Fantasy Football 2012, Week 7: Tight end rankings for standard and PPR leagues

With the likes of Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez and Brent Celek on bye, this is an especially difficult week in the start/sit department for tight ends. With everybody struggling to tread water due to byes, a simple five points could make the difference between glorious victory, or gut-wrenching, second-guessing failure. Below are general tight end notes for Week 7, followed by my rankings for both standard and PPR leagues.

Notes:

• Rob Gronkowski is somehow lowish on fantasy radars so far, having been a far cry from his dominating 2011 performance. But the New England offense is starting to get back to playing like themselves. With a finally healthy Aaron Hernandez returning, this offense is only going to get better. If anybody has made the mistake of ranking Gronkowski by his current stats, please go out and take advantage of them immediately. I recently went out and acquired Gronk in one of my leagues for a ridiculously low price, and I plan on laughing my way to victory.
• I am keeping Jimmy Graham off of my rankings this week. Obviously, if he plays, he is an instant top one or two tight end. However, with his health such a question, I think fantasy owners need to look elsewhere this week.
• I don't get the lack of love for Greg Olsen. I understand he isn't a top-five option, but this guy should be owned in 12-team leagues, and in all leagues where you can start two tight ends. Olsen has very quickly become Cam Newton's No. 1 option, and that offense will perform much better then it has through six weeks. I think Newton will be looking in Olsen's direction early and often against a tough Dallas defense.
• It is tough as a fantasy writer to admit when you are wrong, and I sure was wrong when it came to Jermichael Finley. I thought Finley's supreme athletic talent would finally pay dividends, and that an established Green Bay offense would take pressure off him and allow him to perform like an elite fantasy tight end. Finley has been very vocal about his lack of connection with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and has dropped a number of passes during this young season. That, combined with his recent injury, relegates Finley to the bench in most fantasy formats. That being said, I am not ready to drop Finley quite yet.
• Looks like I was right when I said a few weeks ago that I wasn't quite ready to trust Dennis Pitta as a TE1. It isn't the lack of numbers that Pitta has put up over the last few weeks that is so concerning: It is the lack of targets. Joe Flacco doesn't seem to have Pitta on his radar at all. I think Pitta makes for a rough play against a solid Houston defense that will look to bounce back from its thrashing last week by the Packers.

For more fantasy info, head over to the SB Nation Fantasy War Room 4-8:30 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. Check out SB Nation's own Fantasy Football game, Pick 6!