Who Should I Start? Ko Kieft or Blake Whiteheart

Tuesday, September 23, 6:02 PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed tight end Ko Kieft (leg) on Injured Reserve on Tuesday with a leg injury, according to Greg Auman of FOX Sports. It's a key loss for the Bucs' special-teams unit, and Kieft will be forced to miss at least four games. The earliest that he'd be able to return would be in a Week 8 divisional matchup on the road against the New Orleans Saints. However, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times is reporting that Kieft's leg injury could keep him sidelined for the rest of the 2025 season. The 27-year-old tight end apparently injured his leg in the Week 3 win over the visiting New York Jets on Sunday. With Kieft now out for the foreseeable future, Devin Culp will jump up into the No. 3 spot on the team's TE depth chart behind Cade Otton and Payne Durham, heading into a Week 4 showdown against the 3-0 Philadelphia Eagles.

Monday, April 7, 7:38 PM

Exclusive-rights free-agent tight end Blake Whiteheart signed his tender offer from the Cleveland Browns on Monday and will officially return to the team in 2025. Whiteheart will head into his second season in Cleveland after catching six of nine targets for 51 yards and one touchdown in 11 games (two starts) in 2024. The 25-year-old once again won't be anywhere near the fantasy radar as he provides depth at the position for the Browns behind starter David Njoku. He went undrafted out of Wake Forest and began his NFL career in 2023 with the Arizona Cardinals, but he didn't receive a single target in two games played that year. In addition to Njoku and Whiteheart, the Browns also have Brenden Bates and Tre'McKitty on the TE depth chart this offseason.