Who Should I Start? George Kittle or Isaiah Likely

Sunday, January 5, 11:54 PM

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (ankle, hamstring) was outproduced by his backup Eric Saubert during the team's 47-24 loss to the Cardinals in Arizona. Kittle caught two of three targets for 27 yards. The affable team captain was questionable and ultimately activated but had his snap count reduced in the meaningless game. Most likely, the 49ers organization was showing appreciation to Kittle by giving him the start since he has a $500,000 per-game roster bonus in his contract. Kittle finishes an excellent season as the overall half-PPR TE2, behind only Las Vegas Raiders rookie Brock Bowers and just ahead of Arizona's Trey McBride. He amassed 78 receptions, 1,106 yards, and eight touchdowns in 2024. He was hyper-efficient this year, setting career marks in catch percentage and yards per target. Kittle will enter his age-32 season in 2025 once again as a fantasy TE1 with San Francisco.

Sunday, January 5, 10:17 AM

Baltimore Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely moved into a bigger role partway through the game against the Cleveland Browns on Saturday after Zay Flowers (knee) left the game. The 24-year-old finished with three catches for 38 yards on five targets but wasn't able to find the end zone. In his third season, Likely set career highs in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. He has shown flashes of starting tight end abilities as he finished in the top 20 for fantasy points per game at the position, but remains behind Mark Andrews. He'll likely see some more opportunities during their first playoff game though with Flowers probably sidelined.