Who Should I Start? Pat Freiermuth or Isaiah Likely

Wednesday, February 18, 6:29 AM

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth had a productive season, but the crowded nature of the team's tight end room pushed him off the radar in fantasy football. Despite being a top-nine fantasy tight end in two of his three previous seasons, Freiermuth dropped down to TE25 in PPR leagues in 2025. He played in all 17 games, catching 41 passes for 486 yards and four touchdowns. Part of Freiermuth's underwhelming season can be attributed to the crowded tight end room surrounding him. Jonnu Smith saw 54 targets after Pittsburgh deliberately went out and traded for him during the offseason, and Darnell Washington had a breakout year with 31 catches. Neither Smith nor Washington is a free agent this offseason, so we could expect a similar story of Freiermuth's volume being capped in 2026. As a result, he's not worth drafting in most 12-team redraft leagues next year, and he could be worth selling in dynasty formats.

Monday, February 23, 9:13 AM

Baltimore Ravens impending free-agent tight end Isaiah Likely isn't ruling out a return to the Ravens in free agency, but he also said "business is business" when it comes to a team that recently signed TE Mark Andrews and receiver Rashod Bateman to new deals, according to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. Likely suffered a foot injury in the preseason that caused him to miss the first three games of the 2025 season, and he was never able to recover, finishing with just 27 catches for a career-low 307 yards and one touchdown in 14 games played. The 25-year-old told his agent that "I just want to be able to blossom," and that's unlikely to happen with the Ravens as long as Andrews is still around. All signs are pointing to Likely moving to another team this offseason, which should make him more attractive as a potential TE1 in fantasy.