Who Should I Start? John Bates or Michael Mayer

Friday, January 24, 6:03 PM

Washington Commanders tight ends John Bates (shoulder) and Ben Sinnott (shoulder) were both removed from Friday's final injury report and will be available on Sunday for the NFC Championship against the division-rival Philadelphia Eagles. Zach Ertz (rib) will also be active after practicing in full on Thursday and Friday, so neither Bates nor Sinnott are realistic DFS options for fantasy managers this weekend. The 27-year-old Bates has played through a shoulder injury in both postseason games but has only one catch on three targets for 20 yards to show for it. He had eight grabs on 13 targets for 84 yards and no scores in 17 regular-season games (six starts). Sinnott, meanwhile, has not even been targeted in two playoff games and caught all five of his targets for 28 yards and one touchdown in his first 17 NFL games during the regular season.

Monday, January 6, 10:15 AM

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer caught all four of his targets for 21 yards during Sunday's Week 18 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Mayer has been routinely out-produced by Brock Bowers this season, but that didn't stop him from playing 81.3 percent of the offensive snaps in the Raiders' regular-season finale. That represented his second-highest rate of the season, and it showed that the Raiders can have success operating out of two-tight end sets. Mayer finished his second pro season with 21 catches and 156 yards through 10 games, remaining a solid short-yardage outlet for quarterback Aidan O'Connell while Bowers did more work downfield and after the catch. There's no question that Bowers remains the No. 1 tight end in Las Vegas (and all of fantasy football), but Mayer could sneak onto the end of the fantasy radar in deeper PPR leagues next season.