FanHouse Dallas Clark

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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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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INDIANAPOLIS -- You expect the Colts to throw, and throw a lot, but even for Peyton Manning and his band of merry, pass-happy men this was a little bit nuts. Indy ran nine plays -- eight of them passes -- in the first two minutes of the game, averaging one every 14 seconds, completely disregarding the play clock and leaving their star offensive players more than a little bit tuckered out.

"I wouldn't call it fun," said tight end Dallas Clark, who caught 11 passes in the first half and 14 -- for 119 yards -- in the game. "When you run 60 plays in the first half, you're going to feel that on Wednesday and Thursday. But the win makes it feel a lot better."

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This weekend's AFC South showdown appeared, at the beginning of the week, to be one of those strength vs. strength matchups. The Colts have the NFL's seventh-ranked pass defense and they have only allowed three passing touchdowns all season (making them the stingiest in the NFL). The Houston Texans are the NFL's third-best passing team and have thrown 16 touchdown passes in eight games.

Things this week, have, uh, changed a bit.

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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Everyone knew it was coming, but I was happy to anoint Owen Daniels to the fantasy tight end elite in this very space last week and he made me look wise. Well, a day late and a dollar short, let's welcome Vernon Davis into the upper echelon. You should feel good using either Daniels or Davis this weekend as they will continue to prove they deserve the praise bestowed upon them.

Also, there's something about Antonio Gates loving to face the Raiders. These occasions tend to bring out the best of times in Gates, who has scored seven touchdowns in his last ten games versus the Raiders. That's usually a good measure that Gates will be looking for the end zone this Sunday. And he very well could find it multiple times. Thus, he must lead the way in our ranks this week.

As for the rest of the ranks...

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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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The Montana-Young 49ers, the '70s Steelers, the '70s Dolphins, the '90s Cowboys, the Belichick-and-Brady Patriots: what do they all have in common? They are all-time great NFL teams that racked up many wins in a handful of seasons. You know what else they have in common? None of them have ever put together as impressive a regular season resume as the current Peyton Manning-era Colts.

That's right, after beginning this season 5-0, the Manning-era Colts are now 80-21 since the beginning of 2003. The '70s Steelers went 87-27-1 from 1972-1979. From 1981-1998, the 49ers were always pretty stout, but they never put together a six-plus season run where they played close to .800 ball like the current Colts (they came closest from 1987-1992 when they went 75-20). The '90s Cowboys went 70-20 in their best stretch. From 2001-2007, the Patriots went 86-26. Shula's '70s Dolphins, at 67-16-1, check in as the best competition.

So, these Colts should go down as one of the best teams of all-time, right? Uh, no. Not yet, at least.

Every week in this space we've been bragging about the abundance of depth at the tight end position. Well, thanks to the bye weeks the pickings have gotten just a little slimmer. Or maybe, it's just that some of the hot starts have cooled off a little. Anyhow, prepare to yawn as it's another week and yet again Dallas Clark clutches onto the top spot. Until we see proof otherwise, that's that.

Tony Gonzalez returns from the bye week, but faces a tough defense in San Francisco. Surely, the 49ers will be amped to stop the run which may lead to Gonzo slipping in a nice game. John Carlson returns to the upper echelon this week and should be primed to get back into good graces against a soft Jaguars defense at home. If Jason Witten can't somehow exploit the Chiefs' horrid defense, then you may want to press the panic button. And as for the rest of the ranks, follow along...

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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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