Fantasy Football Week 15 Rankings: TE

Congrats to you my friends if you're still alive to fight another weekend. I hope you enjoy a weekend of success that's relatively anxiety- and stress-free. I wish I could say the same, but my main fantasy league crumbled at the mercy of Antonio Gates and his injured foot last week. My advice to you is to not let that happen; be prepared for anything and have a backup plan.

Moving on, Kellen Winslow has scored a TD in two of his past three games. Sure, he's not exactly setting the yardage meter on fire these days, but it's an encouraging sign. And it just so happens that Winslow draws quite the favorable spot at home this weekend against the Lions. Yup, the Lions team that may be improving in many areas with the exception of stopping the opposing tight end. Welcome back to the elite group, (for one week at least) Kellen Winslow.

As for the rest of the ranks...

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1. Vernon Davis, SF at SD
2. Kellen Winslow, TB vs. DET
3. Jason Witten, DAL vs. WAS
4. Tony Gonzalez, ATL at SEA
5. Jacob Tamme, IND vs. JAC
6. Chris Cooley, WAS at DAL
7. Brandon Pettigrew, DET at TB
8. Marcedes Lewis, JAC at IND
9. Rob Gronkowski, NE vs. GB
10. Antonio Gates, SD vs. SF***
(Injury Update: Gates is officially listed as doubtful for Thursday night's game.)
11. Greg Olsen, CHI at MIN
12. Benjamin Watson, CLE at CIN
13. Kevin Boss, NYG vs. PHI
14. Aaron Hernandez, NE vs. GB
15. Owen Daniels, HOU at TEN
16. Bo Scaife, TEN vs. HOU
17. Dustin Keller, NYJ at PIT
18. Zach Miller, OAK vs. DEN
19. Brent Celek, PHI at NYG
20. Jermaine Gresham, CIN vs. CLE
21. Todd Heap, BAL vs. NO***
22. Visanthe Shiancoe, MIN vs. CHI
23. Tony Moeaki, KC at STL
24. Jimmy Graham, NO at BAL
25. Heath Miller, PIT vs. NYJ

***Please check the injury report. I'm not thrilled about either guy unless they are deemed healthy. And I don't like their backups, so have a better plan in place.

• Antonio Gates is the national fantasy nightmare for many owners in peril. Look, as I've said repeatedly in this space, if he plays, he will play very well. It's important to stress the "if," because the reality is he may not play again this year. However, Randy McMichael is not (repeat not) the answer you're looking for as a Plan B for Gates being out. Think better.

• If I could do it all over again, I would've tried to find Rob Gronkowski off the waiver wire to replace the HUGE void the game-time inactive Gates left me with in one league last week. Of course, hindsight is 20/20. In any event, Rob-Gron has been quite productive over recent weeks and he's always a key target in the red zone for the scorching Tom Brady. If he's out there, go get him. This could be another decent week for Rob-Gron.

• A couple of guys I'm still not ready to push the chips back in for: Owen Daniels and Zach Miller. They've both had up-and-down seasons plagued by one injury after another. When healthy, there is no doubt they are both highly productive at their position. However, as they slowly creep their way back into form -- I'm still not sure I'd trust either guy... yet.

• I know it hasn't been exactly smooth sailing with Drew Stanton under center, but stick with Brandon Pettigrew. He's getting plenty of looks/targets, regardless of who is quarterback. I know it's not very consoling, but the TE screen pass that Will Heller scored a TD on last week was designed for Pettigrew, but he needed a quick breather. Hang in there; I'm predicting he scores this weekend.

• Kevin Boss and Bo Scaife both draw the "decent option with a favorable matchup" tag this week. Neither guy really gives you much week in and week out, but sometimes (and more in the fantasy playoffs) you've gotta play the matchups. I like Boss just slightly better than Scaife, but that's simply because I'm not getting carried away with Scaife's two TDs last week.

• I'd toss out a sleeper for you if I really had one this week, but that's just not the case. You've gotta roll with your stud TE if you have a healthy one or play the cards that you were dealt. This is the fantasy playoffs and it's no time to gamble. Good luck.