Who Should I Start? Darnell Washington or Nate Adkins

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.

Sunday, October 12, 1:28 PM

Denver Broncos tight end Nate Adkins scored his first touchdown of the season on Sunday to help his team defeat the New York Jets 13-11 in London. The third-year tight end finished the day having caught both of his targets for 23 yards, and his 16-yard scoring connection with quarterback Bo Nix proved to be the only touchdown of the game. Even with his first touchdown in the books, Adkins has just four catches on the season. Behind fellow tight end Evan Engram, who led the team in targets on Sunday, Adkins is unlikely to receive enough volume to be considered for fantasy lineups going forward.