Top-10 All-Time Tight Ends (1 Viewer)

[Raider Nation]

10.Antonio Gates

9. Mark Bavaro

8. Tony Gonzalez

7. Dave Casper

6. Jackie Smith

5. Ozzie Newsome

4. Shannon Sharpe

3. Mike Ditka

2. Kellen Winslow

1. John Mackey

I only have one major problem with the list. I'm old enough to have seen all of Bavaro's career, and a good chunk of Dave Casper's and Jackie Smith's careers. All three of them were fantastic ball players, but Antonio Gates is better than each of them. I'm guessing he's #10 on the list only because he's played just five years in the league.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Keith Jackson was a 5 time pro Bowler, 3 time ALL Pro, 440+ rec, 5,000+ yds, and 49 TD...certainly in the next group of 5 if he didn't make this list...and he has a ring.

 

[The Man with the Plan]

Shannon Sharpe was a tight end?

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Todd Christianson was also a 5 time Pro Bowler, 2 time all PRO...

1983: 92 rec 1,247 and 12 TD

1984: 80 rec 1007 7 TD

1985 82 rec 987 yds 6 TD

1986 95 rec 1,153 yds 8 TD

You won't find many 4 year runs like this.

 

[Stinkin Ref]

Tony G. being in the bottom half of the top 10 instead of the top is a joke

 

[chris1969]

10. Mark Bavaro

9. Dave Casper

8. Jackie Smith

7. Shannon Sharpe

6. Tony Gonzalez

5.Antonio Gates

4. Ozzie Newsome

3. Kellen Winslow

2. John Mackey

1. Mike Ditka

This is the way I'd list them.

 

[dgreen]

Tony G. being in the bottom half of the top 10 instead of the top is a joke

Those are some great TEs in the top 5. Who would you knock out to make room for Gonzo?

 

[J-Rock]

I was suprised to not see Jay Novacek anywhere onb the list.

I selfishly would have liked to see Brent Jones there too but with so many great TE's on this list it would be tough to make that argument unless you live in the bay area..

 

[massraider]

Tony G. being in the bottom half of the top 10 instead of the top is a joke

Those are some great TEs in the top 5. Who would you knock out to make room for Gonzo?

Sharpe seems to be the obvious choice.Depends what criteria you are using. If just going by impact, then Sharpe stays put. If going by all around play, then Sharpe, not a blocker, probably falls down the list.

 

[TheFanatic]

Tony G. being in the bottom half of the top 10 instead of the top is a joke

Those are some great TEs in the top 5. Who would you knock out to make room for Gonzo?

I would leave him where he is for now, but by the time he hangs them up I would think he will be ahead of Shannon Sharpe. I believe that Gonzo is on pace to beat all of his records...

 

[FUBAR]

Tony G. being in the bottom half of the top 10 instead of the top is a joke

Those are some great TEs in the top 5. Who would you knock out to make room for Gonzo?

You can make an argument for almost any order. I might have Gonzo #3 behind Ditka and KW1.I never saw him play, so can someone explain why Mackey, who was only a pro bowler 5 times, and an all pro 3, in his 10 year career, can be #1 here?

 

[Zoomanji]

I only have one major problem with the list. I'm old enough to have seen all of Bavaro's career, and a good chunk of Dave Casper's and Jackie Smith's careers. All three of them were fantastic ball players, but Antonio Gates is better than each of them. I'm guessing he's #10 on the list only because he's played just five years in the league.

And he doesn't have to block as much as those guys did.Bavaro should be off and Keith Jackson on IMO

 

[FUBAR]

6. Tony Gonzalez5.Antonio Gates

The only reason I disagree is Tony is one of the bet blocking TEs as well as a great receiver. Gates never impressed me as a blocker, but then the team doesn't ask him to either. Gonzo stepped up big time when injuries would hit the OL.

 

[Zoomanji]

I never saw him play, so can someone explain why Mackey, who was only a pro bowler 5 times, and an all pro 3, in his 10 year career, can be #1 here?

I saw the show. The highlights of Mackey were unreal. Like Jim Brown playing TE.I never saw him play but the highlights were impressive

 

[FUBAR]

I never saw him play, so can someone explain why Mackey, who was only a pro bowler 5 times, and an all pro 3, in his 10 year career, can be #1 here?

I saw the show. The highlights of Mackey were unreal. Like Jim Brown playing TE.I never saw him play but the highlights were impressive

Cool. There's probably a generational reason to his lack of pro-bowls then.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Tony G. being in the bottom half of the top 10 instead of the top is a joke

Those are some great TEs in the top 5. Who would you knock out to make room for Gonzo?

The lowest I'd put Gonzo would be 6, but you're right - it's just as hard to knock someone else out of the top 5 as it is to keep TG out of it.Good to see Mackey get his due. He may be the greatest player of my lifetime that hardly ever gets talked about.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I never saw him play, so can someone explain why Mackey, who was only a pro bowler 5 times, and an all pro 3, in his 10 year career, can be #1 here?

I saw the show. The highlights of Mackey were unreal. Like Jim Brown playing TE.I never saw him play but the highlights were impressive

Cool. There's probably a generational reason to his lack of pro-bowls then.

He was battling Ditka & the Smiths for the majority of his career, with only so many spots to go around. I think Mackey was the best, but I also think a case could be made for 5 or 6 of those listed. His combination of size, strength, & speed made him an anomoly at the time (& maybe still does). The man was a beast.

 

[Doug Drinen]

Those are some great TEs in the top 5. Who would you knock out to make room for Gonzo?

What is the argument for Newsome or Winslow over Gonzo?Here is the argument for Gonzo over those two: his stats --- I'm not talking about raw stats, I'm including the appropriate context --- are much better. Now, I understand that stats aren't everything. But if you're going to convince me that those two are better than Gonzo, you've got to convince me that they were much better blockers. That's possible, I honestly don't really know whether KW or Newsome was considered a great blocker, but as I understand it, Gonzo is a pretty good blocker.Basically, I think these lists are put together by and for people in their 30s and 40s, and therefore Winslow and Newsome benefit (relative to Gonzo) from a significant strain of The-World-Was-Perfect-When-I-Was-12-itis.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Those are some great TEs in the top 5. Who would you knock out to make room for Gonzo?

What is the argument for Newsome or Winslow over Gonzo?Here is the argument for Gonzo over those two: his stats --- I'm not talking about raw stats, I'm including the appropriate context --- are much better. Now, I understand that stats aren't everything. But if you're going to convince me that those two are better than Gonzo, you've got to convince me that they were much better blockers. That's possible, I honestly don't really know whether KW or Newsome was considered a great blocker, but as I understand it, Gonzo is a pretty good blocker.Basically, I think these lists are put together by and for people in their 30s and 40s, and therefore Winslow and Newsome benefit (relative to Gonzo) from a significant strain of The-World-Was-Perfect-When-I-Was-12-itis.

Winslow was not considered a good blocker, IIRC. He was a hell of an athlete & a great receiver who had some huge signature moments on a high-powered team. He was the Lynn Swann of TEs. I think he was great but I don't know that I could convincingly argue him over Gonzo.Didn't Ozzie retire with most of the TE records? I guess that'd make him the Art Monk of TEs.

 

[Workhorse]

Keith Jackson was a 5 time pro Bowler, 3 time ALL Pro, 440+ rec, 5,000+ yds, and 49 TD...certainly in the next group of 5 if he didn't make this list...and he has a ring.

I'd put him in that next tier, along with Ben Coates. Somewhere in the 11-15 range. Still a great player.

 

[Kevin Ashcraft]

My list.....just using their 10

1. Mackey - revolutionized the position

2. Sharpe - Had all the records (TDs, Yards, etc) and has rings

3. Gonzalez - Will eclipse all of Sharpe's records, but postseason failures put him third

4. Winslow - Man was a beast and retired at barely age 30 -- could have ended up with more #s.

5. Ditka - His first 3 or 5 seasons in CHI were awesome, but hung on too long

6. Gates - If he keeps it up will best Ditka and Winslow

7. Smith - His longevity puts him ahead of Newsome

8. Newsome - Only 3 seasons over 900 YDs, I think he is somewhat overrated

9. Casper - A nice 5 YR run, but overrated due to postseason success

10. Bavaro - Only 2 seasons over 700 yards, overrated due to postseason success

Here is who I would add.......

Todd Christensen @ #8, move Newsome to 9

Ben Coates @ #10, booting out Casper and Bavaro

 

[sholditch]

10. Mark Bavaro9. Dave Casper8. Jackie Smith7. Shannon Sharpe6. Tony Gonzalez5.Antonio Gates 4. Ozzie Newsome3. Kellen Winslow2. John Mackey1. Mike DitkaThis is the way I'd list them.

Ditka...Bears...Ditka...Bears...Ditka...

 

[Weiner Dog]

I'm glad this list was posted. I'm too young too remember Ditka. Can somebody shed some light on his career?? Over a year ago, I started the following thread but received very few responses.

link:

http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index...68&hl=ditka

I was watching ESPN and decided to google Ditka's career stats. In his first four seasons, he totalled 3671 yards and 30 TD's. Over his next eight seasons, he only totalled 2141 yards and 13 TD's...and he only missed 10 games over this eight-year span.

What happened??

 

[sholditch]

What happened is that Ditka was so incredibly good, they had to rewrite the entire rulebook to combat his greatness. Ditka was so vastly superior to every other player in history at that point that they had to write the "Ditka Rules" that stated for all players named Mike Ditka, each yard gained will be counted as half a yard, and each TD half a TD. They enacted this after his first year in the league. Also, they made a rule that Ditka could no longer consume an entire angus bull before each game, and could not walk to games across Lake Michigan.

 

[PlasmaDogPlasma]

10. Bavaro - Only 2 seasons over 700 yards, overrated due to postseason success

Factor in the blocking. Bavaro was a devastating blocker, which frankly isn't true for several other guys on the list. I'm not suggesting someone like Kyle Brady belongs on the list, just that you have to look at the whole package.

 

[The Kansas Comet]

10. Bavaro - Only 2 seasons over 700 yards, overrated due to postseason success

Factor in the blocking. Bavaro was a devastating blocker, which frankly isn't true for several other guys on the list.

So was Dave Casper - he was honorable mention All-America as a tackle at Notre Dame before moving to tight end.

 

[dgreen]

Those are some great TEs in the top 5. Who would you knock out to make room for Gonzo?

What is the argument for Newsome or Winslow over Gonzo?Here is the argument for Gonzo over those two: his stats --- I'm not talking about raw stats, I'm including the appropriate context --- are much better. Now, I understand that stats aren't everything. But if you're going to convince me that those two are better than Gonzo, you've got to convince me that they were much better blockers. That's possible, I honestly don't really know whether KW or Newsome was considered a great blocker, but as I understand it, Gonzo is a pretty good blocker.Basically, I think these lists are put together by and for people in their 30s and 40s, and therefore Winslow and Newsome benefit (relative to Gonzo) from a significant strain of The-World-Was-Perfect-When-I-Was-12-itis.

It all depends on what you're comparing. Gonzo definitely has longevity and health over Winslow. His career numbers are better. But, Winslow has a better rec/gm (5 vs. 4.7), yds/gm (61.8 vs. 56.8), yds/rec (12.5 vs. 12.1), TD/gm (0.41 vs. 0.38), and rec/TD (12 vs. 12.4). Winslow was top 3 in receptions four straight years, while Gonzo has a 1st, 7th, and 10th place finish. Gonzo has only once been top 10 in receiving yards compared to Winslow's three.Winslow had an incredible 5-year run (1980-1984) where he posted 5.8 rec/gm, 76.9 yd/gm, 13.2 yds/rec, and 0.55 td/gm. Gonzo's best five year run (2003-2007) for rec/gm is 5.4 and for yds/gm is 65.2. His best five year run (2000-2004) for yds/rec is 12.6 and his best five year run (2001-2005) for td/gm is 0.54.Neither one of them have lengthy playoff resumes, but here they are:Winslow (6 gms) - 28-380-4Gonzo (3 gms) - 11-106-2Advantage: Winslow, especially when you include subjective data such as his incredibly gutsy performance against Miami.Another advantage for Gonzo seems to be his fumbles. He's only fumbled 6 times on 820 receptions. Winslow has 11 fumbles on 541 receptions.Winslow was a better peak player. Tony wins the longevity contest.

 

[Tanner9919]

10.Antonio Gates

9. Mark Bavaro

8. Tony Gonzalez

7. Dave Casper

6. Jackie Smith

5. Ozzie Newsome

4. Shannon Sharpe

3. Mike Ditka

2. Kellen Winslow

1. John Mackey

I only have one major problem with the list. I'm old enough to have seen all of Bavaro's career, and a good chunk of Dave Casper's and Jackie Smith's careers. All three of them were fantastic ball players, but Antonio Gates is better than each of them. I'm guessing he's #10 on the list only because he's played just five years in the league.

Bavaro was sensational...great blocking TE, huge guy, good hands, impossible to tackle one-on-one..great team player..

not NEARLY as athletic as Gonzalez or Gates or Winslow II.

Just one question:

where's BEN COATES on this list?!?!? any 'best TE of all time top 10 list, MUST include Ben Coates.

 

[buster c]

where's the love for Vito Kab?

 

[chris1969]

Those are some great TEs in the top 5. Who would you knock out to make room for Gonzo?

What is the argument for Newsome or Winslow over Gonzo?Here is the argument for Gonzo over those two: his stats --- I'm not talking about raw stats, I'm including the appropriate context --- are much better. Now, I understand that stats aren't everything. But if you're going to convince me that those two are better than Gonzo, you've got to convince me that they were much better blockers. That's possible, I honestly don't really know whether KW or Newsome was considered a great blocker, but as I understand it, Gonzo is a pretty good blocker.Basically, I think these lists are put together by and for people in their 30s and 40s, and therefore Winslow and Newsome benefit (relative to Gonzo) from a significant strain of The-World-Was-Perfect-When-I-Was-12-itis.

Those are some great TEs in the top 5. Who would you knock out to make room for Gonzo?

What is the argument for Newsome or Winslow over Gonzo?Here is the argument for Gonzo over those two: his stats --- I'm not talking about raw stats, I'm including the appropriate context --- are much better. Now, I understand that stats aren't everything. But if you're going to convince me that those two are better than Gonzo, you've got to convince me that they were much better blockers. That's possible, I honestly don't really know whether KW or Newsome was considered a great blocker, but as I understand it, Gonzo is a pretty good blocker.Basically, I think these lists are put together by and for people in their 30s and 40s, and therefore Winslow and Newsome benefit (relative to Gonzo) from a significant strain of The-World-Was-Perfect-When-I-Was-12-itis.

It all depends on what you're comparing. Gonzo definitely has longevity and health over Winslow. His career numbers are better. But, Winslow has a better rec/gm (5 vs. 4.7), yds/gm (61.8 vs. 56.8), yds/rec (12.5 vs. 12.1), TD/gm (0.41 vs. 0.38), and rec/TD (12 vs. 12.4). Winslow was top 3 in receptions four straight years, while Gonzo has a 1st, 7th, and 10th place finish. Gonzo has only once been top 10 in receiving yards compared to Winslow's three.Winslow had an incredible 5-year run (1980-1984) where he posted 5.8 rec/gm, 76.9 yd/gm, 13.2 yds/rec, and 0.55 td/gm. Gonzo's best five year run (2003-2007) for rec/gm is 5.4 and for yds/gm is 65.2. His best five year run (2000-2004) for yds/rec is 12.6 and his best five year run (2001-2005) for td/gm is 0.54.Neither one of them have lengthy playoff resumes, but here they are:Winslow (6 gms) - 28-380-4Gonzo (3 gms) - 11-106-2Advantage: Winslow, especially when you include subjective data such as his incredibly gutsy performance against Miami.Another advantage for Gonzo seems to be his fumbles. He's only fumbled 6 times on 820 receptions. Winslow has 11 fumbles on 541 receptions.Winslow was a better peak player. Tony wins the longevity contest.

Both good Posts and the reason why it's really hard to judge TE's, because TE's are used differently by different teams and in different eras.I put them in order according of how I would probably draft them if they all in their prime. I'll try to put in some commentary...10. Mark Bavaro - See Casper.9. Dave Casper - at this point there is another 10 guys I could put in this spot.8. Jackie Smith - Probably the last of the great TE's and like Winslow and Newsome he's undervalued. 7. Shannon Sharpe - He's a poor man's Antonio Gates at best. His ego is a detriment. The difference between Sharpe and Gates in my opinion is that I believe Gates would lay himself out on a block if he was asked to. 6. Tony Gonzalez - could almost agree with the Gonzo over Gates sentiment, but I still don't think Gonzo's blocking would make him a guy I would draft over Gates.5.Antonio Gates - As good as Gates is, he still isn't Winslow. Winslow actually had other receivers around him for his career. Teams still game planned for Winslow over some other good receivers. Gates is the best receiving TE in the modern era. He's a player that almost impossible to stop, but watching him play only reinforces my grades of the guys above him.4. Ozzie Newsome- He's the Charlie Joiner of TE's. He caught most of his catches when everybody in the stadium knew the ball was going to him. If it was 3rd and anything, the ball was going to Ozzie. He madel circus catches every game. Brian Sipe once said if Ozzie was on the sideline, he would purposely throw the ball 3 yards out of bounds, because he knew Ozzie would catch it and keep his feet in bounds. If I worked for NFL films, The Whiz would be my #1 TE.3. Kellen Winslow - Winslow and Newsome will both be undervalued with the youngsters. Winslow will be undervalued because his career was cut short with knee injuries. Winslow was a TE that teams game planned for and failed over and over again. I would really like to see him play in today's modern offenses. He's the Steve Smith of TE's2. John Mackey - I'm probably selling him short. He basically put the TE position on the map and his stats suffer from playing in an era where teams didn't throw to the TE's very much. I could easily see Mackey above Ditka, but I have to pick according to my experience.1. Mike Ditka - Simply the most complete TE to ever play the game. Anybody promoting your TE because he's a good blocker should look at some old Ditka tapes. Not to mention his heart and understanding of the game.

 

[Bri]

I'm old enough to have seen all of Bavaro's career, and a good chunk of Dave Casper's and Jackie Smith's careers. All three of them were fantastic ball players, but Antonio Gates is better than each of them. I'm guessing he's #10 on the list only because he's played just five years in the league.

Stallone was an awesome TE you could really root for and that ability to carry several defenders on his back was something to see. His (productive)career was short though and I agree Gates is betterone other thing

The more people mention him when a Giant TE is in the discussion, the more it makes me think he had a tremendous impact on fans. He may be on some top ten list of NFL players in history that fans adored. LESSER but similarly, we'll be talking about Favre and Sweetness 20 years from now.

He's been "done" for almost 20 years now so it's pretty fascinating that people still love this guy

 

[Bri]

not the best highlights but

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suPMw_MjyjY

see guys like Ronnie Lott struggling to bring him down, Darrell Green bumped away like he's nothing

 

[Raider Nation]

not the best highlights but

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suPMw_MjyjY

That very first highlight... I have been looking for that forever. One of the most amazing individual efforts you'll ever see on a football field.

A run Roger Craig had against the Rams, destroying defender after defender with the high knees, is another which comes to mind.

 

[Bri]

not the best highlights but

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suPMw_MjyjY

That very first highlight... I have been looking for that forever. One of the most amazing individual efforts you'll ever see on a football field.

A run Roger Craig had against the Rams, destroying defender after defender with the high knees, is another which comes to mind.

Do you remember they'd recap Bavaro's Giants games by doing this:I count 8 guys trying to tackle him(always had trouble seeing if a player re-enterred the tackling pile) on that play

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

Here's what I like about this list......that the "Now" players aren't littered all over the place, especially at the very top.

With that said, I think Tony Gonzalez has earned through spectacular TE play to be higher than 8th place. Maybe over time he'll creep up such a list and I think he will but I have no real problem with this.

WAAAYYYY to often we insert "our" players into the all time great list and it's good to see in this one you have to earn your way up it.

 

[greenf7cat]

Tony G. being in the bottom half of the top 10 instead of the top is a joke

Those are some great TEs in the top 5. Who would you knock out to make room for Gonzo?

I would leave him where he is for now, but by the time he hangs them up I would think he will be ahead of Shannon Sharpe. I believe that Gonzo is on pace to beat all of his records...

Gonzo already owns 2 of his 3 records!!! He surpassed Sharpe in '07, so now only needs 1 more record to lead all TE's in evey statistical category in NFL history!!

 

[Chase Stuart]

One note I'll make about Gonzalez.

Trent Green has had some unbelievable years. He's led some incredible offenses. From '02 to '05, he was just lights out. Now yes, they had a great OL and a great RB, but he put up top shelf HOF numbers for four years without a single good receiver. If you want to say that Trent Green isn't one of the 25 best QBs of all time, it seems Tony Gonzalez deserves a lot more credit than people seem to give him.*

*Assume people seem to think he's just the 8th best TE ever.

 

[Chase Stuart]

Keith Jackson was a 5 time pro Bowler, 3 time ALL Pro, 440+ rec, 5,000+ yds, and 49 TD...certainly in the next group of 5 if he didn't make this list...and he has a ring.

Agreed. The more I look at Gonzalez, I don't know what this list was thinking.He's the only TE with 9 Pro Bowls. He's one of only three TEs with 4 All Pros. He's got another additional 4 All Pros, second team, which is tied for the most of any TE. In terms of peer recognition, he's #1 by a mile. In terms of stats, he's #1 by a good margin. In terms of blocking, he's better than many of the receiving TEs. I don't really know what more people wanted him to do.And outside of blocking, just about all of that applies to Shannon Sharpe. He's got more first team All Pros and more Pro Bowls than Ditka/Winslow/Mackey, at a time where there were more teams (especially true w/r/t Ditka and Mackey). Statistically, he is well ahead of those guys. He has three rings, and was an instrumental part of all three SB teams.I'd pretty much start any list with Sharpe and Gonzalez, in either order. Just because they're recent doesn't mean they weren't the best.

 

[Phlash]

Ben Coates

 

[Chase Stuart]

Ben Coates

Riley Odoms

 

[Doug Drinen]

Ben Coates

Riley Odoms Riley Odoms

Fixed.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Those are some great TEs in the top 5. Who would you knock out to make room for Gonzo?

What is the argument for Newsome or Winslow over Gonzo?Here is the argument for Gonzo over those two: his stats --- I'm not talking about raw stats, I'm including the appropriate context --- are much better.

Now, I understand that stats aren't everything. But if you're going to convince me that those two are better than Gonzo, you've got to convince me that they were much better blockers. That's possible, I honestly don't really know whether KW or Newsome was considered a great blocker, but as I understand it, Gonzo is a pretty good blocker.

Basically, I think these lists are put together by and for people in their 30s and 40s, and therefore Winslow and Newsome benefit (relative to Gonzo) from a significant strain of The-World-Was-Perfect-When-I-Was-12-itis.

It all depends on what you're comparing. Gonzo definitely has longevity and health over Winslow. His career numbers are better. But, Winslow has a better rec/gm (5 vs. 4.7), yds/gm (61.8 vs. 56.8), yds/rec (12.5 vs. 12.1), TD/gm (0.41 vs. 0.38), and rec/TD (12 vs. 12.4). Winslow was top 3 in receptions four straight years, while Gonzo has a 1st, 7th, and 10th place finish. Gonzo has only once been top 10 in receiving yards compared to Winslow's three.Winslow had an incredible 5-year run (1980-1984) where he posted 5.8 rec/gm, 76.9 yd/gm, 13.2 yds/rec, and 0.55 td/gm. Gonzo's best five year run (2003-2007) for rec/gm is 5.4 and for yds/gm is 65.2. His best five year run (2000-2004) for yds/rec is 12.6 and his best five year run (2001-2005) for td/gm is 0.54.

Neither one of them have lengthy playoff resumes, but here they are:

Winslow (6 gms) - 28-380-4

Gonzo (3 gms) - 11-106-2

Advantage: Winslow, especially when you include subjective data such as his incredibly gutsy performance against Miami.

Another advantage for Gonzo seems to be his fumbles. He's only fumbled 6 times on 820 receptions. Winslow has 11 fumbles on 541 receptions.

Winslow was a better peak player. Tony wins the longevity contest.

Yes. If it's third and twelve and I need to pick any tight end in his prime to be my primary receiver for just this one play, I'd pick Winslow ahead of Gonzalez. (I'd pick Gates over either of them.)Change the question to third and three (so that it could be a pass or a run), and maybe I'd pick Gonzalez ahead of Winslow. (Although I'd still pick Gates first.)

If the question isn't just "Who was the best in the moment of his prime?", but takes longevity into account as well, things get murkier.

 

[Chase Stuart]

Those are some great TEs in the top 5. Who would you knock out to make room for Gonzo?

What is the argument for Newsome or Winslow over Gonzo?Here is the argument for Gonzo over those two: his stats --- I'm not talking about raw stats, I'm including the appropriate context --- are much better. Now, I understand that stats aren't everything. But if you're going to convince me that those two are better than Gonzo, you've got to convince me that they were much better blockers. That's possible, I honestly don't really know whether KW or Newsome was considered a great blocker, but as I understand it, Gonzo is a pretty good blocker.Basically, I think these lists are put together by and for people in their 30s and 40s, and therefore Winslow and Newsome benefit (relative to Gonzo) from a significant strain of The-World-Was-Perfect-When-I-Was-12-itis.

It all depends on what you're comparing. Gonzo definitely has longevity and health over Winslow. His career numbers are better. But, Winslow has a better rec/gm (5 vs. 4.7), yds/gm (61.8 vs. 56.8), yds/rec (12.5 vs. 12.1), TD/gm (0.41 vs. 0.38), and rec/TD (12 vs. 12.4). Winslow was top 3 in receptions four straight years, while Gonzo has a 1st, 7th, and 10th place finish. Gonzo has only once been top 10 in receiving yards compared to Winslow's three.Winslow had an incredible 5-year run (1980-1984) where he posted 5.8 rec/gm, 76.9 yd/gm, 13.2 yds/rec, and 0.55 td/gm. Gonzo's best five year run (2003-2007) for rec/gm is 5.4 and for yds/gm is 65.2. His best five year run (2000-2004) for yds/rec is 12.6 and his best five year run (2001-2005) for td/gm is 0.54.Neither one of them have lengthy playoff resumes, but here they are:Winslow (6 gms) - 28-380-4Gonzo (3 gms) - 11-106-2Advantage: Winslow, especially when you include subjective data such as his incredibly gutsy performance against Miami.Another advantage for Gonzo seems to be his fumbles. He's only fumbled 6 times on 820 receptions. Winslow has 11 fumbles on 541 receptions.Winslow was a better peak player. Tony wins the longevity contest.

It's a bit disingenuous, IMO, to simply gloss over the fact that Winslow played only 7 games one of those years when doing your per-game averages. (On the other hand, using per game averages to handle the strike season is fine.)Winslow was also on teams that passed the ball a ton. Over that five year span, San Diego averaged 39.2 pass attempts per game. From 2001-2005, KC averaged 32.6 pass attempts per game. That's a pretty significant difference, not to mention the fact of who was throwing those passes. It's certainly a close call as to who was better at their peak, but Gonzalez' track record is close to impeccable.