Who Should I Start? Travis Kelce or Juwan Johnson

Monday, February 2, 4:59 PM

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce could hang up his cleats after 13 seasons in the NFL. It's still unclear if he'll return for a 14th campaign with the Chiefs after playing out the two-year, $34.25 million deal he signed with KC in April of 2024. The 36-year-old future Hall of Famer was slightly better in 2025 than he was in 2024, but he still finished with fewer than 1,000 yards receiving for the third straight season. Kelce hauled in 76 of his 108 targets for 851 yards and five touchdowns in 17 starts. He became the third TE in history to reach 13,000 receiving yards, and he also had at least 75 catches for the 10th straight season. Kelce clearly is no longer in his prime, but he was still a top-five fantasy TE in half-PPR scoring in a season in which the Chiefs didn't even make the postseason. If Kelce returns to the Chiefs for one more run at it in 2026, he'll still be a top-10 fantasy target at the TE position, albeit one with more injury risk than ever before.

Saturday, January 3, 4:23 PM

New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson has enjoyed a breakout campaign in his age-29 season, setting career highs in targets (98), receptions (74), and yards (828) entering Week 18's season finale against the Atlanta Falcons. Johnson has recorded at least four catches in seven straight games and in 12 of 16 contests on the year. His 35 receptions since Week 10 rank fifth most among tight ends. New Orleans is dealing with multiple injuries on offense, particularly at wide receiver, with Chris Olave (illness) and Devaughn Vele (shoulder) both out for this game. The Saints' available wide receivers on Sunday are Kevin Austin Jr., Dante Pettis, Ronnie Bell, and Samori Toure, which sets Johnson up to see a heavy dose of targets. With how well rookie QB Tyler Shough has been playing and plenty of targets up for grabs, Johnson ranks as RotoBaller's TE3 for Week 18.