Who Should I Start? George Kittle or Trey McBride

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.

Sunday, December 28, 8:14 PM

Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride caught 10 of his 13 targets for 76 yards and one touchdown during Sunday's Week 17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. McBride continues to be the top-scoring tight end in fantasy football this season, and he widened the gap between himself and the rest of the tight end position on Sunday afternoon. Along the way, he also set a new NFL record for most catches by a tight end in a single season. It's safe to say that McBride is the best and most dependable tight end in the league. He should continue to be deployed as a high-end TE1 in a pass-heavy game approach against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 18. He also figures to be the first tight end off the board (and a potential first-round pick) in 2026 fantasy football drafts.