Who Should I Start? Mike Gesicki or Daniel Bellinger

Tuesday, December 30, 3:00 PM

Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki has seen his snap share drop steadily over the past three games. Now, with nothing but divisional pride on the line in a Week 18 matchup with the Browns, there is no guarantee of playing time for the 30-year-old veteran in the first year of the three-year deal he signed this offseason. For fantasy managers still playing into Week 18, there are more alluring names to be found on the waiver wire, with a pleasant number of NFL teams still playing for something in the final week of the regular season. Gesicki did finish as the TE2 as recently as Week 14, so he does represent a ceiling uncommon to the waiver wire, but with an unclear picture of how the Bengals are approaching the end of the season, he is best viewed as a desperation-only play in deeper leagues.

Saturday, November 15, 9:15 AM

New York Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger (groin) has been cleared from the injury report and is good to go for Sunday's matchup against the Green Bay Packers. Bellinger opened the week with limited practices on Wednesday and Thursday, but was upgraded to a full participant on Friday. The 25-year-old had his highest snap share of the season in the Giants' Week 10 loss at the Chicago Bears at 72.6%, and added one catch for eight yards on two targets. Bellinger has been more involved in the offense of late, playing at least 50% of the snaps in all but one game since Week 5, totaling nine catches for 169 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets. His 18.8 yards per reception during that span is the highest among tight ends with at least 50 routes run. In Weeks 1-4, he played over 30% of the snaps just once with three total receptions. Bellinger will be without rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart (concussion) for this game, but backup Jameis Winston has proven capable over the years. Bellinger is only relevant as a deep league option for Week 11 against the Packers.