Who Should I Start? Josh Oliver or Cole Kmet

Tuesday, June 10, 1:52 PM

The Minnesota Vikings signed tight end Josh Oliver to a three-year, $23.25 million contract extension on Tuesday with a maximum value of $27.5 million, according to Athletes First's Andrew Kessler. The deal includes $11.9 million in new guarantees and $19.5 million in total guarantees. With T.J. Hockenson missing time due to injury in 2024, Oliver had 22 receptions on 28 targets for a career-high 258 yards and three touchdowns in 15 regular-season games (12 starts), but it still wasn't enough to move the fantasy needle. The 28-year-old former third-rounder (69th overall) by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2019 NFL draft out of San Jose State excels as a run-blocker and will primarily be used in that role again in 2025. And now that Hockenson will be ready for the start of this season, we'd expect Oliver to be less involved as a pass-catcher.

Sunday, August 17, 10:46 PM

Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet caught one pass for 29 yards in Sunday's 38-0 preseason win over the Buffalo Bills. On the second play of the game, Kmet caught a beautiful seam pass from quarterback Caleb Williams and took it for a big gain. Kmet played two drives with the first-team offense, splitting reps with 2025 first-round tight end Colston Loveland. Despite being listed as the starting tight end on the Bears' unofficial depth chart, Kmet is ranked 275th (TE38) on the current RotoBaller half-PPR rankings. With how Loveland has been performing, it's hard to imagine that Kmet has much fantasy value at the moment.