Who Should I Start? Pat Freiermuth or Jeremy Ruckert

Sunday, December 7, 9:15 AM

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth continues to play less than half of the offensive snaps, and he seems to be third on the tight end pecking order behind both Darnell Washington and Jonnu Smith. Freiermuth was held without a target last Sunday, and he has a modest seven catches over his last four games. The 27-year-old ranks as the overall TE24 so far this season, and his fantasy value has been largely dependent on scoring touchdowns. He has exceeded 6.5 fantasy points (PPR) just three times this year, and it happened in the three games where he scored at least one touchdown. His chances of getting back on track this week are very slim as he takes on the Baltimore Ravens. Baltimore has played strong defense against tight ends in 2025, allowing the seventh-fewest fantasy points to the position. Freiermuth ranks as the overall TE30 in RotoBaller's latest fantasy rankings. He can be avoided in most leagues during Week 14.

Monday, June 9, 12:26 PM

The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt writes that New York Jets tight end Jeremy Ruckert has shown progress as a pass-catcher this offseason. Ruckert was teammates with new quarterback Justin Fields in college at Ohio State, so he's been seeing a heavy workload during organized team activities. Still, Ruckert has plenty to prove coming off three disappointing seasons to start his NFL career, including regressing as a run-blocker last year. "I think he can help us in the passing game, he'll be a really good blocker," had coach Aaron Glenn said. "There's some technical things he can improve on." The 24-year-old former third-rounder (101st overall) in 2022 is still searching for his first NFL touchdown and has caught just 35 of 52 targets for 264 yards in his three seasons. With the Jets taking Mason Taylor in the second round of this year's draft, Ruckert's path to fantasy value is even more of an uphill battle.