Fantasy Football Week 6 Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em: Juwan Johnson vs. Jake Tonges
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Two tight ends who were not on the majority’s fantasy football radar have both had impactful performances throughout 2025. Those two tight ends are TE1 of the New Orleans Saints, Juwan Johnson, and current TE1 for the San Francisco 49ers, Jake Tonges. Here is a breakdown on who to start and sit between the two tight ends in week six in fantasy football.
Jake Tonges
The San Francisco 49ers TE Jake Tonges has been unappreciated in the fantasy football landscape, even with his solid play. Through five weeks of the NFL season, he is currently ranked as TE8 in fantasy PPR formats. Over the last two weeks, Tonges has been ranked as TE6. Despite his success, he is only rostered by 15.4% of fantasy owners in ESPN fantasy leagues. George Kittle is trending to coming back soon, with a realistic timeline being in the 49ers week seven game against the Atlanta Falcons, but Tonges is still as good of a TE stream play as there has been all year, and that remains true coming up in week six.
The San Francisco 49ers will take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for their sixth game of the 2025 season. This matchup brings a large possibility of potential big fantasy performances for opposing players. So far this season, the Buccaneers are allowing the 10th most points per game. The Buccaneers have done a solid job of guarding TEs in the open field, holding opposing TE1s to 39.2 receiving yards per game. They have however, struggled as of late guarding them in the red zone
The Buccaneers have allowed four touchdowns in the last two weeks to TE1s–Seattle Seahawks TE1 AJ Barner had two, and Philadelphia Eagles TE1 Dallas Goedert had two. All four of these scores came in the red zone. Tonges has shown his capability of being a red zone threat, catching three touchdowns this season, two of them coming in the red zone, with the other being one yard outside of it.
Juwan Johnson
New Orleans Saints TE1, Juwan Johnson, has come back down to earth after a strong opening to his 2025 fantasy football campaign. Through the first two weeks of the season, Johnson ranked as TE2 in PPR fantasy formats. In the first three weeks of the season, he looked like one of second-year QB Spencer Rattler’s favorite targets. He had 28 targets through those games. In the last two games, his share has dropped drastically only logging seven targets.
Johnson and the Saints in week six will take on the New England Patriots. The Patriots' pass defense in 2025 has been poor. They are allowing the seventh most passing yards per game in the NFL, 242.4. The Patriots have also shown they can struggle with opposing TE1s. Twice this year they have allowed a TE1 over 100 receiving yards. This includes Dalton Kincaid from week five who had six receptions for 108 yards, and Brock Bowers in week one who had five receptions for 103 yards.
Final Verdict: Jake Tonges vs. Juwan Johnson in Week 6
Between Tonges and Johnson, Tonges should be a start while Johnson is a sit. The thing that gives Tonges the edge is his recent ability to find the endzone as of late. He has scored a TD in each of his last two games. That, paired up with the recent struggles of his week six opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in guarding TEs in the red zone, feels like the makings of a huge week for Tonges in fantasy football. Also, WR1 for the 49ers, Ricky Pearsall, is trending to being ruled out this week, which would give Tonges even more opportunity to have a massive outing.
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Gray Deyo is a Nashville-based sportswriter who graduated with a sports management bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He has covered prep sports, college sports, the WNBA, and the NBA for the past four years. In addition to writing for SI, Gray also currently contributes to Prep Girls Hoops