Who Should I Start? Pat Freiermuth or Daniel Bellinger

Friday, October 17, 12:29 AM

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth caught four of his five targets for 111 yards and two touchdowns during Thursday's Week 7 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals. His touchdowns came on 19-yard and 68-yard receptions, the latter of which gave Pittsburgh a late lead (that they would ultimately relinquish). Freiermuth had not yet posted a fantasy performance with more than 6.1 fantasy points this season (PPR), so Thursday's breakout was admittedly unexpected. It should give fantasy managers optimism moving forward, but there's no denying that the 26-year-old continues to face competition at the tight end position. Fellow tight ends Jonnu Smith and Darnell Washington each scored touchdowns on Thursday night, too, offering Aaron Rodgers plenty of options when he's looking to target big, physical receivers in the passing game. As a result, managers should view Freiermuth as a low-end TE2 for Week 8.

Thursday, October 23, 10:11 AM

New York Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger delivered the best performance of his NFL career in Week 7, hauling in three receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown. Bellinger's production has noticeably climbed since the team turned to Jaxson Dart at quarterback and lost star wideout Malik Nabers to a Torn ACL. Since Week 4, the Giants have leaned heavily on 12 personnel (two-TE sets), ranking among the league leaders in usage. Both Bellinger and rookie Theo Johnson have logged over 50% of the offensive snaps in three consecutive games, including last week, where they each played over 65%. While New York's brutal schedule has limited consistency, Bellinger's emergence is a bright spot. He'll face a tough challenge in Week 8 against the Philadelphia Eagles, who have surrendered the fourth-fewest fantasy points to tight ends this season. Bellinger isn't fantasy relevant just yet, but if this upward trend continues, he could work his way onto the fantasy radar in deeper leagues.