Unless you want to pick up Jimmy Graham of the New Orleans Saints in Round 1 or take a chance on the oft-injured but supremely talented Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots in Rounds 2-3, you’ll be looking in the later rounds for your tight end.  For the best value there, you should be looking to San Diego. No, not aging veteran Antonio Gates. His best days are behind him. Ladarius Green is the TE you’re looking for.

Yes, the glory days of tight end Antonio Gates for the San Diego Chargers are numbered. In fact, they may be over already. In the last 8 games of 2013, Gates had just 322 yards and 2 touchdowns. Gates’s fellow tight end Ladarius Green was able to approach that production with 253 yards and 3 touchdowns and was the more exciting player to watch while doing it.

Yes, Gates still slightly outperformed Green in yardage, but he also had less touchdowns. Here is one statistic that better exemplifies why Green was the more exciting player in 2013 and the more exciting player for the future: of all players in the NFL last year to catch at least 10 receptions, Green had the highest yards per catch with an average of 22.1 yards per catch.

Here’s another number that makes Green an enticing option: Gates is 34 years old, and Green is just 24 years old. It easy to see from that which player’s production is likely to decrease and which is about to blow up.

Also, Green is built like a quarterback’s best friend, measuring 240 lb. and a healthy height of 6’ 6”. He’s is ridiculously fast for his size as, and he’s proven to be both a threat in the red zone and for a big play from anywhere on the field. Green just might be the biggest thing to happen at the tight end position since Jimmy Graham. That’s well worth a late round pick.