Who Should I Start? Jonnu Smith or Tyler Conklin

Saturday, October 11, 12:04 AM

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Jonnu Smith turned in three straight games with fewer than five fantasy points before the team's Week 5 bye and will hope to be more involved in a Week 6 bout with the Cleveland Browns. Though the Browns have allowed the 11th-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends, Smith could be an important piece of Pittsburgh's passing attack with wide receiver Calvin Austin III (knee) inactive. That said, head coach Mike Tomlin hinted earlier this week at continued usage of fellow tight end Darnell Washington, who out-snapped both Smith and Pat Freiermuth in Week 4. It wouldn't be shocking to see any of the three have a productive outing on Sunday, but fantasy managers can't currently depend on Smith in starting lineups.

Friday, March 21, 10:24 PM

Former New York Jets tight end Tyler Conklin reached an agreement on an undisclosed one-year deal on Friday with the Los Angeles Chargers, according to his agent, Mike McCartney. Conklin heads to the AFC West after spending the last three years with the Jets, where he had 170 catches on 246 targets for 1,622 yards and seven touchdowns in 50 games (43 starts). While the 29-year-old did have a career-high four touchdowns in 16 games (15 starts) last year, he had just 51 catches and 449 yards (his lowest total since 2020) on 72 targets. The former fifth-round selection (157th overall) by the Minnesota Vikings in 2018 out of Central Michigan has the opportunity to be the Chargers' top pass-catching tight end in 2025, but he'll also be sharing playing time with Will Dissly. Dissly had a very similar 50-481-2 line to Conklin a year ago in L.A. Expect Conklin to be a touchdown-dependent TE2 in fantasy in his new home.