Who Should I Start? Grant Calcaterra or Michael Mayer

Friday, January 9, 4:44 PM

Philadelphia Eagles tight end Grant Calcaterra (ankle) upgraded to a full practice on Friday and has been removed from the final injury report for Sunday's Wild-Card playoff matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. Fellow TE Dallas Goedert (knee) has also been cleared after the Eagles rested him in the Week 18 regular-season finale against the Washington Commanders. Calcaterra might have been a TE sleeper worth considering for Wild-Card weekend in fantasy football playoff leagues, but only had Goedert missed a second straight game. The 27-year-old will most likely play a limited role on offense for the Eagles against the Niners, so fantasy managers should ignore him everywhere. Calcaterra had only nine catches in 15 regular-season games for 76 yards and one touchdown.

Sunday, January 4, 7:54 AM

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer should continue to operate in a high-volume role during Sunday's Week 18 contest against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Raiders recently placed Brock Bowers (knee) on injured reserve, ending his season and putting Mayer into the starting role for the final two games of the year. Last weekend, he exploded as the top target in Geno Smith's offense, catching nine of 10 targets for 89 yards. In total, throughout the three games that Bowers has missed and Mayer has played this year, the latter tight end has 15 catches, 149 yards, and one touchdown. A quarterback change is expected in Week 18, though, as Kenny Pickett steps in for the injured Smith (ankle). Pickett struggled to the tune of 64 yards and one turnover in his lone start this year, but he should still be able to support a fantasy-relevant role for Mayer on Sunday. At worst, Mayer will operate as a security blanket in case Pickett struggles to throw the ball deep or needs to get the ball out quickly. As it stands, he ranks as the overall TE8 in RotoBaller's latest fantasy football rankings for Week 18.