Who Should I Start? George Kittle or Juwan Johnson

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.

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.