Who Should I Start? Brock Bowers or Jacory Croskey-Merritt

Monday, October 6, 3:11 PM

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll called star tight end Brock Bowers (knee) "week-to-week" on Monday after the second-year player missed his first game of the year in the Week 5 blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts, according to Paul Gutierrez of ESPN. Bowers injured the PCL in his knee in the season opener and played through it through Week 4, but they finally shut him down last week. The 22-year-old could now be in danger of missing a second straight game in Week 6 against the Tennessee Titans, depending on how his knee responds to treatment this week. Fellow TE Michael Mayer (concussion) missed a second straight game on Sunday as well, which led to the Raiders bringing up Albert Okwuegbunam from their practice squad. Fantasy managers must prepare for another potential absence from Bowers in Week 6. We should know more about his status once the team resumes practicing on Wednesday.

Tuesday, October 7, 10:23 AM

Washington Commanders running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt stepped up in Week 5 against the Chargers, taking 14 carries for 111 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The other running backs were less involved, with Chris Rodriguez Jr. only getting five carries for seven yards and Jeremy McNichols only one carry for six yards. Croskey-Merritt played a season-high 47% of snaps, while McNichols and Rodriguez only played 25% each. The seventh-round pick from Arizona seemed to gel well with returning QB Jayden Daniels and helped the team secure a big road win over the Chargers. This week, Croskey-Merritt and the Commanders are home against the Bears on Monday Night Football, which should be a good matchup for the rookie to continue to assert himself as the leader of the backfield going forward. He's definitely the most dynamic option of the group with the highest fantasy upside.