Who Should I Start? Giovanni Ricci or Pat Freiermuth

Monday, February 3, 7:02 PM

The New England Patriots signed free-agent tight end Giovanni Ricci (knee) to a Reserve/Futures deal on Monday. Ricci was on the Cleveland Browns' practice squad in 2024 but never was active for a regular-season game and was cut in August due to a knee injury. The 28-year-old former undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan made his NFL debut in 2021 with the Carolina Panthers, with all 36 of his career games coming with Carolina. In three NFL seasons, Ricci has caught only nine of 12 targets for 102 yards and no touchdowns with the Panthers. Ricci is more of a blocker than a pass-catcher and will now represent tight end depth for the Patriots throughout the offseason and into training camp this summer. The most likely scenario is that he'll effective serve as a fullback for new Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

Friday, October 17, 12:29 AM

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth caught four of his five targets for 111 yards and two touchdowns during Thursday's Week 7 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals. His touchdowns came on 19-yard and 68-yard receptions, the latter of which gave Pittsburgh a late lead (that they would ultimately relinquish). Freiermuth had not yet posted a fantasy performance with more than 6.1 fantasy points this season (PPR), so Thursday's breakout was admittedly unexpected. It should give fantasy managers optimism moving forward, but there's no denying that the 26-year-old continues to face competition at the tight end position. Fellow tight ends Jonnu Smith and Darnell Washington each scored touchdowns on Thursday night, too, offering Aaron Rodgers plenty of options when he's looking to target big, physical receivers in the passing game. As a result, managers should view Freiermuth as a low-end TE2 for Week 8.