Who Should I Start? Darren Waller or Tyler Conklin

Thursday, September 4, 6:15 PM

Miami Dolphins tight end Darren Waller (hip) was officially listed as a non-participant for the second straight day at practice on Thursday, according to Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post. The Dolphins are bringing Waller along slowly after he was in retirement all of last year, but his absence from practice on Thursday is a bit concerning after head coach Mike McDaniel said on Wednesday that he would return the following day. The 32-year-old veteran is also listed with an actual injury for the first time since coming out of retirement to join the team. All summer, the Dolphins were taking it easy on Waller to get his conditioning up to speed. He will have one more chance on Friday to get back on the practice field before Sunday's Week 1 season opener against the Colts. Even if Waller is active, he'll likely be on a snap count, so he can't realistically be trusted in starting fantasy lineups.

Friday, March 21, 10:24 PM

Former New York Jets tight end Tyler Conklin reached an agreement on an undisclosed one-year deal on Friday with the Los Angeles Chargers, according to his agent, Mike McCartney. Conklin heads to the AFC West after spending the last three years with the Jets, where he had 170 catches on 246 targets for 1,622 yards and seven touchdowns in 50 games (43 starts). While the 29-year-old did have a career-high four touchdowns in 16 games (15 starts) last year, he had just 51 catches and 449 yards (his lowest total since 2020) on 72 targets. The former fifth-round selection (157th overall) by the Minnesota Vikings in 2018 out of Central Michigan has the opportunity to be the Chargers' top pass-catching tight end in 2025, but he'll also be sharing playing time with Will Dissly. Dissly had a very similar 50-481-2 line to Conklin a year ago in L.A. Expect Conklin to be a touchdown-dependent TE2 in fantasy in his new home.