Who Should I Start? Brandin Cooks or Devaughn Vele

Saturday, November 8, 10:23 AM

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks will take on an increased workload after Rashid Shaheed was traded to the Seattle Seahawks. Cooks is expected to operate as the Saints' No. 2 receiver behind Chris Olave for the rest of the season, starting with Sunday's Week 10 contest against the Carolina Panthers. The veteran is likely second or third in the pecking order for targets, working behind Olave and perhaps tight end Juwan Johnson, too. While New Orleans' offense has struggled this season, they've also been playing from behind in most of their games, creating additional volume for the passing game, led by Tyler Shough. An uptick in targets could be enough to generate low-end WR3/flex appeal for Cooks in deeper leagues. He's a solid speculative stash in deep formats, while managers in leagues with 12 or fewer teams can keep an eye on him.

Wednesday, November 5, 1:19 PM

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Devaughn Vele should become a bigger part of the team's passing attack, starting in Week 10 against the Carolina Panthers this Sunday, after the Saints traded Rashid Shaheed to the Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday. Vele played only 29% of the offensive snaps in last week's loss to the Los Angeles Rams and was not targeted at all. However, in the Week 8 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 27-year-old played a season-high 51% of the snaps and was targeted a season-high five times. Expectations must be tempered in a Saints offense being run by rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, but there's no denying that Vele will see a playing time increase in the second half of the season with Shaheed no longer in town. The former seventh-rounder of the Denver Broncos has only five catches on his 10 targets this year for 39 yards and a touchdown in eight games played.