Who Should I Start? Marcedes Lewis or Jonnu Smith

Thursday, May 29, 2:50 PM

Veteran free-agent tight end Marcedes Lewis wants to play in 2025, and he expects it to be his final NFL season. The 41-year-old spent the last two seasons with the Chicago Bears following five seasons with the Green Bay Packers and 12 campaigns with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Originally a first-round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft out of UCLA, Lewis has tallied 437 receptions for 5,115 yards and 40 touchdowns in 285 career games. He hasn't cracked 400 receiving yards since 2012, but he is one of the better blocking tight ends in the league. If he signs somewhere for a 20th NFL season, he will not be on the fantasy football radar. Either way, it's easy to root for the veteran who has been remarkably healthy late in his career.

Friday, July 25, 5:50 PM

Brooke Pryor of ESPN reports that Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Jonnu Smith (undisclosed) was working in individual periods at training camp on Friday but did not work with the position group for the second wave of individual periods, which is basically the same participation level that he had on Thursday. Head coach Mike Tomlin said that Smith is day-to-day with an unspecified injury that doesn't sound very serious. The 29-year-old had a career year in 2024 with the Miami Dolphins, catching 88 passes on 111 targets for 884 yards and eight touchdowns in 17 games (six starts), and now he'll reunite with offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, who he's played for in Tennessee and Atlanta. Fantasy managers are going to need to downgrade Jonnu in fantasy this year, though, as he will probably struggle to find weekly value while sharing targets with Pat Freiermuth.