Who Should I Start? George Kittle or Pat Freiermuth

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 12, 12:53 PM

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth logged three receptions for 15 yards on four targets in a Wild Card Round loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Freiermuth, who was incredibly productive to close the regular season, wasn't very involved on Saturday night as the Steelers struggled to move the ball for much of the contest. He was given an opportunity on Pittsburgh's first play from scrimmage but unfortunately dropped the pass. The fourth-year pro was signed to a lucrative extension in 2024 and will head into the 2025-2026 campaign as one of the team's featured pass-catchers. For fantasy purposes, Freiermuth's value going forward will largely depend on who is under center for the Steelers with Russell Wilson entering free agency this offseason.