Who Should I Start? Noah Fant or Isaiah Likely

Wednesday, December 17, 9:45 PM

Cincinnati Bengals tight end Noah Fant (ankle) was a non-participant during Wednesday's practice session. Fant was forced to leave during the first half of Sunday's loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Fant is now trending in the wrong direction for this weekend's game against the Miami Dolphins due to a right-ankle issue. Fant hasn't been much help to fantasy managers recently anyway. He has been held to one reception or fewer in each of his last four games. The absence of Fant would mean a larger workload for Mike Gesicki, while Tanner Hudson would serve as the No. 2. Gesicki will be an intriguing streaming option with an expanded role against the Dolphins in Week 16.

Saturday, December 13, 11:21 AM

Baltimore Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely has seen an increased amount of work over the last two weeks. He finished as the TE9 in each of the last two weeks in half-PPR formats, and saw six targets in both games while catching nine of the possible 12. The last time he took on the Cincinnati Bengals' defense in Week 13, Likely finished with five catches for 95 yards and a fumble. The Bengals are far and away the weakest defense against opposing tight ends (ranked 32nd on the season and last four weeks), so Likely and Mark Andrews should both see plenty of opportunities. The biggest issue is the game script and if the Ravens' coaching staff actually wants to commit to the run, roll with Andrews more often, or keep finding Likely. With that being said, Likely projects as the TE12 on RotoBaller's rankings this week.