Who Should I Start? Allen Lazard or Marquise Brown

Thursday, July 25, 9:20 AM

New York Jets wide receiver Allen Lazard signed a four-year, $44 million contract to join his longtime quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the organization last offseason, but after Rodgers went down with a torn Achilles on the first drive of the year, Lazard had a disastrous campaign. The former undrafted free agent caught just 23 passes for 311 yards and one touchdown in 14 games. With Rodgers back, Jets reporter Rich Cimini labeled Lazard as a potential bounce-back candidate. "Lazard was one of the standouts in the Jets' first practice, making two nifty catches on passes from quarterback Aaron Rodgers," Cimini wrote. "One good practice doesn't equate to a full comeback, but it should do wonders for his confidence. Privately, some in the organization felt he suffered from a confidence problem last season, his first in New York after signing a big free agent deal." With Mike Williams (knee) on the PUP list, Lazard will see extra reps with the first-team offense. Additionally, there's no guarantee that third-round rookie Malachi Corley will start the season ahead of Lazard in the target pecking order. While it's tough to get excited about Lazard's fantasy prospects, his cost outside the top 100 wide receivers makes him worth a dart throw in deep leagues. After all, he has the most chemistry with Rodgers, who is known for being a stickler on familiarly.

Wednesday, July 3, 7:20 PM

Kansas City Chiefs wide receivers Xavier Worthy and Marquise Brown are expected to bring big plays back to the Kansas City offense this season, according to Adam Teicher of ESPN. While the Chiefs finished the season with the seventh-most total passing yards last season, they were near the bottom with just eight plays of 40 yards or more. This is a significant reason why the Chiefs brought in veteran Marquise Brown, who finished near the top of all receivers last season with 84.6 air yards per game last season. In addition, with the 28th overall selection of this year's NFL Draft, the Chiefs selected Xavier Worthy from Texas, who set a new record in the 40-yard dash at the combine. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes expressed, "I think we've done a great job of mastering the intermediate and short stuff, but we want to get back to having that part of the offense as well." While it is currently unknown who will emerge as alpha in this wide receiver room amid a potential multi-game suspension for Rashee Rice, both of these wideouts will raise Mahomes' weekly ceiling due to their game-changing speed.