Who Should I Start? Giovanni Ricci or Tommy Tremble

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.

Saturday, December 27, 2:31 PM

Tommy Tremble was irrelevant in Week 16 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Carolina TE caught one pass for six yards, finishing with 1.6 PPR points. Outside of Week 11, Tremble has not registered more than 4.0 PPR points in a game since Week 7. The Panthers will face the Seattle Seahawks in Week 17. The Seahawks ran 29th in Fantasy Points Per Game allowed to TEs this year. Even with a highly favorable matchup, Tremble is not close to consideration for fantasy championship lineups. Tremble has been targeted 4+ times in three games this season, and he has only one receiving TD.