George Kittle vs Trey McBride: Who Should You Start?
Two tight ends who will land on plenty of the same rosters in 2026. George Kittle (San Francisco 49ers) finished the 2025 season averaging 12.1 fantasy points per game in 11 games. Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) came in at 14.9 PPG over 17 games. The gap is real but not insurmountable with the right matchup.
Trey McBride carries a 2.8-point PPG advantage from the 2025 season. That baseline matters, but it is one input among several. Matchup difficulty, scoring trends, and injury reports move the needle week to week, which is why the best answer changes depending on when you are asking.
Trey McBride is the volume tight end in this matchup with 126 receptions for 1239 yards, while George Kittle profiles as a more touchdown-dependent spike play (7 scores on 57 catches). In weeks where George Kittle finds the end zone he out-scores Trey McBride, but the floor gap is real.
George Kittle has his bye in Week 9, and Trey McBride rests in Week 11. Managers rostering both need waiver wire depth at tight end for those two weeks, and that is exactly the kind of planning DraftCall's matchup engine surfaces automatically so you are not scrambling on a Sunday morning.
