Who Should I Start? Evan Engram or Ja'Tavion Sanders

Sunday, January 25, 9:51 AM

Denver Broncos tight end Evan Engram has continued to occupy a smaller role throughout the regular season and into the playoffs. As a result, he's difficult to trust ahead of Sunday's AFC Championship game. Engram finished the regular season with a modest 50 catches, 461 yards, and one touchdown, ranking as the TE29 in full-PPR leagues despite playing 16 games. He added just one reception for seven yards in the Broncos' playoff win last weekend. Moving forward, we expect Engram to remain in a similarly small and discouraging role against the New England Patriots, who allowed the 15th-most fantasy points to tight ends during the regular season. Denver prefers targeting its very talented receiver room, and we could also see the Broncos run the ball more with Bo Nix (ankle) out. The quarterback change is perhaps the biggest question mark surrounding Engram's outlook. Although he underperformed while catching passes from Nix, we can't exactly project how he'll play with Jarrett Stidham, who hasn't thrown a pass all year. As a result, we're continuing to temper our expectations. Engram is the overall TE6 in RotoBaller's latest fantasy football rankings for this weekend.

Sunday, December 28, 5:08 PM

Carolina Panthers tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders (ankle) suffered a broken ankle during Sunday's Week 17 loss against the Seattle Seahawks, according to head coach Dave Kanales. He will undergo surgery during the upcoming week. This injury will shut down Sanders for the final week of the regular season and presumably all of the playoffs, should Carolina qualify. He ends the year with just 29 catches for 190 yards and one touchdown through 13 games. It was a disappointing campaign for the tight end out of Texas, who showed promise as a rookie but evidently wasn't able to take a second-year leap in 2025. Tommy Tremble, Mitchell Evans, and James Mitchell will step up as the Panthers' top tight ends going forward.