Who Should I Start? Daniel Bellinger or Darnell Washington

Saturday, November 15, 9:15 AM

New York Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger (groin) has been cleared from the injury report and is good to go for Sunday's matchup against the Green Bay Packers. Bellinger opened the week with limited practices on Wednesday and Thursday, but was upgraded to a full participant on Friday. The 25-year-old had his highest snap share of the season in the Giants' Week 10 loss at the Chicago Bears at 72.6%, and added one catch for eight yards on two targets. Bellinger has been more involved in the offense of late, playing at least 50% of the snaps in all but one game since Week 5, totaling nine catches for 169 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets. His 18.8 yards per reception during that span is the highest among tight ends with at least 50 routes run. In Weeks 1-4, he played over 30% of the snaps just once with three total receptions. Bellinger will be without rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart (concussion) for this game, but backup Jameis Winston has proven capable over the years. Bellinger is only relevant as a deep league option for Week 11 against the Packers.

Tuesday, December 30, 1:20 PM

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington (forearm) had surgery on his broken forearm on Tuesday morning and will not play in the Week 18 regular-season finale against the division-rival Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, according to Mike DeFabo of The Athletic. Head coach Mike Tomlin said he has "some level of optimism for everyone else." The expectation was that Washington would not play after he broke his arm in the Week 17 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. Not only will the 24-year-old not be available for the winner-take-all game this Sunday night against the Ravens, but Washington is unlikely to be able to return for the playoffs if the Steelers take care of business this weekend. It means that Pat Freiermuth will become a slightly more attractive TE streamer in fantasy, as will Jonnu Smith. Washington's third season in the NFL will finish with 31 catches for 364 yards and a touchdown in 16 games.