Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
For a number of years, Antonio Gates was one of the best tight ends in the NFL and one of the best options at the position for fantasy football owners. From 2004-2011, he had 60 or more receptions seven times with over 900 receiving yards five times and at least seven touchdowns in all eight seasons.
But Gates has not played all 16 games in a season since 2009 as injuries and age (33 in June) have crept in, and he is clearly no longer in his prime. Despite playing 15 games last season, Gates had his lowest catch (49) and yardage (538) totals since his rookie season in 2003, and his yards per catch average (11.0) was a career-low.
Should fantasy owners expect a rebound from Gates in 2013? Let’s take a look.
Gates ranked 19th among tight ends in targets last season with 80, behind such luminaries as Jacob Tamme, Tony Scheffler and Ben Watson, and his touchdown total would surely have dropped along with his other numbers if not for converting six of his 11 red zone targets for scores. The offensive line issues the Chargers had helped lead to a reduced role for Gates, and quarterback Philip Rivers going through a poor season surely did not help.
Gates remains a top target for Rivers even as both guys look to be on the downward side of their careers, and with wide receiver Danario Alexander tearing his right ACL this week the veteran tight end may see a boost in targets. San Diego has a new head coach (Mike McCoy) and offensive coordinator (Ken Whisenhunt) this year, so having two fresh offensive minds should benefit everyone.
The top of the tight end rankings this year have been thinned by injuries (Dennis Pitta and to some degree Rob Gronkowski) and off-field issues (Aaron Hernandez), so a case can be made for bumping Gates up a couple spots on cheat sheets based purely on the fact he is healthy right now. Whether he sustains that level of health throughout the season is of course a big question, and adds inherent risk for fantasy owners.
Gates has at least seven touchdowns in each of the last nine seasons, so his value should remain stable in touchdown-heavy leagues as long as he avoids a significant injury. It’s more difficult to project his catch and yardage totals for this season, but some improvement on last year’s dismal production is virtually certain.
There’s still a chance Gates gets overrated by some fantasy owners based on name recognition, but he has some value as a low-end TE1 for those that can get him with a middle round pick in a draft or with a reasonable bid at auction.
Brad Berreman is a contributing writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradberreman24 and check him out on Google + .
