Who Should I Start? Jeremy Ruckert or Gunnar Helm

Monday, June 9, 12:26 PM

The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt writes that New York Jets tight end Jeremy Ruckert has shown progress as a pass-catcher this offseason. Ruckert was teammates with new quarterback Justin Fields in college at Ohio State, so he's been seeing a heavy workload during organized team activities. Still, Ruckert has plenty to prove coming off three disappointing seasons to start his NFL career, including regressing as a run-blocker last year. "I think he can help us in the passing game, he'll be a really good blocker," had coach Aaron Glenn said. "There's some technical things he can improve on." The 24-year-old former third-rounder (101st overall) in 2022 is still searching for his first NFL touchdown and has caught just 35 of 52 targets for 264 yards in his three seasons. With the Jets taking Mason Taylor in the second round of this year's draft, Ruckert's path to fantasy value is even more of an uphill battle.

Wednesday, September 17, 3:13 PM

Tennessee Titans rookie tight end Gunnar Helm has been active in the first two weeks of the 2025 season, but he's been minimally involved in the offense to begin his career. Helm played just over 33 percent of the offensive snaps in the Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams while securing both of his targets for only nine yards. Through his first two NFL games, the fourth-rounder out of Texas has three catches on four targets for 25 yards. So far, he has been targeted in the short areas of the field by rookie quarterback Cam Ward and is the clear No. 2 TE behind Chig Okonkwo in Tennessee. Helm may become a bigger part of the Titans' offense as the season unfolds, but for now, unless Okonkwo misses time with an injury, he belongs on the waiver wire in single-year fantasy formats.