The NFL Nation Blog released their TE Power Rankings earlier this week. Gonzo ranked 6th.
Yasinskas ranked Atlanta’s Tony Gonzalez No. 2. He had Witten No. 1 and Gates No. 3. Witten finished with 76 voting points. Gates had 75. No other voter placed Gonzalez higher than fifth. He finished sixth.
Yasinskas reasoned that he sandwiched Gonzalez between Witten and Gates because of Gonzalez’s incredible career. Gonzalez, 35, owns every major receiving record by a tight end.
"Yes, he's nearing the end of his career, but this is the best tight end in history," Yasinskas said. "I think that counts for something. Gonzalez still is playing at a high level. He has great chemistry with quarterback Matt Ryan and the desire for a Super Bowl ring is keeping Gonzalez going strong."
Meanwhile, fake-blogger Paul Kuharsky left Gonzo off his ballot entirely.
"Gonzalez is still an excellent player," Kuharsky said. "But as I struggled to find room for the 10 I felt needed to make the cut, he fell off. In 2010 his numbers suggest he was more quantity than quality. I'm not looking for giant plays from my tight end, but Dallas Clark replacement Jacob Tamme matched Gonzo's 9.4-yards a catch, and while Gonzalez's first-down percentage was good (55.7), it was way lower than that of the three top rookies and smaller than that of guys like Heath Miller, Ben Watson and Todd Heap, who I hardly considered.
To be fair, Gonzo did not have a top 20 DVOA (2.2% or 25/45), nor did he have a top 20 DYAR (72 or 21/45). Maybe I'm just burying my head in the sand, but if were talking about any one season, I'd only take 3-4 TEs over Gonzo. Curious what y'all think though.