Jake Ferguson or Michael Mayer: Who Should You Start?

The call

• Consensus TE11 at 9.8 PPR points puts him inside the starting range in a 12-team league, and there's no injury designation to work around.
• A 17% target share on 67% of the snaps is high-end volume for the position — Ferguson is a genuine focal point in this passing game, not a matchup-dependent flyer.
• Dallas' 25.0 implied total and a 1.5-point spread point to a competitive, pass-heavy script that keeps his target floor intact.
• Risk is touchdown variance: much of his weekly upside is red-zone dependent, so a scoreless day likely lands near 7-8 points rather than a bust.

The call

• Consensus TE12 with 9.3 projected PPR points puts him right on the last-starter line in a 12-team league: startable if your alternative isn't a top-12 tight end, benchable if it is.
• Role is real but not featured — 62% snap share and a 13% target share over 13 games means he's on the field enough to produce but isn't the engine of the passing game.
• Game script is neutral-to-helpful: a 22.3 implied team total as a 3-point favorite suggests a competitive game without the volume spike a shootout or trailing script would create.
• No injury designation, so the floor is secure; what tips this to a start is a red-zone or two-target-share bump, and what tips it to a sit is any healthy top-12 TE on your bench.