In the third installment of a seven-part series, RealGM will help you prepare for your upcoming fantasy draft. As you can see, today we?ll cover the best options at tight end. Drafting a productive tight end is vastly more important that the decision on kickers and defenses, which we covered this past weekend. We ranked just twelve kickers and defenses, and for good reason, but we?re expanding to eighteen tight ends do to the value of taking a backup at a position that is growing in stability. Tony Gonzalez, Dallas Clark, Jason Witten and Antonio Gates were the top-four options in 2008, and all appeared in 2007?s top-five as well. You can?t go wrong with any one of that quartet, but there are a host of other strong options as well. When looking to get your hands on a top-flight tight end, look past the cheerleaders? 1. Antonio Gates, San Diego He?s an injury concern, but he?s had at least eight touchdowns in each of the last five seasons. He also plays dinged up, and San Diego is starting to fall in love with the pass. 2. Tony Gonzalez, Atlanta The Falcons like to run, but quarterback Matt Ryan is a year older and opting for a more balanced attack would be a good move. He?s a good bet to approach the 1,058 yards and 10 scores he had in lowly Kansas City last season. 3. Owen Daniels, Houston Daniels is very close to making the quartet we mentioned above a quintet. He has 133 catches for 1,630 yards and five scores in the last two years. He?s 26 and only getting better in a pass-heavy system. 4. Jason Witten, Dallas He?s Tony Romo?s ?favorite? target and has only failed to catch more than 60 passes once in his six-year career. He?ll get more defensive attention with Terrell Owens in Buffalo, but figures to get targeted more as well. 5. Dallas Clark, Indianapolis He?s 30, but had his most productive season in 2008. He had a career-high 77 catches for 840 yards, while entering the end zone on six occasions. With Marvin Harrison officially gone, he?ll be second on the team in targets behind Reggie Wayne. 6. Chris Cooley, Washington Cooley caught a bunch of passes, but only reached the end zone once, which drastically affected his value. There are concerns about Washington?s group of receivers, and we have to believe that posting a single touchdown was an aberration. 7. Kellen Winslow, Tampa Bay Just like many fantasy owners have, the Buccaneers are placing a lot of confidence in an injury-prone tight end that often plays like a wide receiver. If Tampa Bay can find the right quarterback to maximize Winslow?s talent, he could be a great value in the mid-to-late rounds of your draft. 8. Greg Olsen, Chicago Olsen is the main option at tight end in Chicago, which bodes well for his fantasy owners. Jay Cutler had good chemistry with No. 15 on this list in Denver, which is another good sign for the third-year player. 9. John Carlson, Seattle Was Carlson?s awesome rookie season a sign of things to come, or simply a result of Seattle?s injury-depleted set of receivers? We?ll place our chips in the middle, especially with Matt Hasselbeck returning behind center. 10. Zach Miller, Oakland He has an unstable quarterback situation in Oakland, but still grabbed 56 passes for 778 yards last season. If he can continue to grow with JaMarcus Russell, we could be looking at a future top-five tight end. 11. Brandon Pettigrew, Detroit We expect to get some nasty e-mails for ranking Pettigrew so high, but we?ll stick to our guns. Fans in Detroit hated the selection and they?ll likely start fellow rookie Matt Stafford from Week One, but he has little-to-no competition on the Lions? roster. 12. Visanthe Shiancoe, Minnesota He had an eye-opening seven touchdowns in 2008, and tied with Cooley for the NFL-lead in exposed units. 13. Brent Celek, Philadelphia The L.J. Smith Experiment is officially over in Philadelphia and Celek will begin the season of the club?s No. 1 tight end. He had flashes of greatness in 2008, and his only competition is rookie Cornelius Ingram, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL. 14. Dustin Keller, N.Y. Jets He had a decent rookie season (48 catches for 535 yards and three TDs), but many expected more from the Purdue alum. The Jets appear content with Keller as the unquestioned starter, but the ageless Bubba Franks lingers. 15. Tony Scheffler, Denver Scheffler actually regressed a bit in 2008 despite Jay Cutler?s ?breakout? season. Kyle Orton will have to become the tight end?s best friend if he?s going to top the 49 catches for 549 yards and five touchdowns he posted in 2007. 16. Jeremy Shockey, New Orleans He is, by far, the riskiest pick on the list. Shockey has never caught fewer than 48 balls in a season, but has also failed to live up to enormous expectations. However, if he?s going to post his first-ever 1,000-yard season, what better place than New Orleans? 17. Kevin Boss, N.Y. Giants The Giants lack a true top-flight wide receiver, which means that Boss is going to be a monster in 2009, right? Wrong. He might improve on the 33 catches for 384 yards that he had last season, but he won?t top six touchdowns again and the G-Men drafted Travis Beckum in April. 18. Bo Scaife, Tennessee Scaife was a surprisingly good option on a run-heavy team last season, but the prospects aren?t as bright for 2009. They don?t look for him in the red zone (just 7 TDs in four seasons) and the Titans have added rookie Jared Cook to the rotation. Full List Of Fantasy Rankings -Kickers: Saturday's Ranking List -Defense/Special Teams: Sunday's Ranking List -Tight Ends: Monday -Wide Receivers: Tuesday -Running Backs: Wednesday -Quarterbacks: Thursday -2009 Fantasy Football Big Board: Friday