Who Should I Start? Mark Andrews or Jeremy Ruckert

Wednesday, August 27, 6:11 PM

Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews (undisclosed) returned to practice on Monday, according to The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec. Andrews missed Monday's practice with an undisclosed issue, but the fact that he is back on the field a day later suggests it was very minor. Even though Andrews had a costly fumble and dropped pass in last year's Divisional Round loss to the Buffalo Bills in the postseason, the 29-year-old remains in play as a midrange TE1 target as one of quarterback Lamar Jackson's favorite options through the air, especially with Isaiah Likely (foot) potentially missing the start of the regular season. The three-time Pro Bowler finished 2024 with 55 catches for 673 yards and a career-high 11 touchdowns on 69 targets over 17 regular-season games (13 starts). Fantasy managers can't expect double-digit TDs again, but Andrews has had at least six scores in all but two of his seven seasons.

Monday, June 9, 12:26 PM

The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt writes that New York Jets tight end Jeremy Ruckert has shown progress as a pass-catcher this offseason. Ruckert was teammates with new quarterback Justin Fields in college at Ohio State, so he's been seeing a heavy workload during organized team activities. Still, Ruckert has plenty to prove coming off three disappointing seasons to start his NFL career, including regressing as a run-blocker last year. "I think he can help us in the passing game, he'll be a really good blocker," had coach Aaron Glenn said. "There's some technical things he can improve on." The 24-year-old former third-rounder (101st overall) in 2022 is still searching for his first NFL touchdown and has caught just 35 of 52 targets for 264 yards in his three seasons. With the Jets taking Mason Taylor in the second round of this year's draft, Ruckert's path to fantasy value is even more of an uphill battle.