Who Should I Start? Travis Kelce or Irv Smith Jr.

Saturday, September 30, 10:53 PM

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce put the cherry on top with a third-quarter touchdown in Week 3's blowout win over the Chicago Bears. The 33-year-old missed the season opener, but he's immediately picked back up on his dominant ways with a TE-best 31.5% target rate (17 targets on 54 routes run). Kelce will be tested in Week 4 against the stiff New York Jets defense, but there's plenty of room for optimism despite the rigid matchup for KC's offense. With a dynamic cornerback tandem in New York's backend, their Achilles heel defensively is easily shown in defending enemy TEs, which dates back to 2022. Gang Green's defense displays a mouthwatering matchup for Kelce after being penetrated for the third-highest fantasy points per game to the position (16.97) over three games. The eight-time Pro Bowler should have fantasy managers anticipating a late-slate hammer play on Sunday Night Football in season-long and DFS settings.

Friday, September 29, 3:00 PM

Cincinnati Bengals tight end Irv Smith Jr. (hamstring) has been ruled out for the Week 4 contest this Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. Smith was unable to practice all week and will now be inactive for the second straight game. The oft-injured 25-year-old is off to a bad start in his first year in Cincinnati. In the first two games, he caught just five of his nine targets for 27 yards. Now that he's hurt, Smith belongs on the waiver wire in most fantasy leagues for the foreseeable future. The Bengals got all three of Tanner Hudson, Mitchell Wilcox and Drew Sample involved in the Monday night win over the Los Angeles Rams, but none of them are worth streaming at the tight end position in Week 4 with Smith out again.