Who Should I Start? George Kittle or Darnell Washington

Thursday, January 15, 7:07 PM

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (Achilles) underwent successful surgery to fix his torn right Achilles tendon on Wednesday, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan. Kittle was placed on Injured Reserve on Wednesday and will miss the rest of the playoffs. Because his injury occurred so late in the year, too, the 32-year-old veteran almost certainly won't be ready for the start of the 2026 campaign this fall. In fact, he could end up missing the majority of next regular season after tearing his Achilles in the Wild-Card win over the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday. Going into this Saturday's NFC Divisional contest against the Seattle Seahawks, Jake Tonges will take over as the Niners' top pass-catching tight end. Kittle, a seven-time Pro Bowler, still has high-end TE1 upside when healthy, but durability concerns will drastically affect his 2026 fantasy value.

Tuesday, December 30, 1:20 PM

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington (forearm) had surgery on his broken forearm on Tuesday morning and will not play in the Week 18 regular-season finale against the division-rival Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, according to Mike DeFabo of The Athletic. Head coach Mike Tomlin said he has "some level of optimism for everyone else." The expectation was that Washington would not play after he broke his arm in the Week 17 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. Not only will the 24-year-old not be available for the winner-take-all game this Sunday night against the Ravens, but Washington is unlikely to be able to return for the playoffs if the Steelers take care of business this weekend. It means that Pat Freiermuth will become a slightly more attractive TE streamer in fantasy, as will Jonnu Smith. Washington's third season in the NFL will finish with 31 catches for 364 yards and a touchdown in 16 games.