Who Should I Start? Tyler Higbee or Jonnu Smith

Wednesday, February 28, 4:37 PM

Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee (knee) suffered a torn ACL in the team's Wild Card loss to the Detroit Lions on January 14, and he has undergone surgery to repair it. However, Rams general manager Les Snead said the veteran's timeline to return is "still unclear." The 31-year-old caught 47 passes for 495 yards and two touchdowns in his eighth NFL season (2023), marking his quietest statistical year since 2018. Given his major injury late in the year, he's likely to begin the 2024 campaign on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list, which would mean he'd have to miss at least the first four games of the season. Regardless of his health, he has limited fantasy upside while sharing a field with Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp for the foreseeable future. His peak fantasy value has likely come and gone.

Thursday, March 7, 7:31 PM

The Miami Dolphins and tight end Jonnu Smith agreed upon a two-year, $10 million contract on Thursday according to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport. Smith was released by the Atlanta Falcons earlier in the offseason but wasn't looking for work for very long as he will now join an explosive Miami offense. The tight end position has not been heavily targeted since Mike McDaniel took over as the team's head coach but the Dolphins invested a significant amount of money to bring him to town, so Smith should open the year as the team's clear-cut starter. He can be tentatively considered a low-end TE2 heading into 2024.