (As a side note: it just feels right to have Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates back atop the fantasy tight end hierarchy)

Both Gonzo and Gates have prime-time favorable matchups that they should very well dominate. On the heels of his monster game against the Eagles, Kellen Winslow has caught our eye and deserves even more attention based upon the soft matchup against the Panthers. It hasn't hurt that Josh Johnson is locked in on Winslow as his new favorite target. Chris Cooley and Brent Celek are also eying down cupcake matchups. You're in good shape if you're starting any of these guys.

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Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games.

Faller of the Week: All Buffalo Bills. Three points against the Cleveland Browns? The same Browns who ranked dead last in the NFL in total defense, 31st in scoring defense, 22nd in passing defense and 31st in run defense? Abandon ship. Everyone except Terrell Owens and the two running backs (Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson) can be dropped. No one can safely be started in any league at this point. This is just a mess. Lee Evans and Trent Edwards are owned in far too many leagues. Drop the dead weight.

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We've been down this road before. We get it -- Dallas Clark is distancing himself as the clear-cut top tight end option in fantasy football. So, don't expect us to bump him from his lofty perch just yet. Really the only other tight end keeping the pace might be Brent Celek, but he's on a bye this week.

Well, insert Jason Witten to finally break out in a big way against the Broncos this weekend. We saw that the Cowboys were comfortable playing it safe on MNF with a lot of Tony Romo dump-offs to Witten. That was good enough for Witten to rope in nine passes. Of course, he didn't find the end zone, but that's coming on Sunday. Welcome back to the elite, Mr. Witten.

As for the rest of the ranks...

1. Dallas Clark, IND vs SEA
2. Jason Witten, DAL @ DEN
3. Chris Cooley, WAS vs TB
4. Jeremy Shockey, NO vs NYJ
5. Greg Olsen, CHI vs DET

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We know over the course of the season, it appears tight end is going to be a deep position, and this week there seem to be a lot of good plays. Sure, it's top-heavy, as the top four form the proverbial "Big Four," but take a look in the teens. There are plenty of viable options this week with a chance to put up numbers rivaling anyone in the top 10.

Of course, we're pretty confident Dallas Clark goes nuts against the Jags at home.

1. Dallas Clark, IND vs. JAX
2. Antonio Gates, SD at OAK
3. Jason Witten, DAL at TB
4. Tony Gonzalez, ATL vs. MIA
5. Greg Olsen, CHI at GB

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As the season nears, FanHouse's fantasy football team decided to put our heads together for another set of updated positional rankings. In this installment, the big bodies on the line are ranked and filed.

In all, there was a little jockeying for position in our TE rankings this time around, but most players remained in relatively the same spot. I contend that if you don't get one of the first few tight ends, you should wait till the end of the draft and pick up one of a host of sleepers. If you need some guidance as to which tight ends to target -- well, that's why you have us.
(Last Updated: 9/05/09)

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