Who Should I Start? Darnell Washington or Elijah Higgins

Thursday, November 20, 12:26 AM

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington continues to trend upward, and he'll look to carry his momentum into Sunday's Week 12 contest against the Chicago Bears. Washington played 71 percent of the offensive snaps last week, which was his highest mark since Week 6. He also caught four of his five targets for a season-high 67 yards, delivering the first double-digit scoring total (PPR) of his career. Washington does still have some competition for targets from Jonnu Smith and Pat Freiermuth, but it appears that he has surpassed both of them in the pecking order given his volume and workload over the last few weeks. Washington is right up there with DK Metcalf as Aaron Rodgers' favorite targets, which will give him some low-end TE1 upside in deeper leagues going forward. Perhaps the more important question for this week is whether Washington will be catching passes from Rodgers, who missed Wednesday's practice with a thumb injury, or Mason Rudolph. Either way, he's a top-25 tight end in fantasy football, and he has top-15 upside against a Bears defense allowing the eighth-most receptions to the position in 2025.

Saturday, November 15, 6:17 PM

Arizona Cardinals tight end Elijah Higgins has seen an increased role on offense over the last few weeks. Over the last two games, Higgins has hauled in five of his six targets for 49 yards. Despite that, he remains the backup to Trey McBride, who is one of the best tight ends in the league. It's possible that Higgins does see a slightly larger workload with Marvin Harrison Jr. (appendix) out in Week 11. Normally, Higgins has been playing about 40 percent of the offensive snaps. There's a chance that does increase, but probably not by too much. Higgins is a desperation deep league option for the Week 11 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers.