What makes Rob Gronkowski so valuable isn't just his raw production, though it's impossible to downplay that. What makes him so valuable is that, while Le'Veon Bell and Julio Jones are similarly terrific, generation-defining talents, neither towers over his peers the way Gronkowski does.

Since entering the league, Gronkowski leads all tight ends in Fantasy scoring with 823; Jimmy Graham is second with 813, and no other player has more than 672. Of course, even that doesn't quite tell the whole story, because Gronkowski has missed pretty significant time in two of his six seasons. When you break it down by Fantasy points per game, Gronkowski stands out even further: his 11.9 per game average is more than two points higher than Graham at No. 2.

So, it's Gronkowski, and then it's everybody else when talking about the position. That's the easy part to figure out. How does the rest of the position shake out at this point? Is there anyone who can even come close to Gronkowski, or is it a shapeless, amorphous blob below him; a collection of largely interchangeable figures? Not quite.

Here are the 11 tight ends besides Gronk projected for 100-plus Fantasy points from this point on in PPR leagues, based on our Sportsline.com projections:

The No. 1 Wide Receiver

If we throw out Antonio Gates' one -- admittedly stellar -- game, Greg Olsen leads the NFL in targets per game for tight ends. Actually, he's tight with Washington's Jordan Reed, however Reed has already missed one game with a concussion, and seems likely to miss another in Week 6, so it's hard to put him in the same tier as Olsen. Plus, Reed's 8.5 targets per game represent 22.9 percent of Kirk Cousins' throws; Olsen's 34 targets are 28.1 percent of Cam Newton's.

There might be more talented tight ends in the NFL, but none is a bigger part of his team's offense. Olsen somehow went behind Jimmy Graham on average in drafts this season. That seemed crazy at the time and looks absolutely ludicrous now. Olsen has been a bit disappointing, but has also had two touchdowns wiped off for penalties; if he was credited with those, nobody would be complaining about his production to this point. Coming off an 84-catch, 1,008-yard season, Olsen is surest thing at the position beyond Gronk.

The Baby Gronk Battle

Let's start with the measurables:

Player Height Arm length Hand size 40-time Vertical leap
Rob Gronkowski 6'6" 34 1/4" 10 3/4" 4.68* 33 1/2"*
Tyler Eifert 6'5" 33 3/4" 9 5/8" 4.61* 35"*
Travis Kelce 6'5" 33 1/8" 9 1/8" 4.68 35 1/2"

*Pro Day Results

As physical specimens, the three are basically identical. Eifert lost nearly all of last season with an elbow injury, but has come back -- sporting Gronk's elbow brace! -- and has emerged as a true contender for the No. 2 spot at the position. He is a touchdown machine, with five in five games and another called back on one of those impossible-to-understand replay review calls.

Kelce, on the other hand, has been perceived as something of a disappointment, having failed to score since his massive two-touchdown game in Week 1. However, he has the same number of receptions on two fewer targets than Eifert, and has actually picked up 15 more yards through the same amount of games. The touchdowns are the difference here, and Eifert's quarterback edge probably gives him a slight edge here. However, Kelce has been nearly Eifert's equal, and is a rightful challenger for the title.

Old Reliables

Antonio Gates, Chargers

If Gates' season debut in Week 5 was any indication, we might be selling him short by not including him with Olsen. He was the team's top target in Monday's loss, finishing with nine receptions for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 11 targets. We keep waiting for Gates to fall off, and he keeps putting up 800-plus yards and big touchdown totals. Coming off Week 5's massive performance, you almost want to sell high on Gates -- his value will never be higher -- but if you hold on to him, you're only stuck with one of the few reliable tight ends of the last decade-plus.

On a weekly basis, it's hard to call Martellus Bennett reliable, but he's been a more-than solid option in Chicago, averaging more than 50 yards per game in his third season. He's actually the most-targeted tight end in football right now, and should continue to be a solid, if sometimes inconsistent player. The big games will be big, and he isn't quite as touchdown dependent as many of his peers.

Things might change when Dez Bryant gets healthy, but Jason Witten continues to do what he has done for the last dozen years or so. He hasn't had a double-digit Fantasy point game since the season opener, but he hasn't had a dud yet either, especially in PPR; he has at least four catches and six targets in each game. He's kind of the anti-Bennett, in that there won't be many huge games, but he has a solid floor; he has scored at least six standard Fantasy points in 11 of his last 17 games.

The X-Factors

There's little question Jimmy Graham is the most physically talented and most accomplished player in this grouping; he's one of the few players in NFL history who even breathes the same air as Gronkowski in those regards. He is just as big as Gronk and even more athletic, besting him in both the vertical leap and 40-yard dash. Even if he can't block, his lack of involvement in the Seahawks offense is a shame. Twelve tight ends have been targeted more often than Graham, and 13 have played a higher percentage of their team's offensive snaps. He has as much upside as Kelce or Eifert, but the Seahawks' usage of him so far makes relying on him a risky proposition.

Julius Thomas is one of the few players at the position whose track record suggests he might have the upside to challenge for one of the top spots at the position, but that comes with a big caveat. Thomas has been a solid Fantasy tight end -- especially in 2013 -- who might have been almost entirely the product of a system. Playing with Peyton Manning, Thomas was one of hte most effective red zone targets in the NFL, scoring 24 touchdowns in 27 games between 2013 and 2014, but he was heavily touchdown dependent; he averaged 47.3 yards per game overall in those two seasons and 37.6 in 2014. Playing with Blake Bortles, touchdowns might not be so easy to come by, and it wouldn't be a surprise if Thomas was more of a typical tight end in Jacksonville.

What should we do with Gary Barnidge right now? After hauling in a grand total of 603 yards in 92 games between 2008 and 2014, Barnidge has 319 over his last three games, with three touchdowns to boot. This late-career explosion has come out of nowhere, and it's hard not to feel like it might go right back there before long. On the other hand, the Browns are relying heavily on one deep threat and two running backs in the passing game, leaving Barnidge as the lone intermediate option right now. If Josh McCown keeps slinging the ball around like he has, Barnidge just might remain Fantasy relevant through the end of the season.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins is looking like one of the great "what if's" of this Fantasy season, as a shoulder injury has kept him out of action since Week 2. He was Jameis Winston's top target in Week 1, and went for five catches, 110 yards and two touchdowns in that game, and has all of the makings of a big-time breakout candidate if he gets right.

If Jordan Reed could just say healthy, he might be able to carve out a place among the position's best players. When active, he's an easy start, having averaged 6.6 targets per game in his career, however he has so rarely been healthy; he has missed 13 of 37 possible games since entering the league. In this offense, a 1,000-yard season isn't out of the question if Reed ever plays a full season, but it's starting to look less and less likely he'll ever be capable of that.

Charles Clay is another player who could be a top-flight tight end if he could just stay healthy, and unlike Reed, he hasn't had much trouble staying on the field. However, Clay's knee is a real long-term issue, and his productivity seems to come and go from time to time as a result. However, he's a unique weapon, one the Bills have recognized this season, and he is averaging a career-high in yards per game as a result. Clay has the ability to put up big games without getting in the end zone, which is what separates him from the dregs of the position.