Who Should I Start? Cole Kmet or AJ Barner

Sunday, August 17, 10:46 PM

Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet caught one pass for 29 yards in Sunday's 38-0 preseason win over the Buffalo Bills. On the second play of the game, Kmet caught a beautiful seam pass from quarterback Caleb Williams and took it for a big gain. Kmet played two drives with the first-team offense, splitting reps with 2025 first-round tight end Colston Loveland. Despite being listed as the starting tight end on the Bears' unofficial depth chart, Kmet is ranked 275th (TE38) on the current RotoBaller half-PPR rankings. With how Loveland has been performing, it's hard to imagine that Kmet has much fantasy value at the moment.

Sunday, August 10, 4:12 PM

Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner has looked "very promising" in training camp practices and is "currently the No. 1 tight end," according to Michael-Shawn Duggar of The Athletic. A fourth-round pick out of Michigan in the 2024 draft, Barner recorded 30 catches for 245 yards and four touchdowns in 17 games (six starts) as a rookie. Seattle released veteran tight end Noah Fant last month, which could be an indication of the confidence the organization has in Barner. However, the Seahawks also used a second-round pick in the 2025 draft at the position when they selected Elijah Arroyo, so Barner will still have in-house competition for targets and playing time.