Who Should I Start? Mo Alie-Cox or T.J. Hockenson

Saturday, November 2, 12:30 PM

Indianapolis Colts tight end Mo Alie-Cox gets an upgrade at quarterback in Week 9 with Joe Flacco under center, with eight of Cox's 13 total targets coming during Flacco's playing time earlier this season while Anthony Richardson dealt with an injury. In Weeks 5 and 6 combined, Cox caught all eight of his targets for 78 yards (he has just 100 on the season) and a touchdown. In Week 4 when Flacco came on in relief of Richardson, the veteran QB hit tight end Drew Ogletree for a 15-yard touchdown pass, so Cox and the TE group as a whole should be much more involved going forward. Cox leads the Colts TEs in targets on the season with 13, which is four more than Kylen Granson and six more than Ogletree. There are surely more proven TE options available on the waiver wire that have already been integrated into their offenses, but for fantasy managers looking for an under-the-radar dart throw with upside this week, Cox should be under consideration.

Friday, November 22, 3:36 PM

Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson said he "would expect things to go up" in Week 12 against the division-rival Chicago Bears and for the rest of the season in terms of his offensive snaps. Fellow TE Josh Oliver (ankle) has already been ruled out, so Hockenson should be on the field more in his fourth game of the season on Sunday. The 27-year-old has seen his snap percentages slowly increase since Week 9, as he played 45% of the snaps in Week 9, 46% in Week 10 and 48% last week. While Hockenson hasn't been amazing in his first three games, he hasn't been invisible, either, catching 13 of his 16 targets for 112 yards, including an eight-catch, 72-yard performance in the Week 10 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Bears defense isn't an ideal matchup, but Hockenson should have a higher fantasy ceiling and floor as at least a low-end TE1 this weekend.