Who Should I Start? Mo Alie-Cox or Pat Freiermuth

Friday, February 23, 2:30 PM

The Athletic's James Boyd writes that Indianapolis Colts tight end Mo Alie-Cox is an easy target if the team wishes to create more salary cap space this offseason. He's entering the final year of a three-year, $17.6 million contract extension that he signed in 2022. Alie-Cox is due the last $5.9 million of that in 2024, but none of it is guaranteed. The 30-year-old is the team's best blocking tight end and has recorded at least three touchdowns in each of the last three seasons, but he's not getting any younger and is unlikely to develop into a true No. 1 pass-catching tight end at this point of his career. Both Will Mallory and third-year tight end Jelani Woods, who missed all of 2023 with hamstring issues, give the Colts more upside at the position amid their current youth movement. Alie-Cox hasn't been much more than a low-upside, touchdown-dependent TE2 option for fantasy managers in deep leagues.

Monday, June 17, 2:18 PM

Nobody performed better and more consistently for four weeks during offseason workouts than Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth. He had an instant connection with new quarterback Russell Wilson and came across as a potential playmaker in new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith's tight-end-heavy offense. Pittsburgh can overcome their shortcomings at the receiver spot by relying more on Freiermuth this year. Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts went over 1,000 yards as a rookie in Smith's offense, and Jonnu Smith had 50 catches with the Falcons in 2023, so there is a history of TEs thriving in this system. Freiermuth is talented enough to take a short pass and turn it into a big gain. Despite catching a career-low 32 passes for 308 yards and two TDs last year in 12 regular-season games, Freiermuth is entering his fourth season as a highly attractive high-end TE2 in fantasy.