Who Should I Start? Cole Kmet or Isaiah Likely

Thursday, July 10, 1:17 PM

Folks have speculated that Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet is a potential trade chip ever since the team took Colston Loveland in the first round back in April. The Bears' depth chart at TE might look top-heavy right now, but The Athletic's Kevin Fishbain says he's unsure why the Bears would trade Kmet at this point. Kmet is only 26, his contract isn't in the top 10 at his position, and new head coach Ben Johnson hasn't been coy about his excitement to use 12 personnel with Kmet and Loveland on the field together. Kmet had career-highs in yards per target and catch percentage in 2024 with 47 receptions, 474 yards and four touchdowns in 17 games (16 starts). He was efficient, but the overall numbers regressed from his 2023 campaign. The addition of Loveland certainly adds more competition for targets and gives Kmet less fantasy intrigue, but he could still be a big part of Chicago's offense.

Tuesday, July 15, 9:38 PM

The Baltimore Ravens "figure to make a push to extend" tight end Isaiah Likely, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. Zrebiec also writes that the team believes Likely to have "star potential." A fourth-round draft pick back in 2022, Likely is entering the final year of his rookie deal. He's played a complementary role to star Ravens tight end Mark Andrews to this point in his career, but that sounds as if it could be changing. Likely set career-highs in catches (42), receiving yards (477), and touchdowns (6) in 2024. While he probably still needs Andrews to miss time to be a must-start fantasy tight end this season, the workload split between the two will be one to monitor throughout training camp and the preseason.