Who Should I Start? Mike Gesicki or Josh Oliver

Wednesday, August 13, 7:12 PM

Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki (hamstring) is still working his way back from a hamstring injury at training camp and was working on a rehab field on Wednesday, according to Kelsey Conway of The Cincinnati Enquirer. A hamstring injury has kept Gesicki out of practices for the last week, and he also missed the preseason opener versus the Philadelphia Eagles last week. The 29-year-old's hamstring injury isn't believed to be all that serious, but the Bengals could hold him out of their second preseason game on Monday against the Washington Commanders as a precaution. Cincy recently signed Noah Fant for TE depth, but when healthy, Gesicki should be the primary pass-catching tight end for the Bengals. He caught 65 of 83 targets for 665 yards and two touchdowns in 17 games (three starts) a year ago and is ranked as a low-end TE2 in fantasy for the upcoming season.

Tuesday, June 10, 1:52 PM

The Minnesota Vikings signed tight end Josh Oliver to a three-year, $23.25 million contract extension on Tuesday with a maximum value of $27.5 million, according to Athletes First's Andrew Kessler. The deal includes $11.9 million in new guarantees and $19.5 million in total guarantees. With T.J. Hockenson missing time due to injury in 2024, Oliver had 22 receptions on 28 targets for a career-high 258 yards and three touchdowns in 15 regular-season games (12 starts), but it still wasn't enough to move the fantasy needle. The 28-year-old former third-rounder (69th overall) by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2019 NFL draft out of San Jose State excels as a run-blocker and will primarily be used in that role again in 2025. And now that Hockenson will be ready for the start of this season, we'd expect Oliver to be less involved as a pass-catcher.