Who Should I Start? George Kittle or Michael Mayer

Wednesday, January 7, 3:18 PM

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (ankle) will be a limited participant in Wednesday's practice, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN. Kittle suffered an ankle injury in Week 16 and was held out of Week 17, but the 32-year-old Pro Bowler made his return for the Week 18 regular-season finale showdown against the Seattle Seahawks last Saturday night. He tied for the team lead in targets in the loss, catching five of his seven targets for only 29 yards in a game in which the Niners couldn't find the end zone at all. Kittle should be fine to play on Sunday in the Wild-Card playoff tilt against the hosting Philadelphia Eagles, and he'll have a good chance to bounce back if receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee, ankle) misses a second straight game. Despite missing time with various lower-body injuries in 2025, Kittle averaged 12.1 half-PPR fantasy points per game. He should be one of the top TE targets for fantasy managers competing in playoff leagues this week.

Sunday, January 4, 7:54 AM

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer should continue to operate in a high-volume role during Sunday's Week 18 contest against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Raiders recently placed Brock Bowers (knee) on injured reserve, ending his season and putting Mayer into the starting role for the final two games of the year. Last weekend, he exploded as the top target in Geno Smith's offense, catching nine of 10 targets for 89 yards. In total, throughout the three games that Bowers has missed and Mayer has played this year, the latter tight end has 15 catches, 149 yards, and one touchdown. A quarterback change is expected in Week 18, though, as Kenny Pickett steps in for the injured Smith (ankle). Pickett struggled to the tune of 64 yards and one turnover in his lone start this year, but he should still be able to support a fantasy-relevant role for Mayer on Sunday. At worst, Mayer will operate as a security blanket in case Pickett struggles to throw the ball deep or needs to get the ball out quickly. As it stands, he ranks as the overall TE8 in RotoBaller's latest fantasy football rankings for Week 18.