Who Should I Start? Evan Engram or Juwan Johnson

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.

Saturday, January 3, 4:23 PM

New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson has enjoyed a breakout campaign in his age-29 season, setting career highs in targets (98), receptions (74), and yards (828) entering Week 18's season finale against the Atlanta Falcons. Johnson has recorded at least four catches in seven straight games and in 12 of 16 contests on the year. His 35 receptions since Week 10 rank fifth most among tight ends. New Orleans is dealing with multiple injuries on offense, particularly at wide receiver, with Chris Olave (illness) and Devaughn Vele (shoulder) both out for this game. The Saints' available wide receivers on Sunday are Kevin Austin Jr., Dante Pettis, Ronnie Bell, and Samori Toure, which sets Johnson up to see a heavy dose of targets. With how well rookie QB Tyler Shough has been playing and plenty of targets up for grabs, Johnson ranks as RotoBaller's TE3 for Week 18.