Who Should I Start? Darnell Washington or Theo Johnson

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.

Thursday, January 1, 1:15 PM

New York Giants tight end Theo Johnson (illness) will miss another practice on Thursday due to illness, according to interim head coach Mike Kafka. Johnson missed last week's win over the Las Vegas Raiders due to an illness and is trending towards missing a second straight game to wrap up the 2025 season unless he can return to practice on Friday. If the 24-year-old has played his last game this year, he'll wrap up his second season in the NFL with 45 catches for 528 yards and five touchdowns on 74 targets. Johnson became the team's top pass-catching tight end this year and should have his fantasy arrow pointing upward as a potential TE1 target for fantasy managers going into the 2026 campaign. If Johnson is ruled out for the Week 18 regular-season finale against the division-rival Dallas Cowboys, Daniel Bellinger will have more pass-catching opportunities.