The top of the tight end rankings belongs to two names and two names only: Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski. Whichever player you have ranked above the other will be based on your personal preference and you can’t go wrong with either one. For me, it’s Graham, mainly due to him being Drew Brees’ number target. In New England Tom Brady will throw to whoever’s open, be it Wes Welker, Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez or Brandon Lloyd, just to throw out a few names at you. It’s a pretty crowded field in New England and that leads me to putting Graham number one.

Jan 29, 2012; Honolulu, HI, USA; NFC tight end Jimmy Graham of the New Orleans Saints (80) dunks the ball over the cross bar after scoring a touchdown against the AFC during the 2012 Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

This year in my fantasy football drafts I’m going to target both Graham and Gronkowski, as I think they are far and above better than any other fantasy tight end options. The rest of the pack has some great options to choose from but when it comes to value I’d rather take one of the top two guys than anybody else from the pack. More targets=more opportunities to score. Last year Graham out-edged Gronkowski in the targets category 149-124; although Gronkowski did score 7 more receiving touchdowns and gain 17 yards more on 9 receptions less than Graham. Again, you can’t go wrong with either player.

If I were to wait and draft a tight later in the draft I’d target guys like Coby Fleener, Jared Cook, Tony Moeaki, and Joel Dreessen. I think Dreessen’s the better player out of him and Jacob Tamme but Tamme gets the edge because of his familiarity with Peyton Manning. But we saw what Dreessen could do when given a chance to play whenever Owen Daniels was out in Houston and the numbers were not all that bad; all he needs is a shot and he could shine. On to the rankings…

Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings

1.     Jimmy Graham
2.     Rob Gronkowski
3.     Aaron Hernandez
4.     Jermaine Gresham
5.     Jermichael Finley
6.     Antonio Gates
7.     Vernon Davis
8.     Brandon Pettigrew
9.     Coby Fleener
10.  Fred Davis
11.  Jason Witten
12.  Tony Gonzalez
13.  Jacob Tamme
14.  Owen Daniels
15.  Brent Celek
16.  Jared Cook
17.  Kyle Rudolph
18.  Tony Moeaki
19.  Kellen Winslow
20.  Greg Olsen
21.  Dustin Keller
22.  Ed Dickson
23.  Lance Kendricks
24.  Heath Miller
25.  Dennis Pitta
26.  Martellus Bennett
27.  Joel Dreessen
28.  Zach Miller
29.  Evan Moore
30.  John Carlson
31.  Kellen Davis
32.  Marcedes Lewis
33.  Tony Scheffler
34.  Benjamin Watson
35.  Kevin Boss
36.  Dwayne Allen
37.  Anthony Fasano
38.  Rob Housler
39.  James Casey
40.  Michael Egnew
41.  Todd Heap
42.  Chris Cooley
43.  Dallas Clark
44.  Adrien Robinson

Jan 15, 2012; Baltimore, MD, USA; Houston Texans running back Arian Foster (23) catches a pass in the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens at M

Again, it’s still early in the football pre-season for these rankings to matter all that much but they’re a good starting point if you’ve just begun your fantasy football draft preparation.

Feel free to add any comments or disagreements you have with the rankings, along with any messages stating how idiotic my rankings are, in the comments section. For now I hope you get something out of these rankings…

Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings

1.     Arian Foster
2.     LeSean McCoy
3.     Ray Rice
4.     Ryan Matthews
5.     Chris Johnson
6.     Matt Forte
7.     Maurice Jones-Drew
8.     Darren McFadden
9.     Adrian Peterson
10.  Marshawn Lynch
11.  Trent Richardson
12.  Jamaal Charles
13.  DeMarco Murray
14.  Darren Sproles
15.  Doug Martin
16.  Steven Jackson
17.  Roy Helu
18.  Ahmad Bradshaw
19.  Reggie Bush
20.  Fred Jackson
21.  C.J. Spiller
22.  Michael Turner
23.  Frank Gore
24.  Willis McGahee
25.  Donald Brown
26.  Beanie Wells
27.  Shonn Greene
28.  Mikel Leshoure
29.  Isaac Redman
30.  Jacquizz Rodgers
31.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis
32.  DeAngelo Williams
33.  Michael Bush
34.  James Starks
35.  Stevan Ridley
36.  Shane Vereen
37.  Mark Ingram
38.  Jonathan Stewart
39.  David Wilson
40.  Jahvid Best
41.  Ben Tate
42.  Pierre Thomas
43.  Ronnie Hillman
44.  Tim Hightower
45.  LeGarrette Blount
46.  Isaiah Pead
47.  Kevin Smith
48.  Ryan Williams
49.  Felix Jones
50.  Daniel Thomas
51.  Toby Gerhart
52.  Rashard Mendenhall
53.  Peyton Hillis