Team:Kansas City Chiefs Position: Tight End
Height: 6-5 Weight: 250 lbs Born: 02-27-76 Experience: 12th season
Past three seasons:
Receiving
Year
Team
G
GS
Rec
Yds
Avg
TD
2007
Kansas
City
Chiefs
16
16
99
1,172
11.8
5
2006
Kansas
City
Chiefs
15
15
73
900
12.3
5
2005
Kansas
City
Chiefs
16
16
78
905
11.6
2
Career: Tony Gonzalez is arguably the best tight end to ever play the game. He spent four
years at the University of California playing both football and basketball and was then
drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 13th overall pick in the first round. Gonzalez
spent the next 11 seasons with the Chiefs missing only two games in his career and was
named to nine consecutive Pro Bowls. Gonzalez also owns the NFL records for most career
receptions and touchdowns by a tight end as well as most receptions in a single season by
a tight end. He also made the news for a good reason this summer when he saved the life of
a man who was choking in a restaurant.
Supporting Cast: The Kansas City Chiefs offense was a disaster last season as they finished 31st in the
league in yards of offense and points scored. It has been difficult for the Chiefs ever
since they lost their two Pro Bowl linemen Willie Roaf and Will Shields. The Chiefs
drafted Branden Albert in the first round 2008 NFL Draft to start rebuilding their
offensive line. However, as you can read in our analysis of the
Kansas City Chiefs offensive line, the Chiefs will start three players who have never
started a single NFL game. The line has improved over last year, especially in pass
protection, but will still be well below league average in both run and pass blocking.
Herm Edwards has said that Brodie Croyle is the unquestioned starter at quarterback in his
third NFL season so it will be very interesting to see what he can do. The Chiefs ranked
11th in the NFL in pass attempts last season but new offensive coordinator Chan Gailey has
made it clear that his offense will focus on running the ball and play action passes.
Gailey was the head coach at Georgia Tech for the past six seasons and was previously the
offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers as well as head
coach for the Dallas Cowboys for two years. In his six years in the NFL, Gailey’s
offenses ran the ball 52% of the time while the year before he arrived and the year after
he left they ran it only 47% of the time. Last season the Chiefs ran the ball only 40% of
the time, part of which was due to the injury to Larry Johnson but this season we can
probably expect about 50% running and 50% passing. Larry Johnson should be back and fully
healthy this season but you wonder how effective he can be behind this offensive line.
Job Security: Gonzalez was the number one target in the receiving game last season with 99
receptions and had five touchdowns, the same as number one receiver Dwayne Bowe. Bowe was
a surprise as a rookie and leads an unimpressive group of wide receivers which includes
Devard Darling, Jeff Webb and rookie Will Franklin. Gonzalez and Bowe should once again be
targeted on 50% of the pass attempts this season with this group of wide receivers which
is as weak as last season.
Fantasy Outlook: Tony Gonzalez has had over 180 fantasy points in nine consecutive seasons in point per
reception leagues which year in and year out puts him amongst the top tight ends in the
NFL. Last season Brodie Croyle completed 30 passes of the 55 he attempted to Tony
Gonzalez. This means that 23.6% of his completions and 24.6% of his pass attempts were to
Gonzalez. The Chiefs will run the ball more
this year so if we assume that they attempt only 475 passes, it means 115 of those would
be to Gonzalez for only about 65 receptions. No tight end has ever had more than 90
receptions in two consecutive seasons and the two times that Gonzalez did it, he only had
73 and 78 receptions in the following season. This would mean Gonzalez is looking at
around 70 to 75 receptions for 850 to 900 yards. His touchdown numbers could go up or down
depending on how the offense performs but it is a safe bet to say that they will be pretty
close to last year’s. Overall, Gonzalez is a low risk player considering he has been
consistent for nine straight years and has missed only two games and has a medium reward
with the new offense and the weak but improved offensive line. As you can see in our 2008 Tight End Rankings and
Projections, Gonzalez should still be one of the top four tight ends this season.
