Winslow vs. Witten
Okay, we've got the results from the last two player matchups. In a surprise (to me), Heath Miller edged out Jeremy Shockey, with Vernon Davis finishing a relatively close third. Wes Welker also trashed Roy Williams in their head-to-head matchup.
Today's battle will go back to tight ends one more time. I'm going to take Antonio Gates out of the discussion because of his foot surgery. If he's ready to play Week 1, he's number one in my rankings. We'll see how that plays out.
But even if Gates is ready to go Week 1, I'd put Kellen Winslow and Witten in the first tier with him. They are both coming off career seasons and are helping to change the way we look at the value of tight ends.
In standard leagues, both players would have finished as top-20 wideouts last year. In PPR leagues, Witten moves up to the top-12. That makes them reasonable fourth-round picks overall, but which one goes first? Winslow seems to be a bionic soldier, improving with every surgery. Witten has never topped seven scores, but he's topped 750 yards per season since 2004. What say you, Pancake Blockers?
And yes, I'm catching up on emails, sleep, and marathon training. We'll be back with more regular posting next week.
Comments
Hard to believe Miller edged out the other two considering he has virtually no upside in the current Steelers attack and should see a slight drop off in numbers with the addition of Mendenhall and Sweed.
Winslow seems like the superior actual player here, but Witten the safer fantasy selection. Winslow faces three serious questions with the injury, the QB situation in Cleveland, and the difficulty of the Browns schedule.
Anderson essentially signing a 1 year contract could make this a very interesting season if the Browns start off '08 like they played the last month last year.
Witten is the #2 weapon in a fairly prolific offense. He's about as safe a bet as it gets.
1. Witten 2. Winslow
Posted by: Anonymous | May 16, 2008 02:58 PM
I'm a browns fan, but that doesnt mean ill take winslow here. With options like edwards, jurivicious, and stallworth who knows how much oppurtunity winslow will get. Witten is undisputed number 2 in dallas, and is one injury to either mid 30's guy (owens or glenn) away from increasing his role.
Posted by: Thomas G | May 16, 2008 03:08 PM
Winslow is the superior talent but is an injury risk, Witten has opportunity and is injury free.
Witten is the #2 option in the passing game on a warm weather team with a franchise QB. He almost seems like the text-book over-achiever (doing more with less) and has maxed out his upside.
Winslow is the enigma... spectacular talent, option 1b in an emerging passing game, but the QB situation isn't certain and how long will he play? He has a surgery or two every off-season and can only play for so long as that knee will be bone-on-bone sooner rather than later. The Browns don't seem to want to extend him and may be foreshadowing the end... if only he hadn't been such a knucklehead on that motorcycle, he had Shannon Sharpe potential (best ever).
For the purposes of this discussion, I'd take Witten first because I don't like to carry more than 1 TE except during a bye week. Therefore, it has to be a guy I can rely on. If I took Winslow I'd need a second option.
Posted by: Chad Ferguson | May 16, 2008 03:20 PM
no contest. witten safer, more consistent and better (fantasy wise)
Posted by: no contest | May 16, 2008 03:29 PM
Winslow is a huge injury risk and the QB situation could get muddy real quick if Anderson starts off 2008 the way he ended 2007.
Witten is the #2 red zone target behind T.O. Also, the TE position figures prominently in the 'Boys red zone offense because Fasano had 1 TD and Tony Curtis( who?) had 3 TDs last season. Trust me as a Witten owner last season I cursed every time Curtis caught a TD!
As Chad Ferguson said I only like commiting one roster spot to TE , so Witten is my pick.
Posted by: CdnFan | May 16, 2008 03:33 PM
Health is the biggest divider here.
Witten then Winslow
Posted by: endzoneview | May 16, 2008 03:49 PM
Witten was lucky with TDs last year. Winslow is proven.
I like Winslow.
Posted by: Scott K | May 16, 2008 04:33 PM