Apparently no hand is safe inside the Indianapolis Colts’ locker room.

A day after reports surfaced that tight end Dallas Clark is out indefinitely with a hand injury, the Indianapolis Star confirms that receiver Austin Collie underwent surgery on his hand earlier this week.

No timetable has been given for Collie’s return, although he’s expected to miss several games. Anthony Gonzalez (ankle) is expected to return to his third receiver role in Week 8 and Blair White will serve as the team’s No. 4 wideout. Peyton Manning has a way of making any receiver look good, but there’s no question Indy’s offense took a huge hit with the losses of Clark and Collie.

Compounding the issue is that leading rusher Joseph Addai’s status for the Colts’ November 1 game with the Texans is uncertain after he suffered nerve damage to his left shoulder last week. He too could miss a couple of games, although it’s too early to draw any assumptions on how long he’ll be out.

The bye week has never looked so good.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that Dallas Clark is out indefinitely with a hand/wrist injury. There’s speculation that the tight end could miss the rest of the season whether he opts to have surgery or not.

The Indianapolis Star has nothing on its website about Clark’s injury, but they did post an article about the team re-signing tight end Gijon Robinson. The paper is likely waiting for more details before reporting on the severity of the situation.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what this (potential) loss means to the Colts’ offense, as Clark has been one of Peyton Manning’s primary weapons over the years. His injury will likely open up more opportunities for receiver Austin Collie, who will likely be counted on to work the seams in the Colts’ offense. Collie has developed into a nice target, but Clark often presented a mismatch from his tight end spot, as he usually lined up against linebackers and defensive backs that couldn’t cover him one-on-one.

Once something is confirmed, I’ll have an update but this doesn’t look good for Clark and the Colts.

Update: It’s confirmed: Clark placed on I.R. His season is over.

If Clark does indeed miss a significant amount of time, the biggest beneficiary will probably be Austin Collie, who is the best of the Colts’ wideouts at working the short stuff and the middle of the field. Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon will seem more targets as well, but I think Collie will ultimately see a bigger piece of the pie. I’d say this is a slight downgrade to Peyton Manning, who loses one of his favorite targets, but he’s still a no-brainer Top 3 fantasy QB.

All 2010 Fantasy Football Articles | 2010 Position Rankings

The tight end position is often overlooked in fantasy football, but in leagues that award a point per reception, a stud TE can be quite valuable indeed. Over the past decade or so, NFL offensive coordinators have increasingly built game plans around their talented tight ends. It used to be that the position was meant to block in the running game and catch the occasional pass or two. But, more and more, the tight end has become a spot for a big playmaker with soft hands who can block a little.

The position isn’t nearly as deep as QB, but since many fantasy owners don’t consider taking a tight end until the fourth or fifth round, value is often found in the middle rounds. A vast majority of championship teams will get at least average production from the position, so no matter your strategy, you have to find a decent TE somewhere in your draft if you hope to be hoisting the trophy at the end of the season.

Here are a few TEs I’ll be targeting this season along with the round in which each player becomes a good value.

Antonio Gates in the 4th
With Vincent Jackson prepared for a long holdout, Gates will get a ton of targets from Phillip Rivers. It appears that his foot injury is behind him, so he’s in line for another Top 4 year. Gates is as consistent as they come.

Dallas Clark in the 5th
Clark was a stud last season, but with Anthony Gonzalez back and the continued development of Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie, one wonders if he can post 100 catches again. His previous high was 77, so the gut says ‘no.’ Still, even if he takes a 20% cut in production, that still would have been good enough to be TE3 in ’09.

Read the rest of this entry »