Who Should I Start? Calvin Austin III or Xavier Legette

Tuesday, September 2, 1:11 PM

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said he expects wide receiver Calvin Austin III (abdomen) to play in Week 1 of the regular season this Sunday against the New York Jets, according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN. Austin has been battling an abdominal injury for most of training camp that kept him sidelined for the entire preseason, but he's made solid progress in recent weeks and is expected to be active this weekend. The 26-year-old could be limited early on in practices this week, but as long as he's practing in full by Friday, he should be without an injury designation heading into Sunday's tilt. As far as fantasy value heading into Week 1, Austin will certainly have a bigger role in the passing attack with George Pickens out of town. However, given Austin's injury this summer and Pittsburgh's expected run-first offense, he's not being drafted in most 12-team fantasy formats.

Saturday, August 9, 3:36 PM

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette was ejected from Friday's preseason game against the Cleveland Browns after a first-quarter altercation. The 24-year-old did not record any catches or targets before being thrown out of the 30-10 loss. Legette was a first-round pick in last year's draft, with a rookie stat line of 49-49-4 on 84 targets. Panthers head coach Dave Canales acknowledged that while the play was physical, Legette's response was a liability. "You can't do that... both guys got ejected, rightfully so," Canales said, per Darin Gantt of panthers.com. The incident occurred while Legette was downfield blocking and got tangled up with Browns cornerback Rayshawn Mitchell. RotoBaller projects Legette as WR69 with a slight uptick in catches, yards, and TDs this season. He is most likely to be behind rookie stud Tetairoa McMillan and veteran Adam Thielen in targets. Still, he could emerge as an upside WR4/5 if anything happens to Thielen as the season progresses.