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Should I start Kyle Pitts Sr., Darren Waller, Harold Fannin Jr. for Week 16? Fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks and recommendations for the 2025 NFL season.
It's crunch time in most fantasy football seasons, and with critical games this weekend, every lineup decision is vital to your success. At tight end, some strong options have emerged over the last few weeks, but should they be in your lineup this week?
In this article, we will see if recent top performers Kyle Pitts Sr., Darren Waller, and Harold Fannin Jr. should be started in fantasy in Week 16. Each of these three tight ends has had good performances lately, but has been boom or bust throughout the season for a variety of reasons. Can you trust them to keep rolling this week? This article will analyze each player to determine if they're trustworthy.
So, should fantasy managers start Pitts, Waller, and Fannin in Week 16? Let's dive in and find out.
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Should I Start Kyle Pitts Sr. for Fantasy Football?
Pitts was an absolute beast last week, almost single-handedly carrying the Falcons to a win over the Bucs and his fantasy managers to the next round of the playoffs. He finished the week with one of the best nights ever for a tight end in fantasy football, hauling in 11 of his 12 targets for three touchdowns and 166 yards.
CAREER NIGHT for Kyle Pitts on TNF 💥
🐊 11 receptions
🐊 166 yards
🐊 3 touchdowns @kylepitts__ x #ProBowlVote #GoGators | #GatorMade🎥 @NFL pic.twitter.com/Tq2xcZI87T
— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) December 12, 2025
Pitts has been extremely busy lately, filling in and carrying the load while Drake London (knee) has been out with a PCL sprain. He has 30 targets and 24 catches over the last three games, with those three touchdowns and 338 receiving yards. Kirk Cousins hadn't had success with Pitts in the past, but the veteran QB has been looking his way early and often in the last few weeks.
The matchup is a good one for Pitts as well, since the Cardinals have been a top-10 matchup for tight ends and have allowed four TE touchdowns in the last five weeks.
There are only two possible caution signs for this contest. First, Pitts was limited in Thursday's practice with a knee injury, so he could end up with an injury designation worth monitoring. He was questionable before Thursday's big game as well, so he can still produce even if he's slapped with that tag again.
The other important situation to monitor is London's status for this week. London has also been practicing on a limited basis, so see what the Falcons' injury report has for both of the pass-catchers coming into the week. If London returns, Pitts' target share would likely slip a little, but he would still have an extremely high ceiling.
With what we know at this point, Pitts is the No. 3 tight end this week in RotoBaller's Week 16 rankings. If you have Pitts, he should be in your lineup in all formats for this matchup in Arizona.
Should I Start Darren Waller for Fantasy Football?
Another tight end with multiple touchdowns in Week 15 was Waller, who came up big on Monday Night Football for the Dolphins in their loss to the Steelers.
Tua throws it up 🔝 to Waller for the TD
MIAvsPIT on ESPN/ABC
Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN App pic.twitter.com/TBNzPBUWOj— NFL (@NFL) December 16, 2025
Waller finished with a season-high seven catches for 66 yards against the Steelers and increased his touchdown total to six, even though he has only played six full games.
This week, Waller is in a great matchup against the Bengals, who allow the most fantasy points to the position by a wide margin. They have surrendered 15 tight-end touchdowns and have allowed 91.1 yards per game to the position, while no other team is averaging more than 70 yards per game allowed to tight ends.
Waller's matchup and momentum would push him higher in the start rankings for this week if Tua Tagovailoa were lined up to start for Miami. The Dolphins opted to make a move, though, pivoting to rookie Quinn Ewers, who will make his first NFL start in Week 16 against the Bengals.
Since Cincinnati is such a good matchup and Waller has been so productive, he's still the No. 9 tight end in RotoBaller's rankings, meaning he's worth starting in most formats. However, the Ewers move does bring a risky element of the unknown, since there's really no way to predict how heavily the rookie will target Waller. Waller also continues to have his workload monitored carefully and has been limited in practice both Thursday and Friday. Be sure he has the green light on the injury report, but if he plays, the matchup makes him an amazing potential start.
Should I Start Harold Fannin Jr. for Fantasy Football?
The Browns face the Bills this week, in a matchup on the other end of the tight end spectrum. Buffalo has done a great job limiting tight end production, but Fannin has still established himself to be a starting option in most formats.
The rookie from Bowling Green is up to 66 catches for 667 yards on the season with four touchdowns. He has become a favorite option for rookie QB Shedeur Sanders and has drawn 11 and 14 targets in his last two games. Part of the extra work last week could have been due to David Njoku (knee) being out, and Njoku hasn't been able to return to practice yet this week, setting Fannin up for another busy week.
He scored this touchdown against the 49ers in Week 13 when he finished with 12.3 DraftKings points, and followed that up with 28.4 DraftKings points and 12.0 DraftKings points in the two weeks after that.
34 YARDS for the score!!#SFvsCLE on CBS and NFL+ pic.twitter.com/RS28kF9ngx
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) November 30, 2025
Sanders is relying enough on Fannin, and Fannin has enough play-making upside to make him a starting option in Week 16 despite the tough matchup. RotoBaller has him ranked as the No. 4 TE on the slate, just behind Pitts and ahead of Waller.
If you were able to draft or add any of these three tight ends, you can play them with confidence as top-10 options in Week 16. Hopefully, they'll build on their momentum and help get you to the next round of your fantasy league playoffs.
Who Should I Start Tool
Not sure who to start? Check out the Who Should I Start tool:
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 16 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Kyle Pitts Sr., Darren Waller, and Harold Fannin Jr. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 1. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 16 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 16 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Kyle Pitts Sr., Darren Waller, and Harold Fannin Jr. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 16.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool, but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our Who Should I Start? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 16 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 16 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 16 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 16 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Kyle Pitts Sr., Darren Waller, and Harold Fannin Jr. compared to others:
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