gianmarco
Footballguy
Had a discussion with a friend about these 2 guys. Both had excellent 2008 seasons. Both are on the older side. Both have reasons to be optimistic.
Gonzo (2/27/1976 -- Age 33)
--HOF TE whose game hasn't slowed down at all to this point
--Now has Cassel to throw to him
--Has Bowe to take some pressure off of him
--3 years older than Clark
--Could retire at any moment
D. Clark (6/12/1979 -- almost age 30)
--TE on an elite passing team
--3 yrs younger than Gonzo
--Loss of Harrison = potentially more targets for Clark
--Only has about 2 yrs track record of top finishes
--Injury history and over the age of 30 (not good for TEs)
So which guy do you prefer for both above scenarios? One scenario is you have a younger prospect as a backup (Keller, Miller, Olsen). The other, you don't have a true backup. Who is going to have the better 2009? 2010?
Not listed above in the polls is when you think each of those guys loses fantasy relevance? In other words, how many more years until both guys aren't startable on a weekly basis (<top 12 TE)?
Curious what most people's thoughts are and how these will reflect in general rankings of these 2 in a dynasty format.
Gonzo (2/27/1976 -- Age 33)
--HOF TE whose game hasn't slowed down at all to this point
--Now has Cassel to throw to him
--Has Bowe to take some pressure off of him
--3 years older than Clark
--Could retire at any moment
D. Clark (6/12/1979 -- almost age 30)
--TE on an elite passing team
--3 yrs younger than Gonzo
--Loss of Harrison = potentially more targets for Clark
--Only has about 2 yrs track record of top finishes
--Injury history and over the age of 30 (not good for TEs)
So which guy do you prefer for both above scenarios? One scenario is you have a younger prospect as a backup (Keller, Miller, Olsen). The other, you don't have a true backup. Who is going to have the better 2009? 2010?
Not listed above in the polls is when you think each of those guys loses fantasy relevance? In other words, how many more years until both guys aren't startable on a weekly basis (<top 12 TE)?
Curious what most people's thoughts are and how these will reflect in general rankings of these 2 in a dynasty format.
I was going to post the same thing. You should pull up the #'s for 31 yo TE's. That is what D. Clark is going to be next year when, I'm assuming, most people are going to vote he will outdo Gonzo. --Looking over the last few years, the #12 TE has scored roughly 80 pts/year. --There have been 398 TE seasons played by a TE age 31 or older--Of those 398 TE seasons, only 20 of them scored 80 pts or more (essentially enough to be roughly startable in a 12 team league)--About half of those 20 seasons were by guys named Shannon Sharpe (4 of them), Wesley Walls (3 of them), and Tony Gonzalez (2 of them). --Of note, Tony Gonzalez has the highest score of any TE age 31 or older in a season.When you look at it for 32 yo TEs (2011 for Clark), it gets even bleaker--There have been 247 TE seasons played by a TE age 32 or older--Only 10 of those 247 TE seasons scored 80 pts or more--4 of those 10 belong to S. Sharpe. The rest include Walls, Novacek, Metzelaars, Shuler, and Gonzo--Half of those 10 seasons were < 100 pts (still not very fantasy relevant)Point being is that, at least I'm going to assume for this year, that most predict Tony G to outscore Dallas Clark. We'll see how the polls works out. But, here's the kicker. Even if Gonzo were one and done and either crapped out the rest of his career or just flat out retired, D. Clark has the odds stacked against him to be fantasy relevant (top 12 TE) the following year in 2010 at age 31. It gets even worse at age 32.I think most don't realize the age wall for TE's is closer to that of a RB than it is to a WR. I also think most people don't realize how old D. Clark is. Yet, I can almost guarantee that Clark is going to be more highly coveted in dynasty leagues than Gonzo and will probably appear higher in rankings. My prediction, going along with these #'s, is that Gonzo outdoes Clark in 2009 and that Clark doesn't even crack the top 10-12 for 2010 and beyond. What Gonzo does after this year is irrelevant at that point because both of these guys are short-term options. Give me the guy who will produce more.