When Denver Broncos tight end Julius Thomas went wild in Week 1, scoring two touchdowns when seemingly coming out of nowhere, the fantasy football world went into an immediate frenzy in fighting over one another to claim the athletic receiver off waivers. Thomas was just the latest in a recent phenomena of tight end where his background was on the hardwood or basketball with little experience in the game of football itself. However given the skills that are needed in basketball such as jumping ability and soft hands to receive passes from point guards, the thinking has always been that guys such as Thomas could adapt to the tight end position and turn into big time freaks. The godfather of this trend could surely help Thomas along the way as he continues his transition to the NFL game and I am referring of course to San Diego Chargers longtime tight end and future Hall of Famer Antonio Gates. Gates is widely considered the man who broke the mold over this recent trend of using former basketball stars and turning them into tight ends. Clearly just an experiment at the outset, Gates quickly proceeded into a perennial Pro Bowl monster who going into this Sunday's game has 667 career receptions and 85 scores. Heading into this his 11th NFL season, the general consensus was that as great as Gates has been throughout his career, age and injuries had combined to make him a very low end starting option and maybe even a backup given the new blood infused at the position. However taking advantage of having perfect health for the first time in years and still having gunslinging QB Philip Rivers under center, Gates has turned back the clock in 2013 as he stands as of this writing with 25 catches for 364 yards and two touchdowns. After catching four balls in a nondescript opener, Gates has reeled off three straight big time weeks where he has grabbed 10, 7, and 10 balls with a touchdown each of the last two games. That type of performance is vintage Gates and once again has him as one of the best fantasy football tight ends. With Rivers throwing all day long due to the lack of a running game, Gates has once again become a number 1 receiver for the Chargers given the lack of top flight wideout options. As long as Gates' feet and knees cooperate like they have early on, the receptions and scores should continue to flourish. Thus those who grabbed Gates in the late middle portions of their draft this past summer no doubt are making a sizable profit on his name right now. This very well could his version of a last hurrah but no matter, Gates' numbers once again as any tight end in football. Clearly there is some life left in the old guy this season.
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