Roaf retirement rocks Tony Gonzalez
The sudden retirement of Chiefs OT Willie Roaf may have scared Fantasy owners into not drafting RB Larry Johnson or QB Trent Green, but the real loser from a Fantasy standpoint is TE Tony Gonzalez, who now may be forced into blocking more and receiving less.
Let's do some O-line mathematics: Roaf was considered one of the best at left tackle, but when he was lost for six games last year, Jordan Black had to step in. Black, 26, is no Roaf, but when you combine an inexperienced tackle in Black with an experienced blocker like Gonzalez, you get the results of a Roaf. So to recap, Black + Gonzalez = Roaf, but then the Chiefs offense gets Gonzalez erased from the passing game.
Now the Chiefs have no Roaf for a whole season, and they have Black, veteran Kyle Turley, youngster Will Svitek and reserve OT Kevin Sampson to replace him and they have an opening at right tackle to fill, too. It's a game of musical chairs, and somewhere in there, Gonzalez lost his potential for a 1,000-yard season.
Is he still a starting Fantasy tight end? Of course. The Chiefs aren't about to turn their best target into a one-dimensional blocker. He should be counted on to get between 800 and 900 receiving yards with four or five TDs. It's not bad for a Fantasy tight end, but it's enough to put him behind Antonio Gates and Jeremy Shockey in our Fantasy TE rankings.
