Who Should I Start? Trey McBride or Michael Mayer

Wednesday, July 3, 1:20 PM

Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride is one of the most promising young players at the position in the NFL, and after catching 81 passes for 825 yards and four touchdowns in 2023, he is aiming for an even better season in 2024. One of McBride's personal goals for his third NFL campaign is to reach 1,000 yards receiving. "It was close last year," McBride said. "But I think that maybe it's realistic this year." The Colorado State product took part in "Tight End U" in Nashville hosted by Travis Kelce, George Kittle, and Greg Olsen. Kittle, a five-time Pro Bowler, had great things to say about the Cardinals pass-catcher. "Trey McBride is a young guy who had a great year last year and is just going to keep getting better," Kittle said. McBride is being selected as a late-second-round pick in FFPC best ball drafts, which has tight-end premium scoring. He is in play to be the TE1 overall in 2024.

Monday, July 8, 2:25 PM

The Athletic's Vic Tafur writes that it's the Las Vegas Raiders' plan to use more two-tight end sets this year involving rookie first-rounder Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer, who was a second-round selection in 2023. In addition, the Raiders will line up Bowers out wide and behind the quarterback at times to give the defense unique looks. It's not that the Raiders suddenly don't like Mayer now after drafting Bowers in the first round, but they just thought they couldn't pass up on Bowers' explosiveness and even turned down a team trying to trade up for him. While Mayer will still have a role in the offense in his second NFL season, he's going to take a back seat to Bowers in 2024 and will go undrafted in standard 12-team fantasy leagues this fall. Bowers, meanwhile has the potential for a Sam LaPorta-like season in his rookie campaign.