Who Should I Start? Erick All Jr. or Mason Taylor

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.

Tuesday, April 29, 4:39 PM

The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt writes that rookie second-round tight end Mason Taylor will immediately walk into the Jets building at the top of the tight end depth chart going into his rookie season in 2025. Jeremy Ruckert projects as the No. 2, but he has yet to make an impact since the Jets drafted him in 2022. The Jets are at least hoping he can take a step forward as a blocker and contribute in the running game. The 20-year-old Taylor not only will be a starter immediately, but he could see plenty of targets from quarterback Justin Fields in his first year in the NFL, giving him TE1 fantasy upside in 2025. Outside of WR1 Garrett Wilson, the Jets don't exactly star-studded receiving depth in Josh Reynolds, Allen Lazard and Arian Smith. Taylor will have intriguing rookie upside, but he'll still be better off drafted as a TE2 sleeper than a staple for those in single-TE leagues.