Owen Daniels, TE, Houston Texans- Curious trend alert: Over the past three seasons, Daniels has seen both his reception and yardage amounts increase but his number of touchdowns decrease. Even so, he is one of the better options available at the position not named Gonzalez, Gates, or Witten. Also, seeing as how he will only be turning 27 this year, Daniels would be one of the first TE's I'd covet in a Dynasty league.
('09 Proj: 72 rec, 875 yds, three touchdowns) ~Frank Mazzola
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His catches and yards have increased each season but his touchdowns dropped from five to three to only two last season. The presence of Andre Johnson and the emergence of Kevin Walter makes Daniels the third best option for the Texans and thus I’m predicting nice, but not spectacular, numbers again in 2009.
('09 Proj: 66 rec, 821 yds, three touchdowns) ~Robb Perkins
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Forget about the low touchdown totals from last season, this is a tight end with seventy catches. Expect a monster season from this stud who will excel in the high powered Texan offense. Target him as a #1 TE option on draft day.
('09 Proj: 73 rec, 890 yds, 8 touchdowns) ~Steve Cavanagh
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Sneaky top 5 candidate at tight end next year. Any time after Witten, Gates, Clark and Gonzalez
go off the board, Daniels becomes value anywhere from #5 through #10. The problem is, so do
about six other tight ends. So take him if he slides, but no reason to make him the #5-#7 tight
end taken when you can accrue depth at other positions.
(09' Projection: 75 rec, 900 yds, five touchdowns) ~Jon Rascon
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Quietly finished third in receiving yards (862), sixth in fantasy points (98.2) and fifth in targets (101) among tight ends in 2008. Daniels is a steady, if unspectacular, performer who needs to get more looks in the red-zone to become one of those top5 “lock start” fantasy options. A restricted free agent this offseason, Daniels is one of the cornerstones of a young, emerging offense in Houston.
(’09 Proj: 70 rec, 850 yds, five touchdowns) ~Stan Feldman
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I'm smelling what Rascon is cooking in regards to Owen Daniels. Anybody wanting to put Daniels at the top of that “next tier” with the likes of Chris Cooley, Zach Miller, Tony Scheffler and John Carlson wouldn't get a strong argument from me. But I don't think Daniels will represent value, the name of the game, where you'll have to take him to get him at #6-#7 off the board. If things fall his way (by that I mean the sound of bones breaking from Johnson, Walter or Slaton) he could be exceptional. Otherwise he's a role player, capable of being as involved or absent as the game plan makes him.
('09 Proj: 70 rec, 800 yds, four touchdowns) ~Rick Perkins