by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

As the season is coming to a close there’s a new set of tight end emerging.  The names filling the top of the rankings aren’t necessarily the ones we’d have expected, but they are ready to produce big numbers when it counts the most.  With that said, let’s take a look at how our Week 14 rankings look (we are including Jordan Reed, for now, but keep in mind it’s very possible he misses the week):

1. Tyler Eifert – Cincinnati Bengals – at Cleveland
2. Travis Kelce – Kansas City Chiefs – vs. Oakland
3. Jimmy Graham – Seattle Seahawks – at Green Bay
4. Zach Ertz – Philadelphia Eagles – vs. Washington
5. Greg Olsen – Carolina Panthers – vs. San Diego
6. Delanie Walker – Tennessee Titans – vs. Denver
7. Jordan Reed – Washington Redskins – at Philadelphia
8. C.J. Fiedorowicz – Houston Texans – at Indianapolis
9. Cameron Brate – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – vs. New Orleans
10. Ladarius Green – Pittsburgh Steelers – at Buffalo
11. Jason Witten – Dallas Cowboys – at New York Giants
12. Eric Ebron – Detroit Lions – vs. Chicago
13. Antonio Gates – San Diego Chargers – at Carolina
14. Kyle Rudolph – Minnesota Vikings – at Jacksonville
15. Martellus Bennett – New England Patriots – vs. Baltimore
16. Coby Fleener – New Orleans Saints – at Tampa Bay
17. Jermaine Gresham – Arizona Cardinals – at Miami
18. Dennis Pitta – Baltimore Ravens – at New England
19. Lance Kendricks – Los Angeles Rams – vs. Atlanta
20. Gary Barnidge – Cleveland Browns – vs. Cincinnati

Thoughts:

• Over the past four weeks Zach Ertz has been targeted 47 times, the most of any tight end.  Obviously we’d like to see a bit more production with those opportunities, but he should continue to be an integral part of the offense from this point forward.  The Redskins have not been among the better defenses at stopping opposing tight ends, so consider Ertz a very good play in all formats.
• With Jeremy Maclin sidelined the Chiefs have turned to Travis Kelce, who has posted three straight games of 100+ yards (with at least 8 targets in each of them).  Considering that they’ve won their last two, both on the road, is there any reason to think that anything is going to change?  While we’d love to see Kelce finding the end zone, a favorable matchup and his recent production makes him one of the best choices in the league.
• Cameron Brate has shown that he has developed into a big red zone threat, with 6 TD on the season.  With the potential for a shootout against the New Orleans Saints, that’s more than enough to make him a very good play.
• The Pittsburgh Steelers need someone to step up and produce behind Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, as there should be opportunities.  This past week it was Ladarius Green who emerged, turning 11 targets into 6 catches, 110 yards and 1 TD.  It’s hard to envision that much production each week, but it’s easy to see him rising into the third option in an offense that can put up points.  That’s going to make him a borderline TE1 each week.
• Sure the New England Patriots are going to be without Rob Gronkowski, but outside of a few big games Martellus Bennett has consistently failed to produce.  Over his past three games he’s totaled 6 catches for 40 yards, plus he’s not 100%.  The upside in the offense puts him in TE2 territory, but he’s impossible to trust as a starting option.

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Make sure to check out all of our Week 14 rankings:

• Quarterbacks
• Running Backs
• Wide Receivers
• Tight Ends
• Kickers
• Defenses