Who Should I Start? Tanner Hudson or Giovanni Ricci

Friday, August 8, 10:25 AM

Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tanner Hudson played well in Thursday's preseason loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The 30-year-old caught six of eight targets for 62 yards. He also scored twice, finding the end zone off a 12-yard pass from Joe Burrow on the opening drive before capping off his night with another touchdown in the fourth quarter. After making stops in Tampa Bay and New York (Giants) to begin his career, he appeared in 23 regular-season contests for the Bengals in the last two years. While Hudson had a few productive showings during that span, he has never been a consistent fantasy contributor. That's not expected to change in 2025 even if he continues to produce in the team's final two preseason games, considering Cincinnati has Mike Gesicki, Drew Sample, and Noah Fant on the roster. With a loss in the books, the Bengals will look to get on track versus the Washington Commanders on August 18.

Monday, February 3, 7:02 PM

The New England Patriots signed free-agent tight end Giovanni Ricci (knee) to a Reserve/Futures deal on Monday. Ricci was on the Cleveland Browns' practice squad in 2024 but never was active for a regular-season game and was cut in August due to a knee injury. The 28-year-old former undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan made his NFL debut in 2021 with the Carolina Panthers, with all 36 of his career games coming with Carolina. In three NFL seasons, Ricci has caught only nine of 12 targets for 102 yards and no touchdowns with the Panthers. Ricci is more of a blocker than a pass-catcher and will now represent tight end depth for the Patriots throughout the offseason and into training camp this summer. The most likely scenario is that he'll effective serve as a fullback for new Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.