Who Should I Start? George Kittle or Trey McBride

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 5, 11:04 PM

Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride put an exclamation point on his Pro Bowl season, scoring a receiving touchdown in his second straight game during the win over the San Francisco 49ers. McBride's official stat line was seven catches for 65 yards and a touchdown. McBride is the clear leader of the Cardinals' passing game and had arguably the best season by a tight end in franchise history. He was one of the best positional advantages for fantasy managers all season and will be an early target in fantasy drafts next year.