NFL Player News

Campbell’s Friday comments on his star tight end paint a far bleaker picture than Hockensen’s limited practice participation on Thursday. Hockensen, however, was at practice Friday morning. Hockensen should be able to suit up Sunday against Minnesota. Darren Fells, who out-targeted Hockensen two weeks ago against the Ravens, would presumably be the team’s No. 1 tight end if Hockensen were sidelined. D’Andre Swift could be in line for a couple more short targets if Hockensen is out.

Sample completed his sixth season with the Bengals in 2024, and despite being a second-round pick back in 2019, it was more of the same for the former University of Washington tight end. He hasn’t picked up more than 25 receptions since the 2020 season, and while he could be back with the Bengals again in 2025, there are way too many better options to believe Sample will ever be worth rostering.

Hudson ends his second season with the Bengals with 19 receptions for 154 yards and one touchdown. The 30-year-old will be a free agent at the end of the season, and likely is looking at playing a similar role with a new team or potentially a return to the Bengals. Even at the tight end position there’s no reason to think he’ll ever see the amount of targets necessary to consider him as a fantasy player, but he does provide real-life value as a blocker.

Amazingly, those three catches were the most of any Pittsburgh wideout during Saturday’s loss. Jefferson has been a fantasy non-factor for the overwhelming majority of his career outside of a strong sophomore campaign, and there’s not really a reason to believe that’s going to change anytime soon/ever.

Iosivas was certainly efficient in 2024, as he was able to turn just 36 catches into six touchdowns as the fourth — at best — option in the passing attack. A 1/6 TD/catch ratio is obviously unsustainable, but Iosivas could be looking at a bigger role in 2025 with Tee Higgins possibly on the way out. If Iosivas is the second option with Joe Burrow under center, it’s possible for the product of Princeton breaks out in 2025. There’s a wide variety of possible outcomes here, however.

Higgins has a disappointing end to his regular season, but still finishes his fifth season with 73 catches along with 911 yards with 10 touchdowns despite being out for five games in 2024. The 25-year-old will be a free agent if the Bengals aren’t able to work out an extension with Higgins, and he’d be one of the most coveted playmakers on the market if the deal is unable to get done. While having someone like Ja’Marr Chase lining up with you can certainly help, it’s possible Higgins takes a bigger step as the top option for whatever team he plays for in 2025.

For the second straight week, Freiermuth led the Steelers in both targets, receptions and yards while also picking up the only passing touchdown from Russell Wilson. A good night ended on a dour note, however, as he dropped a pass on 4th and 12 to end the game and gave the Steelers their fourth-straight loss to end the regular season. Still, it’s nice to see Freiermuth so involved, and there’s no reason to think he won’t be in the Wild Card round, either.

Gesicki’s first — and possibly only — year with the Bengals was a relatively successful one. His 65 catches were his most since 2021, and his 665 yards receiving were more than his previous two seasons combined. He finished with just the two receiving scores, however, which shows he’s much more slot- receiver than true tight end. Gesicki will hit the open market, and his fantasy value will be largely determined by the landing spot. If he’s back with the Bengals, a TE2 ranking is in the cards.

Of those five incompletions thrown Pickens’ way, three of them were flat-out drops. It’s a disastrous end to the season for the talented third-year wideout, and he doesn’t appear to be terribly happy about a variety of things happening right now. Pickens’ talent competes with most, but the volatility is scary. Anything could happen in the Wild Card round against the Ravens or Texans. Literally anything.

With that touchdown, Chase finishes with 17 receiving scores on the year, and that will assuredly end up leading the league. The 24-year-old superstar did have a few disappointing efforts in 2024, but his production competes or bests any wideout in the sport as seen in 127 catches, 1708 yards and the aforementioned touchdown total. There’s a chance Chase will not have Tee Higgins to take some of the pressure off of him in 2025, but that could just mean even more targets for the LSU product next year. Regardless of the personnel, Chase has to be one of the first players — not just wide receivers — off the board next year.

Warren was dealing with a rib injury, but it was still surprising to see the tailback receive 10 fewer touches than Najee Harris (12-36-1, four catches for 20 yards) in the season finale. Warren looked like the much faster and better playmaker when he did touch the ball, but game script and stubbornness saw him essentially be a non-factor. Expect to see more Warren in the Wild Card round, especially if Harris (undisclosed) can’t play next weekend/Monday.