Should I start George Kittle or T.J. Hockenson in Week 7?
Updated Oct 20, 4:21 PM ET. Week 8 answers post Tuesday.
Week 7 verdict
Start George Kittle over T.J. Hockenson
- Market projects
- 13.4
- recent weeks avg
- ATL D vs TE
- 15.6
- 11th most to TEs (2026)
- Snap share
- 75%
- Through Week 6
- Target share
- 22%
- Through Week 6
- Market projects
- 10.6
- recent weeks avg
- IND D vs TE
- 13.3
- 15th most to TEs (2026)
- Snap share
- 60%
- Through Week 5
- Target share
- 21%
- Through Week 5
Start George Kittle: 90 percent of the snaps and 24 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against T.J. Hockenson's 56 percent of the snaps and 21 percent of the targets. No market projection is posted on either of them this week, so this is a usage call, and a lower confidence one than a call made on a projection. What follows is what each of them has done.
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More fantasy football tools and rankings, all built from the same board.
Neither man carries a season projection right now, so this is their usage this season and their last full season's numbers, side by side.
TE1 · SF · bye 8
2026 vs anytime td line 4-2
- Market-based projection
- 15.9 pts a game Wk 6 price
- Overall rank
- 16
TE20 · MIN · bye 6
2026 vs anytime td line 1-4
- Overall rank
- 132
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The gap
- Board size299 draftable players
Draft data is not current for these two, so the figures that depend on it are left out. The call above comes from each player's usage.
Where the draft room stands
Live drafts hold no current pick on George Kittle, and the board ranks him 16th overall on the rest of his evidence.
Live drafts hold no current pick on T.J. Hockenson, and the board ranks him 132nd overall on the rest of his evidence.
The market-based projections
No season market is posted for George Kittle, so the only market valuing him on this page is the draft room.
The market has T.J. Hockenson at 2.0 PPR points a game off 1 market across 7 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.
This season so far
Through Week 6, George Kittle has been on the field for 75 percent of SF snaps, drawn 22 percent of the targets and had 15 percent of the red zone chances.
He has taken 5 of the offence's 43 third down targets, had 1 of its 19 chances inside the five and seen 6 of its 25 two minute targets.
His 36 targets have averaged 8.0 air yards.
In Week 4 against DEN he caught 4 of 6 targets for 70 yards and scored 1 touchdown.
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.
Through Week 5, T.J. Hockenson has been on the field for 60 percent of MIN snaps, drawn 21 percent of the targets and had 15 percent of the red zone chances.
He has taken 10 of the offence's 51 third down targets, had 0 of its 2 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 13 two minute targets.
His 27 targets have averaged 6.6 air yards.
In Week 3 against TB he caught 2 of 4 targets for 11 yards and did not score.
In Week 4 against MIA he caught 13 of 13 targets for 119 yards and did not score.
In Week 5 against NO he caught 1 of 1 target for 7 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 T.J. Hockenson played 15 games and scored 112.8 PPR points, 7.5 a game, finishing TE26.
He caught 51 of 66 targets for 438 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets.
That came to 4.4 targets a game, a 77 percent catch rate and 8.6 yards a catch.
He was on the field for 79 percent of the snaps in the games he played.
T.J. Hockenson was available for 4 games more.
Head to head
In 2025 George Kittle scored 14.7 PPR points a game and T.J. Hockenson 7.5, 7.2 a game between them.
George Kittle finished TE13 that year and T.J. Hockenson TE26.
George Kittle had 3 more targets than T.J. Hockenson, 69 to 66.
George Kittle had 190 more receiving yards than T.J. Hockenson, 628 to 438.
This season George Kittle holds the bigger snap share, 75 percent against 60 percent.
This season George Kittle holds the bigger target share, 22 percent against 21 percent.
Byes and availability
George Kittle is off in Week 8 and T.J. Hockenson in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.
T.J. Hockenson is listed as out on the injury report.
Both players in full
Week 7 on the board
- Is George Kittle playing Week 7?
- Is T.J. Hockenson playing Week 7?
- 49ers depth chart
- Vikings depth chart
- Week 7 TE rankings
- Week 7 fantasy rankings
- Week 7 start or sit
- Week 7 waiver wire
- Week 7 trade value chart
- Fantasy football rankings
- Start 'em sit 'em Week 7
- Waiver wire pickups
- Fantasy sleepers
- Rest of season rankings
- Week 7 kicker rankings
- Week 7 defense rankings
