Who Should I Start? AJ Barner or Jared Wiley

Monday, October 13, 11:29 AM

Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner saw his production dip slightly in Sunday's 20-12 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, but was still effective even on minimal work. Barner caught a career-high seven passes in Week 5, but drew only three targets against Jacksonville (3/71). Despite the downtick, the 23-year-old placed second in yards, receptions, and looks to target hog teammate Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and remains an intriguing fantasy play. While the touchdowns can't be counted on every week, Barner is far and away the snap leader at his position, and the clear third target on the team behind Smith-Njigba and veteran Cooper Kupp. Fantasy managers can't expect weekly consistency quite yet with diminished target totals, but the Michigan alum is an excellent streaming option and is slowly rising up the dynasty ranks.

Wednesday, June 18, 12:52 PM

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Jared Wiley (knee) is participating in individual drills at mandatory minicamp this week while wearing a brace on his surgically-repaired right knee. The fact that Wiley is even taking part in offseason workouts at all is pretty impressive after he suffered a torn ACL last November. The 24-year-old is doing well in his recovery, but he still may not be fully ready for training camp this summer or the start of the 2025 regular season in September. The former fourth-rounder (131st overall) last year will merely be competing for the No. 3 tight end spot with Robert Tonyan when he's fully healthy as depth behind Travis Kelce and Noah Gray. In his first year in the NFL with the Chiefs in 2024, Wiley only appeared in seven regular-season games (two starts) and caught his only target for seven yards. He's nowhere near the fantasy radar.