Who Should I Start? T.J. Hockenson or Cade Stover

Friday, January 2, 5:19 PM

Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson (shoulder) will not play in Sunday's Week 18 regular-season finale against the division-rival Green Bay Packers, according to Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press. Hockenson was unable to practice at all this week and will miss a second straight game to close out the 2025 season. The 28-year-old was highly inconsistent this year for fantasy managers as a starting tight end option, primarily because of the inconsistent play that the Vikings got out of quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Going into Week 18, Hockenson ranks as the TE23 overall in half-PPR scoring with 51 catches on 65 targets for 438 yards and only three touchdowns in 15 games played. With Hockenson out again this weekend, Josh Oliver will be the team's TE1, but he'll be a risky, touchdown-dependent TE2 streaming option for fantasy managers with McCarthy returning in Week 18.

Wednesday, January 21, 8:44 PM

Houston Texans tight end Cade Stover's (knee) MRI exam showed no damage to his ACL, a league source told Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 Sports. Stover was unable to make much happen after fellow tight end Dalton Schultz (calf) left the Divisional Round loss to the New England Patriots before getting hurt himself in the fourth quarter. The 25-year-old caught one of his three targets for only two yards. The good news is that Stover should be a full-go for training camp in the summer and for Week 1 of the regular season in the fall. In his second year in the league, the former fourth-rounder caught just 12 passes for 76 yards and no touchdowns on 16 targets in nine regular-season games. As long as Schultz is healthy going into the start of the season, Stover won't be fantasy relevant. He had a 15-133-1 line in 15 games in 2024 in his rookie campaign.