Jermaine Gresham: Fantasy Football 2013 TE To Avoid

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

You know, having a solid cell phone is fine. Give me a standard smart phone with a camera, apps and internet access, and that’s fine by me. However, imagine what it would be like to own the mist high-tech cellular device in the world. One that can do anything you need. One that is remarkable. One that is brand new.

As of right now, owning tight end Jermaine Gresham in fantasy is like owning that standard cell phone. It’s solid, gets the job done, but isn’t very exciting. It’s not something you are going to brag to your friends about. I mean, why grab the boring one where you know what you’re going to get when you can grab something with tremendous upside. Do yourselves a favor this season. Whenever you plan on drafting your starting tight end (I advise waiting until late), make sure it isn’t Gresham.

The Eifert Effect

The Bengals organization knows that Gresham isn’t perfect, so they jumped at the opportunity to draft the best tight end in this year’s draft class in Tyler Eifert. The dude looks like a future stud, and thus far during camps and preseason games, he also looks like the part. Sure, at 6’5″, 250 lbs, Gresham is an absolute monster. But what about the rookie? Eifert sees Gresham’s size and raises him an inch and a pound. Not to mention, Eifert has just as good of hands, is just (perhaps even more) athletic and most importantly, is eons ahead of him in the blocking department. In 2012, Gresham ranked alongside Brandon Myers as one of the worst blocking tight ends in football, which was a major concern. The Bengals will likely run a ton of two-tight end sets, which will hinder Gresham’s fantasy production in 2013. In all honesty, Eifert seriously already looks like the better player of this duo. The hype is real with this rookie, and so is his presence.

No Upside

Look, if you like Gresham as a player, or you just love the Bengals, that’s fine. I get it. But with a handful of young tight ends hitting the scene, why not take a chance on one of them in a position that hardly separates itself from the rest of the pack? During his career, Gresham’s best fantasy finish was the number 10 tight end (2012), so to me, there really isn’t a whole lot of upside here. Guys like Jordan Cameron, Dwayne Allen, Rob Housler and Fred Davisv present much more upside in my eyes. I’d rather have that shiny new toy over someone who I know exactly what I’m getting out of. During his three seasons, he has never eclipsed 750 yards or six touchdowns in a season. I’m sorry, but that doesn’t get me too excited as my number one fantasy tight end. Each year in fantasy, a few players at the position come out of nowhere and provide a ton of fantasy relevance. Take Brandon Myers of 2012, for instance. Look for the next Myers, rather than the yawn-inducing Gresham.