Who Should I Start? Pat Freiermuth or Ladd McConkey

Monday, January 12, 6:37 PM

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth had very limited fantasy football upside in 2025 while sharing TE duties with both Jonnu Smith and Darnell Washington (forearm). He finished as the TE24 in half-PPR scoring in 16 regular-season games, with 41 catches on 54 targets for 486 yards and four touchdowns. Freiermuth and Smith should have slightly bigger roles going into the playoffs on Wild-Card weekend on Monday night against the Houston Texans with Washington out, but the 27-year-old still isn't an ideal option for fantasy managers in a bad matchup. Freiermuth did finish the regular season strong with six catches on 10 targets for 114 yards in the final two games, but he hasn't scored since Nov. 23. The Texans have the No. 1 defense in the league, and they've allowed only 775 receiving yards (seventh-fewest) and eight TDs all year to the tight end position.

Tuesday, January 27, 12:20 PM

After an excellent rookie season in 2024, Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey posted a relatively disappointing sophomore campaign in 2025. Across 16 games played, the 24-year-old recorded 66 receptions for 789 yards and six touchdowns on 106 targets. McConkey's production fell off sharply down the stretch of the season, as he recorded just one game with more than 40 receiving yards after Week 10. After losing in the AFC Wild Card Round to the New England Patriots, the Chargers decided to move on from offensive coordinator Greg Roman, replacing him with former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel. While McDaniel's tenure in Miami went downhill over the last couple of seasons, he coached the Dolphins to top-five offenses by measure of total passing yardage in both 2022 and 2023. By contrast, Roman-coached teams have never finished better than 13th in passing yardage in any of his 12 seasons as an NFL offensive coordinator. Given the change in offensive infrastructure around him, McConkey could be in line for a bounce-back season in 2026.