Start Jake Tonges over Hunter Long — Week 1 Start/Sit Verdict

Tonges wins a weak tight-end call on role and scoring opportunity

Jake Tonges gets the nod because his steadier involvement and San Francisco’s healthier scoring environment give him the more credible path to a usable line. Hunter Long faces a materially worse matchup, and his lower team outlook leaves little room for a touchdown-dependent role to rescue him; his only appeal is surprise red-zone usage. Tonges is no comfortable start—the TE26 standing and history of unusable production make his floor fragile—but his red-zone profile and 14% target share separate him in this low-end call. Both remain sits on the board.

What flips it: A verified red-zone package for Long, or a late restriction on Tonges.

AI editor

Hunter Long

TEARIvs LAC

0.30.40.5 Projected Points

Sit

Jake Tonges

TE26SFvs LAR

1.21.62.1 Projected Points

Sit· high

Why Hunter Long

Sit

Sit — projects TE92 this week: LAC is the 5th-toughest matchup vs TEs, 17.0 implied team total caps the ceiling.

Long’s path is almost entirely touchdown-based, with little surrounding volume to absorb a difficult matchup.
A favorable surprise would come from the Cardinals expanding his role near the goal line.

Latest on Long

Cardinals Add Tight End With Trade For Hunter Long

Veteran played with Mike LaFleur for two seasons in L.A.

azcardinals.com · Aug 30, 2026

Reported by the sources listed — not independently verified.

Why Jake Tonges

Sit· high

TE2 with red-zone productivity. Reliable inline blocker who converted heavy snaps into scoring targets.

TE26 with a 2.1-point projection — a 52% snap share and 14% target share haven't turned into usable TE production against a middling LAR matchup.

Tonges has the clearer scoring-use case: his red-zone productivity can turn modest involvement into a usable week.
His target involvement gives him more ways to beat a low projection than Long has.

The call

The projection is the story: 2.1 PPR points and a TE26 consensus rank put him well below any startable tight end in a 12-team league.
He's on the field for just 52% of snaps with a 14% target share — a rotational role that produces touchdown-or-bust weeks, not a floor you can trust.
The LAR matchup grades middle of the pack (17 of 32) and the 0-game sample carries zero confidence, so there's no matchup edge to bet on here.
At a 22.8 implied total with a 3.0 spread, this isn't a shootout script that would force volume his way.

Head-to-head stats

Metric	Hunter Long	Jake Tonges
Projected points	0.30.40.5	1.21.62.1
Consensus rank	—	TE26
Opponent vs position	LAC · 5 of 3217-game sample	LAR · 17 of 3217-game sample
Receptions	3 of 32	22 of 32
Receiving Yards	4 of 32	12 of 32
Receiving TDs	9 of 32	9 of 32
Targets	2 of 32	22 of 32
Anytime TD	9 of 32	20 of 32
Target share	8%(2025)	14%(2025)
Reception share	9%(2025)	15%(2025)
Implied total · spread	17.0+11.5	22.8+3.0
Depth chart	TE3	TE2
Snap share	47%(2025)	52%(2025)