Should I start George Kittle or Isaiah Likely in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on George Kittle, and the board ranks him 60th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Isaiah Likely, and the board ranks him 112th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for George Kittle is 4.6 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a tight end's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Isaiah Likely is 2.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 5 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a tight end's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

George Kittle's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, George Kittle has been on the field for 78 percent of SF snaps, drawn 22 percent of the targets and had 15 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 7 of the offence's 50 third down targets, had 1 of its 24 chances inside the five and seen 8 of its 30 two minute targets.

His 46 targets have averaged 7.7 air yards.

In Week 5 against SEA he caught 5 of 6 targets for 24 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against WAS he caught 5 of 8 targets for 69 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against ATL he caught 8 of 10 targets for 88 yards and did not score.

Through Week 7, Isaiah Likely has been on the field for 76 percent of NYG snaps, drawn 27 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 16 of the offence's 61 third down targets, had 2 of its 13 chances inside the five and seen 8 of its 32 two minute targets.

His 63 targets have averaged 8.0 air yards.

In Week 5 against WAS he caught 11 of 13 targets for 94 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

In Week 6 against NO he caught 6 of 11 targets for 99 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against HOU he caught 2 of 4 targets for 12 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 George Kittle played 11 games and scored 161.5 PPR points, 14.7 a game, finishing TE13.

He caught 57 of 69 targets for 628 yards and 7 touchdowns, with 12 red zone targets.

That came to 6.3 targets a game, a 83 percent catch rate and 11.0 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 80 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Isaiah Likely played 14 games and scored 61.7 PPR points, 4.4 a game, finishing TE45.

He caught 27 of 36 targets for 307 yards and 1 touchdown, with 6 red zone targets.

That came to 2.6 targets a game, a 75 percent catch rate and 11.4 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 58 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Isaiah Likely was available for 3 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 George Kittle scored 14.7 PPR points a game and Isaiah Likely 4.4, 10.3 a game between them.

George Kittle finished TE13 that year and Isaiah Likely TE45.

George Kittle had 33 more targets than Isaiah Likely, 69 to 36.

George Kittle had 321 more receiving yards than Isaiah Likely, 628 to 307.

This season George Kittle holds the bigger snap share, 78 percent against 76 percent.

This season Isaiah Likely holds the bigger target share, 27 percent against 22 percent.

Byes and availability

Both are off in Week 8, so a roster holding the pair has that one week to cover twice.