Who Should I Start? George Kittle or Cole Kmet

Monday, March 25, 2:31 PM

Both San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle and cornerback Charvarius Ward had core-muscle surgery this offseason and will be back, fully cleared, in time for training camp this summer, according to general manager John Lynch. It's worth noting, but for Kittle's sake, it's probably not going to have any effect on his 2024 fantasy value unless he suffers a setback during offseason training. The 30-year-old former fifth-round selection in 2017 out of Iowa has made the Pro Bowl in five of his seven NFL seasons and led all tight ends with 1,020 receiving yards in 16 regular-season games in 2023 while also catching 65 passes for six touchdowns on 90 targets. Despite undergoing offseason surgery, Kittle should be considered a no-doubt, top-five fantasy tight end this fall.

Sunday, January 7, 10:58 AM

Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet (knee) is expected to play against the Green Bay Packers in Week 18 despite being listed as questionable, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The 24-year-old was active last week, too, but essentially occupied a decoy role, playing 18 percent of offensive snaps while failing to command a target. A similar scenario is unlikely this weekend. Instead, Kmet should have a full workload, putting him in the TE1 tier for fantasy purposes.