Chicago Bears TE Cole Kmet has not missed a game in his NFL career. That is currently in jeopardy as he is questionable for this week’s game against the Atlanta Falcons. Is Kmet going to play in Week 17? How should fantasy fantasy football managers best prepare?
Is Cole Kmet Going To Play Week 17?
Editor’s note: Kmet is expected to be a game-time decision for Week 17, per Ian Rapoport.
Since entering the NFL in 2020, Cole Kmet has not missed a single game. Entering this week, Kmet did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday, putting his game status in serious doubt. Fortunately, Kmet was able to return to a limited session on Friday, ultimately drawing a questionable tag.
Given where we are in the season, veterans will often miss games with injuries they might play through if the team had something to play for. From that perspective, there’s no reason for Kmet to force it this week.
At the same time, the Bears and Kmet seem to both be keenly aware of Kmet’s 65-games-played streak. There’s really no downside to giving Kmet a chance. If he suits up but isn’t healthy enough to go, the Bears can just pull him from the game, simultaneously protecting him and keeping the games-played streak alive.
It’s also worth noting that Kmet was questionable last week due to a quad injury, which he obviously played through. That injury is better but likely not completely gone. If Kmet does play, he will be playing through two injuries.
Nevertheless, Kmet is clearly a tough dude. It sounds like he wants to play. My guess is he guts it out and is on the field against the Falcons this week.
Potential Fantasy Options If Kmet Is Out Include Tucker Kraft, Chigoziem Okonkwo, and Gerald Everett
The NFL has a whopping 10 games at 1 p.m. ET this week. As viewers, it would be much better if the games were more spread out across 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. But from a fantasy standpoint, more 1 p.m. games are better because we have the benefit of clear information on player statuses.
We will know Kmet’s status by 11:30 a.m. It will be important to monitor what pregame reports we get out of Chicago. Even if Kmet is active, there’s a legitimate chance he is limited. The last thing fantasy managers want in the championship is for their starting tight end to play only a handful of snaps.
MORE: PFN’s FREE NFL Playoff Predictor
If fantasy managers do end up needing a replacement, there are a couple of guys available in more than half of Yahoo leagues.
Tucker Kraft is my favorite of the bunch. He’s been playing over 90% of the snaps since Luke Musgrave got hurt and has posted at least 9.5 fantasy points in four of his last five games.
Chigoziem Okonkwo was a popular breakout candidate this season who has failed to launch. But he’s been trending upward recently, with 8.5 points in four of his last five. Last week, Okonkwo found the end zone for the first time all season.
Finally, we have Gerald Everett. I might straight-up prefer him to Kmet anyway. Everett is slated to be Easton Stick’s top option in the passing game with Keenan Allen and Josh Palmer out, and the Broncos allow the most fantasy points per game to tight ends.
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