Kansas City Chiefs Community Projections: Tony Gonzalez

RECEPTIONS: 81
RECEIVING YARDS: 975
TOUCHDOWNS: 6

by Chris Thorman on Aug 29, 2007 9:29 AM CDT

Between commitment ceremonies, TV shows with Oprah and being the no. 1 tight end on my fantasy team, Tony Gonzalez is a pretty busy guy. And even with all of his other gigs, he's managed to remain one of the top tight ends in the league since he came here in 1997 as the #13 overall pick. Check out his all time stats to help you with your projection:

		G	GS	Rec	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
2006	Kansas City Chiefs	15	15	73	900	12.3	57	5
2005	Kansas City Chiefs	16	16	78	905	11.6	39	2
2004	Kansas City Chiefs	16	16	102	1258	12.3	32	7
2003	Kansas City Chiefs	16	16	71	916	12.9	67	10
2002	Kansas City Chiefs	16	16	63	773	12.3	42T	7
2001	Kansas City Chiefs	16	16	73	917	12.6	36	6
2000	Kansas City Chiefs	16	16	93	1203	12.9	39	9
1999	Kansas City Chiefs	15	15	76	849	11.2	73T	11
1998	Kansas City Chiefs	16	16	59	621	10.5	32	2
1997	Kansas City Chiefs	16	0	33	368	11.2	30	2
			TOTAL	721	8710	12.1	73	61

Tony is another Chiefs player who shouldn't see much drop off/increase from his 2006 stats. His starting job isn't in jeopardy by any means and his possible heir, Michael Allan, is years away from starting in this league. TE Jason Dunn will primarily be used for blocking and advising younger Chiefs about retirement plans.

In week 1 against Cincinnati, after Trent Green went down, TG hauled in 10 catches for 81 yards and a TD. While checking out last year's week by week stats, it was obvious that Damon Huard and Tony Gonzalez vibed pretty well. In the 10 weeks that Huard was the QB last year, TG had 588 yards receiving while going over 100 yards/game in weeks 7 and 8.

With Huard at the helm and a shaky receiving corp, we can expect another Pro Bowl season from TG. My projection: