Who Should I Start? Erick All Jr. or Zach Heins

Tuesday, January 28, 1:04 PM

Cincinnati Bengals tight end Erick All Jr. (knee), who tore his right ACL on Nov. 3 against the Las Vegas Raiders, is expected to miss all of the 2025 season due to complications from a previous knee surgery in college, according to team and league sources. All will need two surgeries to fix the issue. The 24-year-old fell to the fourth round of the 2024 draft because of medical concerns. In addition to his knee injury, he suffered a back injury in 2022 while at Michigan that led to "life-changing" spine surgery. All has now ended the last three years with an injury. His second knee surgery should set him up to hit the ground running in 2026, and the Bengals hope All can pick up where he left off in his rookie season when he caught 20 of 22 targets for 158 yards in nine games before tearing his ACL. All's biggest impact came in the running game as a blocker, though.

Thursday, July 11, 4:37 PM

Former South Dakota State University tight end Zach Heins signed with the Los Angeles Chargers after being unselected in the 2024 NFL Draft. After a slow start to his collegiate career, Heins caught 56 passes for 757 yards and 11 touchdowns over the last two seasons. With the Chargers, he's in one of the weaker tight end rooms in the NFL, and Daniel Popper of the Athletic believes he has a shot to make the 53-man roster following training camp. "Heins, out of South Dakota State, is over 6-foot-6 and 259 pounds. He projects as a capable inline blocker. The Chargers have been very clear about wanting to build a physical and imposing running game," Popper wrote. "To do that consistently, they need run blockers at tight end. They signed an elite run blocker in free agency in Will Dissly. But I think they need more run-blocking behind Dissly." It sounds like Heins won't be much of a pass-catcher if he makes the roster, but he should still be on the fantasy radar in ultra-deep leagues if he's active in Week 1. The Chargers could opt to carry four tight ends on game day, so he'll need to beat out one of Dissly, Hayden Hurst, Donald Parham Jr., or Stone Smartt.