Antonio Gates

[Johnny Canuck]

Assuming he signs with the Chargers does anyone want anything to do with Gates this yr?

I feel like he might be a good pick up for a team with young TEs they're waiting on (Gesicki, Njoku, Henry, OJ Howard, etc). Wouldn't expect much yardage wise, but Rivers targets the hell out of his TEs in the RZ. Plus you just cut him if he gets injured, or after the season and hopefully one of your young TEs has broken out.

NTM he's prob free right now...

Mini Analysis

Just last season Gates and Henry combined for 23 RZ targets (11 for Gates, 12 for Henry), if you gave all those targets to Gates, that would of been tied for 3rd most in the league. NTM almost all those targets weren't just in the RZ, they were within the 10 yard line.

If you went further and combined their targets inside the 10 yard line last season, that would equal 19 targets (10 for Gates, 9 for Henry), good enough for most targets inside the 10, in the entire NFL.

Following this same (admittedly flawed logic, but used for simplicity), if you combined Gates and Henry's air yards, it ends up being 1008 total air yards. This is good enough for 5th most in the league, Gronk had 1284, Kelce had 1277, Walker had 1075, and Engram had 1015. For ref, in 2016 Gates had 769 air yards, and 696 air yards in 2015.

If you take Gates games played without Henry last season, he avg'd 50.5 air yards, that extrapolates to 808 air yards across a 16 game season. Considering his age, and previous highs in 2016/2015, I think around 700 air yards is a decent estimate for a solo gates, which would have been just below Jimmy Graham and ranked 10th among TEs in 2017.

Now, to flip this on it's head, Gates is old as dirt. His knees are shot. He can't jump and high point the ball much anymore. He's more prone to injury since he's 38 yrs old.

I wouldn't anticipate anything huge numbers wise from gates, but I think he could sneak into TE 10-12 simply based on TD upside alone.

I see his comparable ceiling, mid range, and floor as this...

Ceiling = Jimmy Graham 2017, 520 yards and 10 TDs TE4
Mid Range = Tyler Kroft 2017, 404 yards and 7 TDs TE12
Floor = Injured and out of the league...or just Antonio Gates 2017, 316 Yards, 3 TDs.

Since I think it's inevitable that he signs with the chargers, What's everyone else's thoughts on him?

[joeya2001]

if the guy gives you 5 Tds id be happy lol.

id say last year Jason Witten is his Ceiling tbh

[Fantasyfanatic11]

100% worth it. Rivers and Gates chemistry is off the charts and there's no doubt he will get plenty of RZ targets. If he does sign and is healthy all year, I'd say he gets 6 TD's minimum.

[Johnny Canuck]

if the guy gives you 5 Tds id be happy lol.

id say last year Jason Witten is his Ceiling tbh

I could see the Witten comp. Crazy thing is, Witten was the 10th TE last season...

[Johnny Canuck]

100% worth it. Rivers and Gates chemistry is off the charts and there's no doubt he will get plenty of RZ targets. If he does sign and is healthy all year, I'd say he gets 6 TD's minimum.

Yah I agree on the TD front. Personally I think he goes out with a bang. Puts up around 450-600 yards, and 6-9TDs.

[Friction]

I picked him up and started him only during Championship Week last year, and he had his best week of the season. So my question now, moving toward roster cuts, is do I hold? I have literally the situation you speak of, Njoku and Kittle in the wings, contender/defending champ all other areas. Tough call.

[Fantasyfanatic11]

I picked him up and started him only during Championship Week last year, and he had his best week of the season. So my question now, moving toward roster cuts, is do I hold? I have literally the situation you speak of, Njoku and Kittle in the wings, contender/defending champ all other areas. Tough call.

Who are you deciding between for cuts?

[ArrylT]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000 ... still-play

Gates sounds like he is good to play another year and wouldnt mind doing to Hunter Henry what he did to Ladarius Green.

[Jigga94]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000 ... still-play

Gates sounds like he is good to play another year and wouldnt mind doing to Hunter Henry what he did to Ladarius Green.

Hes already done this to Henry. Strange because he was sitting in Free agency for a while even after HH got hurt. Seemed like LAC only jumped on him because I'd the injury. Makes it seem like he would be done finally, but possibly not. We will see if he still feels this fresh come next August