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Antonio Gates is suspended for four games. Fantasy owners should be thrilled.

Oh sure, the suspension pushes a definite Fantasy starting tight end further down the talent pool. But that just adds to his allure. Now he not only can be considered a bigger bargain on Draft Day, but he also picks up some unique value for later on in the season.

When Gates comes back in Week 5 (at home versus the Steelers), he'll immediately fill his role as one of the Chargers' most prominent offensive weapons. Subsequently, he'll also fill his role in Fantasy lineups as a pretty good starting option. The suspension doesn't change that, it just delays his arrival to the field.

That's where the additional value kicks in. Reliable Fantasy tight ends don't grow on trees, so by the time Week 5 comes around you have to figure there will be a couple of Fantasy owners in every league who would be delighted to have Gates on their roster. That makes Gates tremendous trade bait the instant he's off the suspended list (and maybe even a week before). The combination of a lack of tight ends and the potential Gates carries will make him a trade target.

Owners who draft Gates will have to pick up another tight end anyway. Some of those people will draft a low-end guy, others will find someone on waivers before Week 1. A few people might be sassy enough to spend a Top 70 pick on a tight end and swipe Gates as he slips down draft boards. No matter how you pair a tight end to go with Gates, you will either have a solution at tight end and can make a deal involving Gates or you can just start Gates yourself and punt on the other tight end.

The only way any strategy with Gates backfires is if he stinks. And now that he's suspended, that'll mean a bust of a mid- to late-round pick instead of a mid-round pick. So if he stinks, at least it's not going to sting too badly.

I'm looking for Gates around 100th overall in my drafts, whether I draft Rob Gronkowski, Zach Ertz, Dwayne Allen or pick up a guy off waivers before Week 1. And I will loooove drafting with the folks who take Gates off their draft board because they can't see past the suspension. 

A player who becomes an obvious sleeper in the wake of this? Ladarius Green, who we've dressed with a sleeper label for several years now. Figure the Chargers to use this as the make-or-break point with him, especially since he's entering a contract year. If he does well, he'll establish himself and probably get himself in line for a contract extension with the Bolts. If he doesn't do well, then Gates comes back and saves the day for San Diego's offense ... and Green plays somewhere else in 2016. Green could very well be worth a final-round choice as a short-term tight end solution.

As for the rest of the Chargers offense, the suspension will sting some more than others. Philip Rivers has played one game without Gates in the last three years -- taking him away will cause some problems, especially in the red zone. Without Gates (19 red-zone targets last year), Rivers might hand off more often than drop back, even if he's surrounded by receivers like Keenan Allen, Malcom Floyd and Stevie Johnson. And Green of course.

Who might it help, then? How about fresh rookie Melvin Gordon? Maybe this will spark the Chargers to run the ball a little bit more and take advantage of their strong, young first-round pick. The four games Gates will sit out are against Detroit, at Cincinnati, at Minnesota and versus Cleveland. That's not a berry patch of run defenses, but it shouldn't stop the Chargers from pushing Gordon into a good-sized workload right away.