Who Should I Start? George Kittle or Sam LaPorta

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 19, 12:27 AM

Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta caught six of his seven targets for 51 yards and a touchdown during Saturday's Divisional Round loss to the Washington Commanders. His touchdown came at the end of an impressive offensive play in which Jared Goff scrambled, threw while being tackled, and connected with LaPorta, who used his left hand to haul in the football and secure the catch. It was a valiant effort to give the Lions their only receiving touchdown of the game, but it wasn't enough. Detroit fell to Washington by two scores, ending their season shy of a Super Bowl berth once again. With that said, this Lions team continues to show plenty of promise ahead of the 2025 campaign. LaPorta himself was riding a hot stretch when the season ended, catching 38 passes for 392 yards and five touchdowns over his last seven contests. He should continue to rank as a mid-range TE1 ahead of next summer's fantasy drafts.