Who Should I Start? Ben Sinnott or Zach Heins

Saturday, December 13, 5:51 PM

Washington Commanders tight end Ben Sinnott is expected to see an uptick in snaps after Zach Ertz (knee) tore his ACL in last week's blowout loss to the Minnesota Vikings. The 2024 second-round pick hasn't seen many opportunities as a receiver since being drafted, with Ertz locking down that role and not missing any games. But the door has opened for Sinnott to earn more opportunities and potentially establish himself as Washington's tight end of the future. The Kansas State product has caught all nine of his career targets for 69 yards and two touchdowns in 29 games. It will be interesting to see if Sinnott sees the bulk of the snaps as the receiving tight end, or if Washington opts to split the reps between Sinnott, John Bates, and Colson Yankoff. For the season, Sinnott ranks firmly behind Bates as the TE3 in snaps and routes, with a 27.6% snap share and a 10.9% route share. Bates is used primarily as a blocker, and with Sinott being a high second-round pick last year, it seems like a great opportunity for the Commanders to see what they have in the athletic tight end. It remains to be seen what Sinnott's role will look like on Sunday against the division-rival New York Giants. Sinnott is a solid speculative addition off the waiver wire in deeper fantasy leagues, but he profiles as a desperation TE streamer in Week 15.

Thursday, July 11, 4:37 PM

Former South Dakota State University tight end Zach Heins signed with the Los Angeles Chargers after being unselected in the 2024 NFL Draft. After a slow start to his collegiate career, Heins caught 56 passes for 757 yards and 11 touchdowns over the last two seasons. With the Chargers, he's in one of the weaker tight end rooms in the NFL, and Daniel Popper of the Athletic believes he has a shot to make the 53-man roster following training camp. "Heins, out of South Dakota State, is over 6-foot-6 and 259 pounds. He projects as a capable inline blocker. The Chargers have been very clear about wanting to build a physical and imposing running game," Popper wrote. "To do that consistently, they need run blockers at tight end. They signed an elite run blocker in free agency in Will Dissly. But I think they need more run-blocking behind Dissly." It sounds like Heins won't be much of a pass-catcher if he makes the roster, but he should still be on the fantasy radar in ultra-deep leagues if he's active in Week 1. The Chargers could opt to carry four tight ends on game day, so he'll need to beat out one of Dissly, Hayden Hurst, Donald Parham Jr., or Stone Smartt.