Fantasy Football Week 2 Tight End Start/Sit: Jonnu Smith, Travis Kelce, and More

Week 2 might be harder than Week 1 when it comes to making fantasy decisions. Heading into Week 1, we have all the information from the previous season (and even before that) and feel like we know exactly what is going to happen. In Week 2, though, we must decide what was real and what was a one-week blip in the first game, adding in more information almost to our detriment because it's so easy to overreact to that small sample.

The best thing to do is take Week 1 into account but don't treat it as the only knowledge we have, because everything you thought coming out of the offseason might also be true. It's a fine line of believing what we've seen but also knowing there is more that will happen over a longer timeframe.

Let's look at three tight ends to start and three to sit in Week 2 of the NFL season. This won't include any obvious players; you don't need me to tell you to start Sam LaPorta. Instead, these six guys are all players who are good fantasy starters some weeks but should be left on the bench other weeks.

Check out the FantasySP defensive rankings each week to track which teams are allowing the most fantasy points to each position.

Start

Hunter Henry, New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins

Henry was also listed here as a “Start” last week against the Raiders; he put together a good performance with four catches for 66 yards. Without scoring a touchdown, that's about as good as we can hope from a streaming tight end. He was also on the field for over 90% of the snaps, one of the biggest factors toward producing numbers.

The Dolphins may have shown themselves as one of the worst teams in the league in Week 1. There's not a whole lot to say that the numbers can't: 33-8 win for the Colts; barely over 200 total yards for Miami; Indianapolis scored on every drive. Specific to tight end, Colts' rookie Tyler Warren caught seven passes for 76 yards, and even backup Mo Alie-Cox had one catch for 20 yards.

I'm willing to believe that Miami will be bad all season, as they've spent multiple offseasons seeing more talent walk out the door than come in, and they've been on the wrong trajectory for a few years. With Henry likely to be involved and Miami potentially sieve-like, the New England tight end looks like a strong streamer again.

Jonnu Smith, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Seattle Seahawks

Pittsburgh has a bit of a glut at tight end: all three of Smith, Pat Freiermuth, and Darnell Washington played more than 25 snaps (Smith led the group with 37, 66% of the total). Smith led the team with five receptions in Week 1, but he gained just 15 yards. A touchdown saved his fantasy day (and the five catches were nice for PPR). Freiermuth had three receptions of his own for 28 yards, while Washington is more of a blocking TE.

The Seahawks allowed the most fantasy points to tight ends of any team in Week 1. Part of that was facing George Kittle, but he left injured in the second quarter (after four catches, 25 yards, and a touchdown). Backups Luke Farrell and Jake Tonges combined for four receptions, 19 yards, and another score after Kittle left.

Smith is likely to lead the way for Steelers' tight ends most weeks. They gave him a one-year, $12 million extension after trading for him, so it makes sense that they see him as part of the offense, not just another guy. He had inefficient volume in the first game, and against a team that was vulnerable to tight ends in Week 1 (and in the middle last year), there's a chance for Smith to catch more passes and maybe find the end zone.

Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars @ Cincinnati Bengals

Strange is another guy who was in this spot last week against the Panthers, a team I expect to have one of the worst defenses in football. Strange led the Jaguars with four catches for 59 yards (backup Hunter Long stole the six-yard touchdown on his only catch: the lesser-known vulture). Strange is a pass catcher at the position and is likely to be involved in the receiving game often.

The Bengals gave up more fantasy points per game to tight ends than any other team last season. While things change from year to year, Week 1 looked much the same. Cleveland's starting tight end, David Njoku, had three catches for 37 yards against Cincinnati, a middling performance; rookie second tight end Harold Fannin Jr. had a breakout in his first game, though, hauling in seven receptions for 63 yards.

After a rough 2024 against the position, Cincinnati let tight ends run wild in Week 1. With a strong pass catcher in Strange coming to town, the Bengals are at risk again of getting burned by a TE.

Sit

Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints vs. San Francisco 49ers

Because Taysom Hill and Foster Moreau are out for at least the first month, I saw Johnson as a guy who could benefit as the only accomplished tight end on the Saints' roster. I was a little skeptical that he would have a good game in Week 1 against an Arizona team that was good against the position last year, but Johnson excelled, leading the team with eight receptions and 76 yards.

The matchup might be even tougher in this one. While the 49ers aren't stacked with talent the way they have been the past few seasons, they still have high-impact players on defense, including middle linebacker Fred Warner, who often deals with tight ends. They gave up the seventh-fewest fantasy points to the position last year, and they allowed just two catches for seven yards to Seattle's TEs in Week 1.

Johnson still has a chance to rack up volume because he will dominate the tight end snaps and doesn't have much high-level competition for targets from the wide receivers. His low-level quarterback, Spencer Rattler, might also rely on the tight end more often as a safety net. With a tough matchup, though, I'm not looking for Johnson to make a big impact, and I see him better left on the bench this week.

Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Oh boy. As recently as last season, benching Kelce would never have been an option. Heading into 2025, though, Kelce had seen his impact drop greatly for two straight seasons, so there were signs that he was slowing down.

In Week 1, Kelce caught two passes for 47 yards and a touchdown. Those numbers are OK, but he only had one catch for 10 yards until the fourth quarter, when the Chiefs ran a fake wide receiver screen that allowed Kelce to leak into space and catch a wide-open pass for a 37-yard touchdown. That pass counts, of course, but it wasn't Kelce making a great move or contested catch; it was simple misdirection working in his favor.

The Eagles are just tough all around. Last year, they allowed the third-fewest fantasy points to tight ends. In Week 1, Dallas tight end Jake Ferguson caught five passes, but he gained only 23 yards on those catches, a miniscule 4.6 yards per reception. If you want a recent matchup, we only have to go back to last year's Super Bowl when these teams faced off: Kelce had four catches for 39 yards, a very middling day.

This looks like a case of a descending player against a tough defense, not a strong outlook. The upside for Kelce is that wide receiver Xavier Worthy is out, so there are targets to go around, but Worthy missed almost all of Week 1, and it didn't help Kelce get any extra volume.

Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Houston Texans

Otton was second on the Bucs in targets, receptions, and receiving yards last year. Part of that was because Chris Godwin missed more than half the season, but Otton was still regularly involved, reaching at least 30 yards in 10 games (including the playoffs). Week 1 wasn't a good start, though: Otton didn't catch any of his three targets.

Now, Otton gets a much tougher matchup against the Texans, one of the best defensive teams in the league the past few seasons and a unit with high-level players at every level of the D. Houston was just outside the top 10 in least fantasy points allowed to TEs last season, and they were similarly stingy against the Rams in the first game, allowing the position just three catches for seven yards (though backup Davis Allen did catch a touchdown).

Otton will likely have games where he is more involved, but he always tops out as a middling option. Against a tough defense, I'm leaving Otton on the bench with the expectation that he will again struggle to make any impact.