Who Should I Start? Brandin Cooks or Josh Downs

Wednesday, November 26, 12:45 AM

Former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks signed with the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday and figures to immediately factor into the Bills' plan at wide receiver in some capacity. The Bills have been tinkering with their wide receivers on the roster over the past few weeks, trying to find the right combination on the field. They signed the former Buffalo Bill Gabe Davis back to the roster along with former Kansas City Chiefs wideout Mecole Hardman, but then he was placed on injured reserve with a calf injury. Second-year wideout Keon Coleman has served as a healthy inactive for the past two games for disciplinary reasons. Cooks will have an opportunity to make an impact, although it will take him some time to get up to speed. The veteran hasn't shown much in the past two seasons with the Saints and Cowboys, but he isn't too far removed from a solid 2023 season with the Cowboys, where he recorded 54 receptions for 657 yards and eight touchdowns on eight targets in 16 games. Cooks could be worth monitoring over the next few weeks to see how he is integrated into the offense.

Tuesday, December 16, 12:43 PM

In 44-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers' first NFL game in five years with the Indianapolis Colts in Sunday's 18-16 loss to the hosting Seattle Seahawks, wide receiver Josh Downs caught his lone touchdown pass. Downs played a season-high 72% of the offensive snaps in Week 15 in Rivers' first game replacing Daniel Jones, who is out for the year with a torn Achilles. The 24-year-old wideout was tied for second on the team with five targets, catching three of them for only 13 yards and his fourth touchdown of the year. All in all, it wasn't anything special for fantasy football production, but it was notable that Downs tied Michael Pittman Jr. in targets, with Alec Pierce seeing just one look from Rivers. With Rivers shotputting balls to his receivers, Downs could become a more attractive short-area target over Pierce to close out the season, making him worth a look off the waiver wire as WR depth. Downs is rostered in 43% of Yahoo leagues.