Who Should I Start? Irv Smith Jr. or Chigoziem Okonkwo

Tuesday, March 12, 1:08 PM

Cincinnati Bengals free-agent tight end Irv Smith Jr. reached an agreement on an undisclosed one-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs on Tuesday, according to a source. Smith had a lot of potential when he entered the league as the Minnesota Vikings' second-round pick in 2019 out of Alabama, but he hasn't lived up to the hype. The 25-year-old had his best season in his second year in the NFL, catching 30 of his 43 targets for 365 yards and five touchdowns with the Vikes in 2020. In his first and only season with the Cincinnati Bengals last year, he had 18 catches on 26 targets for 115 yards and one touchdown in 12 games. In Kansas City, Smith will merely be serving as tight end insurance behind the aging Travis Kelce.

Wednesday, June 19, 2:03 PM

Tennessee Titans tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo is excited about the way his body is feeling and the direction of the team heading into the 2024 regular season this fall. "I feel like I maximized the potential I had in my body, and if I wanted to get better, I had to change the structure of how I move and stuff," Okonkwo said. "(I feel) a big difference, even the way I feel, my body. I feel a lot better when I move. After a long day of moving, I don't feel as sore." The fourth-rounder in 2022 caught 54 passes for 528 yards and a touchdown in 17 games (11 starts) in his second year in 2023. He had three TDs and more average yards per catch in his rookie campaign. The 24-year-old's stock is trending up, but in an offense that now includes receivers Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd, in addition to DeAndre Hopkins, it's hard to envision Okonkwo ascending to the ranks of surefire TE1 in fantasy.