Who Should I Start? Ko Kieft or Julian Hill

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.

Saturday, October 11, 6:34 AM

Miami Dolphins tight end Julian Hill started the first three games of the season while Darren Waller (hip) was out, but he only had one catch for one target in those three games, despite a large snap share. Even with Waller back and Hill's playing time shrinking, he posted his best offensive game of the season in Week 5 against the Panthers, and he'll look to build on that success in Week 6 against the Chargers. Hill caught four of his five targets in Week 5 for 22 yards, setting a season-high in targets, catches, and yards. He only played 53% of snaps, and that number could drop even more if Waller is healthy and ready for more snaps. Hill could struggle to keep contributing, which is why he's the TE51 in RotoBaller's rankings and well off the radar as a starting option this week. However, it is worth noting that he started to get some attention from Tua Tagovailoa last week, which could make him fantasy-relevant if Waller gets banged up again.