Who Should I Start? Cole Kmet or Michael Mayer

Thursday, December 18, 3:30 PM

Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet (ankle, knee) is officially listed as questionable to play in Week 16 against the division-rival Green Bay Packers on Saturday night. Kmet was limited in practice on Tuesday and Wednesday before upgrading to a full practice on Thursday, so he should be on the right side of questionable for the weekend. If the 26-year-old is active, he could be in line for more targets with both receivers Rome Odunze (foot) and Luther Burden III (ankle) being ruled out. However, even in that case, Kmet will be no more than a touchdown-dependent TE2 streamer in a bad matchup against Green Bay. Regardless of whether Kmet plays, rookie tight end Colston Loveland will have clear TE1 upside in Week 16 with both Odunze and Burden sidelined. Kmet has taken a back seat to Loveland in 2025 and has 24 catches for 301 yards and only two touchdowns in 13 games played.

Friday, December 19, 11:58 PM

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer remains off the fantasy radar ahead of Week 16 against the Houston Texans. Mayer was productive during his short stint as the team's starting tight end earlier this season, but he fell off the fantasy radar when superstar tight end Brock Bowers returned to the mix mid-year. Mayer has dealt with his own injury problems, too, as the 24-year-old was sidelined for Weeks 13 and 14. In his return to action last week, he played just 19% of the offensive snaps and wasn't targeted in Vegas' Kenny Pickett-led offense. Geno Smith will return as the Raiders' starting quarterback this upcoming Sunday, but that shouldn't change Mayer's fantasy outlook much. He is averaging just 2.0 catches, 15.3 yards, and zero touchdowns in games where Bowers is active.