Who Should I Start? Allen Lazard or Bucky Irving

Sunday, July 27, 8:53 PM

The New York Jets' Allen Lazard has had "a very quiet" training camp thus far and is dropping in the team's wide receiver pecking order as a result, Rich Cimini of ESPN reports. Meanwhile, free-agent addition Josh Reynolds has emerged as the odds-on favorite for the No. 2 role opposite star Garrett Wilson. Lazard appeared in 12 games last year and caught 37 of 60 targets for 530 yards and six touchdowns. The belief during the offseason was that the Jets would move on from Lazard, particularly with the departure of his friend and longtime quarterback Aaron Rodgers, but he wound up taking a pay cut to stay. Now a member of what could be a run-heavy offense with Justin Fields replacing Rodgers, Lazard probably won't make much of an impact from a fantasy standpoint in 2025.

Tuesday, July 29, 8:02 AM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving was one of the biggest surprises from the 2024 draft class. He wrestled the lead-back role away from Rachaad White mid-season and rushed for 1,122 yards and eight touchdowns. Irving, who weighs under 200 pounds, told CBS Sports' Pete Prisco that he feels he can handle a large workload, but Prisco tweeted that he thinks the Bucs might try to limit him a bit to keep him fresh because of his small stature. While fantasy gamers would prefer for Irving to see all the work out of Tampa Bay's backfield, it is clear that the team still wants to give touches to White and Sean Tucker. That being said, Irving is still the lead back and showed last season he can be a dominant force at the running-back position. The team keeping him fresh is a positive in the long run and shouldn't deter fantasy managers from grabbing him as a low-end RB1 in upcoming drafts.