Who Should I Start? Cole Kmet or AJ Barner

Wednesday, January 7, 9:39 PM

Across 16 games this season, Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet hauled in 30 of his 48 targets for 347 yards and two touchdowns. Kmet has taken a back seat to rookie Colston Loveland as the primary receiving tight end, posting his fewest catches and yards since his rookie season. Still, the 26-year-old remains a key piece of Chicago's dynamic offense this season, logging the third-highest snap share (70.4%) on the team. Kmet has recorded two receptions in five straight games to close the season, and he remains a low-ceiling option for Saturday's Wild-Card game against the Green Bay Packers. The impending return of receiver Rome Odunze (foot) won't be good news for Kmet's potential target share on Saturday night.

Monday, January 26, 12:57 PM

Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner has been very quiet in the team's two playoff wins, as he caught just two of his three targets for 13 yards in Sunday's 31-27 win over the division-rival Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship. It was better than Barner's donut for fantasy managers in the blowout win over the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round, but it still was a disappointment. Quarterback Sam Darnold targeted Barner only three times among his 36 pass attempts on the day in a game that featured plenty of offense on both sides. The 23-year-old second-year tight end was the TE14 in half-PPR scoring during the regular season, catching 52 of his 68 targets for 519 yards and six touchdowns, and he remains mostly reliant on finding the end zone for fantasy production. For the Super Bowl in two weeks, Barner could face competition for targets from rookie Elijah Arroyo, who was a healthy scratch on Sunday after coming off Injured Reserve last week.