Who Should I Start? Travis Kelce or Brock Bowers

Monday, February 9, 10:27 AM

The Kansas City Chiefs want impending free-agent tight end Travis Kelce back in 2026 if he decides to play for another season, sources told Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network. Kelce has not made a firm decision on his playing future, but reports over the weekend suggest that he could be leaning toward playing another season. The 36-year-old 11-time Pro Bowler and four-time first-team All-Pro caught 76 of his 108 targets for 851 yards and five touchdowns in his 17 starts in 2025 in his 13th year in the league. Although Kelce finished under 1,000 receiving yards for the third straight season, he still managed to finish as the TE4 in half-PPR scoring, and he should remain a favorite target of quarterback Patrick Mahomes (knee) in 2026 if he comes back. Kelce is long in the tooth, but he should stay in TE1 territory in fantasy football next season if he returns, especially considering the team has multiple receivers that will hit the free-agent market.

Wednesday, January 28, 1:54 PM

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (knee) had a sophomore season to forget in 2025, as he only played in 12 games and ended the year on Injured Reserve. The 23-year-old former 13th overall pick in 2024 out of Georgia injured his knee in the Week 1 season opener and wasn't quite himself the rest of the year before eventually being shut down. Still, Bowers managed to finish as the TE10 in half-PPR scoring with 64 receptions for 680 yards and seven touchdowns. It was quite the disappointment for fantasy managers after Bowers had a 112-1,194-5 season in 17 games in his rookie campaign. Bowers is expected to be fully healthy for the start of the 2026 season, when he's expected to be working with Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza -- the projected first overall pick by Vegas. Even though the Raiders are expected to have a rookie QB, Bowers should be a high-end TE1 target yet again.