Who Should I Start? George Kittle or Michael Mayer

Tuesday, July 14, 12:10 PM

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (Achilles) is ahead of schedule in his return from a torn Achilles during the playoffs last season, and he could be ready for the start of training camp later this month, according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic. Kittle spent a lot of time on an anti-gravity treadmill at home during the offseason and was doing some light cutting in workouts three weeks ago. "I'm 21 weeks out, and I'm running over 16 miles an hour, so I'm having a great time," Kittle said. "Single-leg box jumps, we're cutting again, we're having some fun." We'll have a better idea of the veteran tight end's availability for the Week 1 season opener in Australia against the division-rival Los Angeles Rams once training camp begins, but for now, fantasy managers should view him as an injury-prone, risk/reward, low-end TE1 in fantasy. The 32-year-old former fifth-rounder from the University of Iowa in 2017 played in only 11 regular-season games in 2025 due to injuries and caught 57 passes for 628 yards and seven touchdowns in his ninth year in the league. Betting on an aging player coming off an Achilles tear usually isn't a smart strategy.