Doug's Dynasty Den - Tight End, Kicker Sep 1, 2005 | More

We conclude the analysis and ranking of each and every one of the offensive players selected by combining the positions of TE and K.  From a personal standpoint, I have never selected either of these positions in any dynasty draft.  I don't even both putting together a ranking and keeping track. 

Tight End is such a difficult position without having to worry about catching the ball, so much of a players first few years are learning to block.  Only then can they worry about catching the ball, which is the only thing us fantasy leaguers care about.  Once in a while a guy like Kellen Winslow will come along that warrants paying attention to the position, but it's a rarity. 

As for kickers, unless you really don't need any other position, I don't recommend worrying about selecting a rookie kicker either.  There are only 2 in this year's class, and neither are likely to make any noise in 2005. 

Just to recap, the Dynasty Den is really geared towards those of you in dynasty leagues, so the rankings listed here will reflect that.  In other words, these rankings are based on what I believe the player's overall career will be like in the fantasy sense, this is by no means a ranking of how I think these players are going to perform in 2005. 

Here's how we'll be breaking down the players:

Great White - Guys that have value in both the short (redraft) and long (dynasty) term
Hammerhead - Guys that may have short term value, but do have long term value
Blue - Guys that have an outside chance at helping in the short term, more likely will have long term value
Leopard - Virtually no short term value, slight chance of having some long term value
Sand - No short term value, little to no long term value

Great White
There will be no players ranked as Great Whites. 

Hammerhead
Heath Miller, Pittsburgh (1, 30, Virginia)
Miller has the best chance of the lot here to make an impact (as he should, being a first round selection).  Bill Cower likes him, then again he liked Mark Bruener as well.  The Steelers seem to be falling apart at the seams, but it's not a stretch to say that Miller could be relied on until they get their RB situation cleared up. 

Alex Smith, Tampa Bay (3, 71, Stanford)
Smith has been making a good impression in camp and will probably be TE2 behind Anthony Becht.  Might see some action here and there in a 2 TE set. 

Blue
Kevin Everett, Buffalo (3, 86, Miami, FL)
Everett has a good chance to become a fantasy performer, but it looks like he will be missing 2005 with a torn ACL.

Leopard
Jerome Collins, St.Louis (5, 144, Notre Dame)
Collins played defense for most of his college career, so the prospect of him making a fantasy impact any time are pretty slim.

Sand
These guys are not likely to see the light of day as far as fantasy goes. 

Bo Scaife, Tennessee (6, 179, Texas)
Tony Jackson, Seattle (6, 196, Iowa)
Joel Dreessen, New York (6, 198, Colorado State)
Patrick Estes, San Francisco (7, 248, Virginia)
Billy Bajema, San Francisco (7, 249, Oklahoma State)
Andy Stokes, New England (7, 255, William Penn)

As for the position of Kicker...

Blue
Mike Nugent, NY Jets (2, 47, Ohio State)
After his playoff debacle last year, Doug Brien is gone and the Jets used a pretty high draft pick to get the Big Ten star.  That said, we're talking about not only a rookie kicker here, but a rookie cold weather kicker. 

Leopard
Dave Rayner, Indianapolis (6, 202, Michigan State)
It's no secret that the Colts would love to give Mike Vanderjadt the boot.  I don't see it happening this season and the rookie will have to show something beyond kick off distance to prove he has any long term fantasy value.