Who Should I Start? Darnell Washington or Gunnar Helm

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.

Thursday, November 20, 9:59 PM

Tennessee Titans rookie tight end Gunnar Helm had one of his better performances in Sunday's Week 11 loss to the Houston Texans, catching four of his five targets for 29 yards. Helm's four catches and five targets both tied his season-highs in the 16-13 loss, a game in which rookie receivers Elic Ayomanor (hamstring) and Chimere Dike (chest) were both injured. In his first 10 NFL games, the 23-year-old fourth-rounder has caught 24 of his 30 targets for 216 yards and one touchdown. Helm hasn't turned heads in 2025, but he does have at least one catch in all 10 of his games, and the Titans could be looking to get him the ball more in the final stretch of the season. He will be a more intriguing TE streamer in deeper fantasy leagues if Ayomanor is unable to play. Also in his favor is the matchup against Seattle, a team that has allowed the sixth-most half-PPR fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends.