Who Should I Start? Irv Smith Jr. or Tucker Kraft

Tuesday, September 17, 10:22 PM

The Houston Texans signed free-agent tight end Irv Smith and former starting center Scott Quessenberry to their practice squad on Tuesday following successful tryouts, according to league sources. Smith, a former second-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings out of Alabama, will give Houston more depth at the TE position behind Dalton Schultz, Brevin Jordan and rookie Cade Stover. He has 109 career receptions for 973 yards and 10 touchdowns in his career with the Vikings, Bengals and Chiefs, but injuries have really held him back from reaching his true ceiling. Texans center Juice Scruggs (groin), who missed the Week 2 win over the Bears on Sunday night, is on track to return this week against the Vikings, but Quessenberry will give the team more depth at the position. Quessenberry started for Houston two seasons ago when Justin Britt stepped away for personal reasons.

Sunday, October 20, 6:30 PM

Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft provided a quality game, highlighted by a touchdown catch in the team's 24-22 victory over the Houston Texans in Week 7. Kraft disappointed fantasy managers in Week 6 following the two consecutive weeks where he had been the overall TE1, but Kraft found the end zone in the second quarter for the first Packers touchdown of the game. Kraft caught 3-of-4 targets for 33 yards and a 14-yard touchdown grab that saw him lay out in the end zone to make the catch. It's a battle every week amongst the Packers' pass-catchers and with so many quality targets for quarterback Jordan Love, Kraft has been solidly involved more often than not. With the Packers heading to Jacksonville with a Week 8 matchup against the Jaguars, Kraft should be considered a low-end fantasy TE1.