2014 Fantasy Football Outlook: Tennessee Titans TE Delanie Walker a Star in the Making

Tight end is a position that is very interesting to analyze from a fantasy football standpoint. If a fantasy general manager chooses to draft a receiver-caliber tight end like Rob Gronkowski or Jimmy Graham, then he/she will be receiving a ton of fantasy points from the position. However, picking a player of such a special caliber probably means using a higher draft pick than where a tight end would normally be taken. For all those other fantasy football players who aren’t able to secure the players mentioned above, the question then becomes who are the top “next guys” at the tight end position?

One name that won’t be getting too many mentions in top-10 fantasy tight end conversations is Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker. Very subtly, Walker had himself a career year in 2013. In his first season with the Titans, Walker secured 60 receptions for 571 yards and six touchdowns.

Until last season, Walker had never eclipsed more than 30 receptions, 350 yards and three touchdowns in a season. So, is the sudden spike in production any sort of sign heading into the 2014 NFL season?

The answer is yes.

Even though Walker’s yards per catch average dropped below 10.0 last season, he was still a very reliable red zone target for Jake Locker and Ryan Fitzpatrick. It was quite obvious throughout the 2013 season that Walker fit very well into the short to intermediate passing game that the Titans liked to run, especially after Fitzpatrick took over.

With a new head coach in Ken Wisenhunt, who has worked before with Antonio Gates, Walker should continue to post the same kinds of numbers he put up last season. He will look very comfortable in the new offensive scheme, as he did last year. He should be considered a reliable fantasy option that should be viewed just outside the top-10 for fantasy tight ends. He can either be viewed as a low-end TE-1 or a high-end TE-2 in 2014.