Who Should I Start? George Kittle or Kyle Pitts

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.

Tuesday, February 27, 3:16 PM

Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said that the team has a lot of faith in tight end Kyle Pitts now that he's fully healthy. Pitts played in all 17 games last year, but he wasn't fully healthy for much of the season after recovering from an MCL sprain in his right knee that he suffered in Week 11 of 2022. The 23-year-old former first-rounder had a frustrating 53-667-3 line in 2023, but he's already looking like a tight end to target in 2024 fantasy drafts. Not only will Pitts be another year beyond his knee injury, but Jonnu Smith is now gone, and new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson is expected to use Pitts all over the field this year. Pitts will be relatively cheap in drafts, too, so he's shaping up as an excellent value play. However, at the end of the day, how productive Pitts will be could depend on what quarterback Atlanta brings in.