Who Should I Start? Zach Ertz or Mike Gesicki

Monday, February 16, 6:30 PM

Washington Commanders impending free agent tight end Zach Ertz (knee) may be 36 years old, but he has continued to be a productive pass-catching weapon on the offensive side of the ball. Ertz had 50 catches for 504 yards and four touchdowns across 13 games, ranking as the overall TE19 in PPR leagues. He has 11 touchdowns over the last two seasons, averaging 10.1 fantasy points per game during that span. His final stat line from 2025 is even more impressive when you remember the quarterback situation he was dealt. Jayden Daniels missed plenty of time due to injury, so Ertz found himself catching passes from Marcus Mariota. He was shut down for the season by the time Josh Johnson earned any quarterback snaps, though. Ertz tore his ACL in Week 14, leaving plenty of question marks about his availability for 2026. Furthermore, he's a free agent this offseason, so we don't even know if he'll end up back in Washington. It's quite possible that a team with an established, young No. 1 tight end signs Ertz, allowing him to recover before filling a depth role. That'd be a rough scenario for fantasy managers, so selling high on him in dynasty leagues might be the right choice this offseason.

Tuesday, December 30, 3:00 PM

Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki has seen his snap share drop steadily over the past three games. Now, with nothing but divisional pride on the line in a Week 18 matchup with the Browns, there is no guarantee of playing time for the 30-year-old veteran in the first year of the three-year deal he signed this offseason. For fantasy managers still playing into Week 18, there are more alluring names to be found on the waiver wire, with a pleasant number of NFL teams still playing for something in the final week of the regular season. Gesicki did finish as the TE2 as recently as Week 14, so he does represent a ceiling uncommon to the waiver wire, but with an unclear picture of how the Bengals are approaching the end of the season, he is best viewed as a desperation-only play in deeper leagues.