Finalizing our list of NFL player queries is one of many forms that “touchdown vultures” take, the tight end. While not the big yard gainers of the offense, many tight ends see a disproportionate amount of touchdowns go their way, such as Mercedes Lewis and Antonio Gates did in 2010. While prone to high amounts of variance, especially outside of a point-per-reception league, a tight end can provide a large amount of mid-round value to an intelligent fantasy owner.
Keeping with the theme of our previous articles on quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers, Chitika Insights took a look at the top twenty tight ends according to Walter Football rankings, and analyze the amount of search traffic each individual generated to the Chitika network from the US and Canada. For the tight end, the message seems clear: name recognition is essential.
While Jason Witten would make logical sense as the most searched-for tight end (good player on a team with a gigantic fanbase), Tony Gonzalez at number two is interesting. Gonzalez, who had the least receiving yards since he was a 22 year old, second year player in 1998 last year, is still receiving the second highest amount of traffic among all tight ends. Clearly this is due to legacy and name recognition, as Atlanta cannot be considered a huge market fan base like Dallas can. Jimmy Graham also seems to be getting a lot of interest for a 26 year old in just his second NFL season, after a 31 reception, 356 yard rookie year.
While talent usually precedes becoming a big name, clearly the top of the tight end class is not monitored in the same way that quarterbacks and running backs are. While a Witten-esque fantasy season could be the ticket to your team winning, it seems like the lesser amounts of attention paid to tight ends is hugely influential in their search patterns.
