Pick a TE, Any TE

The average receptions, yards, and touchdowns of Tight Ends have skyrocketed in recent years. The evolution of prevailing NFL offensive strategy has changed Tight Ends from worthless late rounders to real league-winners. This year, the position is deep and evenly spread out. In the chart below, you'll see our overall MVP rankings for TEs, their overall finish from the '09 season, and their Average Draft Position this year.

Notice how beginning in the 4th round, you could make a value TE pick in every single round. There aren't clusters or tiers of TE1s then TE2s several rounds later (with the exception of a moderate dropoff between Brent Celek and Owen Daniels). It may make sense to strategize before your draft based on your league's scoring and your projections, and decide that you need one of the top 7 elite WRs, or maybe you plan to wait and grab 2 QBs late (McNabb, Kolb, Flacco, Roethlisberger). But this year, you don't have to plan when you will take your TE. Just let him fall to you. Maybe you grab Clark at 50th overall, maybe you grab Zach Miller in the 13th Round. Moreover, if you wait until the very last round and end up with someone crappy like Shockey, don't panic. I bet either Olsen, Keller, Sheffler, or some other rando will emerge from the waiver wire and become a viable every-week starter. That's how deep the position is this year! And on to some good values in our opinion:

1) Jason Witten
The whole Cowboys offense is worth buying into. I'm a big believer that while TDs are important and shouldn't be ignored, they're also quite unpredictable. Receptions and yards are a more steady indicator of success. Witten finished 2nd in catches at 94 and 3rd in yards, but only managed 2 TDs. Owners will remember his disappointing total fantasy point output last year and pass him up. That's when you snatch him and bank on his TD totals regressing to the mean.

2) Kellen Winslow
Winslow finished 7th of TEs last year with the 5th most catches. And that was with 13 different QBs in Tampa. Imagine what he could do with a steady QB. He will likely be Josh Freeman's favorite target this year.

3) Zach Miller
All reports of Miller so far in camp have been phenomenal. He was the lone bright spot in Oakland's receiving game last season. And now that Captain Codeine, JaMarcus Russell is out and a more than serviceable QB is in (Jason Campbell), I predict big things for Miller. Like Witten, Miller put up very solid reception and yards totals but was lacking in the TD department. It's hard to score when your offense can get you nowhere near the endzone. Russell played like the annoying kid in tennis who thought you win by hitting the ball over the fence - Russell just threw the ball as hard as he could and didn't care if any players were around, let alone what color jersey they were wearing. By the way, the #1 WR Heyward-Bey thought he played a great 16 games when he actually MISSED FIVE OF THEM.

4) Heath Miller
"What am I, chopped liver?!?," Miller must be wondering. He finished a very respectable 9th among TEs last year, but his ADP is 17th. Of course, Roethlisberger will miss a few games, Holmes is gone, and the loss of Willie Colon hurts, but will the entire offense really fall apart that much? There's an argument that with a shaky QB to start the season, they'll use Miller as the safety valve even more frequently.

So when it comes to TEs, take 'em as they come. I find myself ending up with Witten, Winslow, and the Millers most often in drafts. But be flexible when you draft, and you should be just fine.