Who Should I Start? George Kittle or Sam LaPorta

Monday, October 13, 6:46 PM

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Monday that he expects tight end George Kittle (hamstring) to return to practice this week ahead of the Week 7 game on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. It means that the Niners should be designating Kittle to return from Injured Reserve on Wednesday so that he can rejoin the team at practice. It's good news that the Pro Bowl tight end is close to returning to the practice field, but it's not a guarantee that he'll officially be activated from IR to play in Week 7. The 32-year-old has been out since injuring his hamstring in the season opener. It's unclear if Kittle will have restrictions on his snap count when he's officially back, but his return will be a massive boost to San Fran's banged-up receiving corps. When Kittle is back, he'll be a no-doubt TE1 in fantasy that should be peppered with targets from either quarterback Mac Jones or Brock Purdy (toe).

Monday, October 13, 11:03 AM

Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta hauled in a touchdown catch for the second straight week in Week 6 against the Kansas City Chiefs, finishing with five catches for 55 yards and a score on six targets. The 24-year-old has 26 catches for 324 yards and two touchdowns on 33 targets for the season. He's shown signs of increased usage over the past two weeks, earning 12 targets and recording 10 catches for 143 yards and two scores. LaPorta and Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams appear to be battling to be the second option in Detroit's passing game behind star wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown. Either way, fantasy managers have to be encouraged by LaPorta's production over his past two games, and he profiles as a must-start tight end heading into a Week 7 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.