As always, Start 'Em, Sit 'Em is geared toward helping fantasy managers make difficult roster decisions. You won't see "start Jahmyr Gibbs" here. Instead, I'm exploring the players closer to the perceived fringe and aiming to optimize your lineup for a win each week. Importantly, the new "Start of the Week" and "Sit of the Week" are the calls I have deemed the most notable in each category, not necessarily the most essential players to start or sit.
Also, you'll see quite a few references in this year's column to NFL Pro, spotlighting insights provided through Next Gen Stats data dashboards, matchup evaluations, All-22 film and the uniquely trained Fantasy AI Assistant. You can get access to all of those tools yourself with an NFL+ Premium subscription!
P.S. Feel free to follow me on X (@MattOkada) or Instagram (@mattokadaNFL) and hit me with your questions, congratulations or complaints throughout the year.
Start 'Em
Start of the Week
While Trey McBride comfortably leads all tight ends with 46 targets, Likely is No. 2 on that list with 35. In fact, Likely's 31.5% target share is the highest among TEs, trailing just Jaxon Smith-Njigba and CeeDee Lamb across the entire league. Likely's team-high 12 targets resulted in 13.6 fantasy points last Sunday ... and he faces the Commanders in Week 5. Washington has allowed the sixth-most fantasy points per game to tight ends and has been taken to task through the air in general. Likely is must-start material and can even be played in your FLEX, if needed.
Notable starts
Pick a category -- targets, catches, yards, fantasy points -- and Loveland has gotten better with each passing week. He's still seeking his first touchdown of 2026, but with his usage and production consistently trending upward, Loveland should be back in lineups.
Gesicki has scored a touchdown and topped 12 fantasy points in three of four games, and the Bengals' wide receiver room is banged up. He's also playing a Miami defense that just gave up 13 catches for 119 yards to T.J. Hockenson.
Johnson has scored double-digit fantasy points in every single game this season. He and Trey McBride are the only tight ends that can claim that feat. If he's still available, add him -- and find a way to start him just about every week, even in your FLEX.
Sit 'Em
Sit of the Week
After scoring 40.5 fantasy points over the first two weeks, Kincaid has notched just 5.5 points since. His utilization absolutely tanked, from a 25.0% target share in Weeks 1 and 2 down to 8.9% in Weeks 3 and 4. It's a baffling trend that makes him very hard to trust entering a matchup with the Rams. Los Angeles has allowed a league-low 85 receiving yards to tight ends -- not per game but total -- through one month. They haven't allowed more than 8.3 fantasy points to a single player at the position, and that seems unlikely to change in Week 5.
Notable sits
Strange was excellent in Week 4, with seven catches for 95 yards ... but that was a matchup against the TE-friendly Bengals. He had seven catches total in the three games prior. If you picked him up off waivers, keep him tucked away on your bench for now.
Outside of his aberrant Week 2 performance against the TE-friendly Bengals (notice the theme), Schultz hasn't had more than 35 yards in a game this season. On the other side, Tennessee has allowed the third-fewest yards (109) and just one touchdown to the position. Hard pass.
