FanHouse VernonDavis

On Second Thought is Matt Snyder's look back at the initial FanHouse staff rankings, which were compiled nearly a month ago. As we all know, fantasy players' value changes frequently, even when no games are being played.

After the big three positions in fantasy football, tight end is next in importance. Since you only play one tight end, though, we'll also fill this entry out by discussing some fantasy defenses as well.

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I'm guessing Mike Singletary doesn't have much of a poker face. Of course, he probably doesn't need one, either. He just wills himself good cards, or, worst case, he intimidates his opponents into folding, even with high-percentage hands.

Singletary is an NFL Hall of Famer and Super Bowl champ, and now he's the 49ers head coach. He took over for Mike Nolan last October, and one game into his tenure (a 34-13 loss to the mighty Seahawks), Singletary ordered Vernon Davis to the showers early in the fourth quarter for pouting.

Thanks to a 39-yard Joe Nedney field goal as time expired, the 49ers closed out their season with a 27-24 win over the Washington Redskins on Sunday afternoon. With the victory, San Francisco ends the season with a 7-9 mark, which was capped off with a 5-4 run under interim head coach Mike Singletary.

After some speculation earlier in the week that Singletary would be remaining with the team in 2009, the 49ers confirmed it following Sunday's win, and signed Singletary to a four-year, $10 million contract, as reported by Matt Maiocco of the Press Democrat.

49ers president Jed York on the signing: "This is the last time our season ends in December."

You know, as long as the 49ers play in the NFC West, he might be right. I mean, just look at that division this season, and ask yourself if it's likely to get any better next season. Is it entirely out of the question for this team to enter 2009 as a legitimate contender for the division title? I mean, they only finished two games out this season despite the 2-5 hole Mike Nolan and J.T. O'Sullivan helped them dig over the first seven weeks.

Dolphins linebacker and NFL sack leader Joey Porter is known as much for his gum-flapping as he is for his on-field skills. So it should come as no surprise that he had some words for 49ers tight end Vernon Davis during the first quarter of today's matchup.

But first, some background. Last week, Davis, in discussing the Dolphins defense, had this to say about Mr. Peezy:

"I'm pretty sure I've gone up against a lot of other linebackers/defensive ends who are better than him ... And I've pretty much won every battle."

San Francisco head coach Mike Singletary, after hearing Davis' comments, said "I'm going to have to talk to Vernon this week and make sure that he doesn't get in a jaw-jacking competition ... Just play the game. Just play the game and let's go. But Vernon's a competitor, too, so it could be very interesting."

Yeah, that didn't happen.

Given Porter's fondness for tight ends, and more importantly, his insistence on having thoughts on everything, this seems predictable. Via FOX Sports sideline reporter Chris Myers, who passes along these nuggets from the philosophers Joey and Vernon:

It's playoff time! FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled in order to provide answers to lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

Not much shakeup at the top, except for one surprise. Yes, it's time to bump Antonio Gates down just a peg. Let's face it, anytime your star tight end puts up a goose egg as he did against Oakland in a critical game, something must give.

The great Tony Gonzalez continues to ride out the hot streak, and he just loves playing the Chargers. Look for Jason Witten and Tony Romo to get back on the same page this weekend after they both took blame for the collapse in Pittsburgh last week.

Climbing up the tight end ladder this week is an old familiar face in Jeremy Shockey. Let me explain. Since he took the scolding from Drew Brees on the sideline against Atlanta, here are his averages in the past four games; five receptions per game and 53 yards per game. Yup, he hasn't scored a TD yet this season, but it could be coming Thursday night against Chicago.

Welcome back to earth Dustin Keller. You can thank your QB for the slippage this week. And now let's tap into the rest of the rankings.

1. Tony Gonzalez, SD
2. Jason Witten, NYG
3. Chris Cooley, @ CIN
4. Dallas Clark, DET
5. Tony Scheffler, @ CAR

After a 2-5 start, the 49ers fired Mike Nolan and the team has gone 3-3 in the six weeks since. The biggest win of the year came last Sunday against the Jets, and in addition to bringing a little joy to a hapless Bay Area football scene, it also greatly improved the chances that Mike Singletary will be more than an interim head coach.

Of course, maybe Nolan would still have the job if he had the cajones to tell offensive coordinator Mike Martz, "I know you're an 'offensive mastermind' and whatnot, but I'm pretty sure that J.T. O'Sullivan isn't very good. Call it a hunch. I'll take my chances with Shaun Hill."

But what's done is done.

There is a happy ending of sorts for Nolan, however:

Forget about the feast. You don't even want these guys raiding your fridge for leftovers. It's time to reveal FanHouse's picks for the All-Bust Squad of fantasy football.

Let's face it -- if these guys were the reason you started out 1-6 and missed the playoffs in your league (or are in danger of missing out), there's no reason to change your opinion of them based on whatever they do the remainder of the year. Their stats, and your fantasy campaign, are both in Uncle Ned's toilet.
Surprisingly, it's the consensus No. 1 overall pick who will likely top most lists: LaDainian Tomlinson. But as much as you may want to loathe the fact you passed up Adrian Peterson for LdT, I don't think you can say he was the make-or-break star of your fantasy team. Now if you drafted Tom Brady in the first round, on the other hand... you'd probably rather drink some rancid Egg Nog than Smartwater with his face on it.

Even though it was due to injury, you can't deny Brady's loss proved to be most costly. Check out all of our selections and reasons after the jump, then let your venom spew forth in the comments.

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

The roller-coaster ride continues if you don't own a top-tier TE. However, even if you do - those once reliable options have been hit or miss at best. Tony Gonzalez continues to flourish in the role as the top dog, but Antonio Gates should be primed for a decent game this week. Meanwhile, fantasy owners can finally breathe a sigh of relief as Jason Witten has a pretty good matchup and -- although he might not be 100 percent -- at least Tony Romo is back.

Yet, once you get past those favorite TE options... it's really a crapshoot. Fantasy pundits fell in love, for some reason, with big John Carlson. He's returned a big helping of nothing in return during recent weeks. Plenty of fantasy owners were banking on Kevin Boss last weekend and he also dished out a helping of bust. Who's the boss now? Ah, yes ... bad, bad joke.

Well, the flavor of the week now seems to be Dustin Keller coming off a breakout stretch of games. Will he also break our hearts? I sure hope not, because I've bumped him up the TE rankings and I'm banking on big things for my own team. So don't blame me if he craps out. Stay tuned.

Quick note: I just couldn't bump Dallas Clark over the "Big Three." Worth mentioning, though, is that San Diego is a funnel for tight ends to have successful days. Just mentioning. On with the ranks...

1. Antonio Gates, IND
2. Tony Gonzalez, BUF
3. Jason Witten, SF
4. Dallas Clark, @ SD
5. Chris Cooley, @SEA

Just one week after dropping a head-scratching, last-second loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the 49ers responded on Sunday as they pounded the Rams into submission, 35-16, giving Mike Singletary his first win as an NFL head coach. With the win, the 49ers improve to 3-7, which is good enough for second place in the NFC West. That's just crazy. It also snapped what had been a six-game losing streak.

San Francisco blew the game open with 28 second quarter points, as Shaun Hill completed 15-of-20 passes for 213 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He connected with Vernon Davis and Bryant Johnson for scores in the second quarter onslaught.

Frank Gore led the 49ers with 106 yards on 18 carries, while also scoring on runs of one and five yards. So, what was the difference between this week's game and the meltdown in the final minutes of this past Monday's game? Obviously it was Singletary's five-point plan for success. For the most part, the 49ers were successful in nearly all areas of the plan, so, hip-hip-hurray for progress.