Who Should I Start? Tyler Higbee or Jonnu Smith

Monday, March 3, 6:15 PM

Los Angeles Rams veteran tight end Tyler Higbee and veteran right tackle Rob Havenstein will both be back with the team in 2025, according to head coach Sean McVay. There were questions as to whether the Rams would keep either player after coming off recent injuries and heading into the last year of their respective deals. Even though Havenstein is expected to be back, The Athletic's Jourdan Rodriguez expects the Rams to target a right tackle in the upcoming NFL draft. Higbee, 32, had surgery on his knee and shoulder last offseason that forced him to miss all but three of the team's regular-season games in 2024. In his three games, he caught eight of 12 targets for 66 yards and two touchdowns and added 12 catches on 15 targets for 112 yards and a TD in two playoff games. With receiver Cooper Kupp likely to be traded this offseason, Higbee could be a sleeper TE to target in fantasy this fall.

Friday, July 25, 5:50 PM

Brooke Pryor of ESPN reports that Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Jonnu Smith (undisclosed) was working in individual periods at training camp on Friday but did not work with the position group for the second wave of individual periods, which is basically the same participation level that he had on Thursday. Head coach Mike Tomlin said that Smith is day-to-day with an unspecified injury that doesn't sound very serious. The 29-year-old had a career year in 2024 with the Miami Dolphins, catching 88 passes on 111 targets for 884 yards and eight touchdowns in 17 games (six starts), and now he'll reunite with offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, who he's played for in Tennessee and Atlanta. Fantasy managers are going to need to downgrade Jonnu in fantasy this year, though, as he will probably struggle to find weekly value while sharing targets with Pat Freiermuth.