Who Should I Start? Adam Thielen or Cooper Kupp

Sunday, December 7, 12:53 PM

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Adam Thielen are active for Sunday's Week 14 contest against the Baltimore Ravens. Both players are making their team debuts. Valdes-Scantling was signed from the Steelers' practice squad earlier this week after previously playing for the Buffalo Bills. In five games with Buffalo, he caught four of his eight targets for 40 yards. Meanwhile, Thielen was claimed off waivers after he and the Minnesota Vikings mutually agreed to part ways. The 35-year-old had caught just eight passes through 11 games. He is one year removed from a solid 2024 campaign with the Carolina Panthers in which he caught 48 passes for 615 yards and five touchdowns. Neither player is much of a hot commodity in fantasy football, but they both have the potential to carve out significant roles. After all, the Steelers have been underwhelmed by the wide receiver position across the entire depth chart, including receivers DK Metcalf and Calvin Austin III, and could be looking for meaningful contributions from new faces.

Tuesday, December 9, 2:19 PM

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp finished Week 14 as the WR19 in half-PPR formats, but it came largely on the back of a walk-in touchdown that helped to mask his low volume. Kupp has rarely been taken off the field this year, but in a passing offense run almost entirely through Jaxon Smith-Njigba, he has failed to earn more than four targets in six of his last seven outings, and Sunday's touchdown marked only his second in a Seahawks uniform. Across 12 games this season, he has topped 40 receiving yards only three times, and only once since Week 6. While fantasy managers may have relied on him throughout the year as an injury or bye week replacement, it is unlikely he finds a way into any starting lineups for the fantasy playoffs, and he is best left on the waiver wire.