Who Should I Start? Evan Engram or George Kittle

Wednesday, December 18, 12:15 PM

Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram (shoulder) underwent surgery on Monday to fix a torn labrum in his left shoulder. It was already announced that Engram would miss the rest of the 2024 season with his injury, but head coach Doug Pederson said he is expected to be back for spring workouts. The 30-year-old was placed on Injured Reserve last weekend, officially ending his season. After a career year in 2023 with the Jags in which he caught 114 passes for 963 yards and four touchdowns, Engram finishes 2024 with 47 catches, 365 receiving yards and only one touchdown in nine starts. It just wasn't meant to be for Jacksonville this year, and it didn't help Engram's cause that quarterback Trevor Lawrence couldn't stay healthy. Engram will be heading into the final year of his three-year, $41.25 million extension in 2025.

Saturday, December 28, 11:53 PM

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle will clash with the Detroit Lions at home on Monday Night Football. Last week in Miami, Kittle hauled in eight of nine targets for 106 yards. Kittle has been an excellent fantasy asset this season, no doubt occupying the TE slot for more than a few teams fighting for a championship this week. He is the leader at the position in half-PPR points per game (13.7), and just 3.9 points off the total pace set by Las Vegas Raiders rookie phenom Brock Bowers despite Kittle missing two games to injury. Detroit's pass defense ranks sixth-worst in terms of yardage but is the single stingiest defense to tight ends in fantasy at 6.4 points allowed per game. Regardless, Kittle has been too steadily productive all year to start worrying about matchups. Fire up Kittle as a top-2 option in Week 17.