Who Should I Start? George Kittle or T.J. Hockenson

Tuesday, January 13, 7:03 PM

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan announced on Tuesday that star tight end George Kittle (Achilles) will have surgery to fix his torn Achilles tendon on Wednesday. Kittle tore his right Achilles tendon in Sunday's win over the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild-Card round, so the team will be without him for the rest of the postseason and most likely the start of next season. He also missed time with injuries in 2025, but when healthy, he was a top-five fantasy TE in terms of half-PPR points per game (12.1) with 57 catches on 69 targets for 628 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 regular-season contests. The rest of the way, Jake Tonges will step in as San Fran's top pass-catching TE. In the win over the Chicago Bears on Dec. 28 without Kittle available, Tonges had seven catches for 60 yards and his fifth touchdown of the year.

Friday, January 2, 5:19 PM

Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson (shoulder) will not play in Sunday's Week 18 regular-season finale against the division-rival Green Bay Packers, according to Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press. Hockenson was unable to practice at all this week and will miss a second straight game to close out the 2025 season. The 28-year-old was highly inconsistent this year for fantasy managers as a starting tight end option, primarily because of the inconsistent play that the Vikings got out of quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Going into Week 18, Hockenson ranks as the TE23 overall in half-PPR scoring with 51 catches on 65 targets for 438 yards and only three touchdowns in 15 games played. With Hockenson out again this weekend, Josh Oliver will be the team's TE1, but he'll be a risky, touchdown-dependent TE2 streaming option for fantasy managers with McCarthy returning in Week 18.