Who Should I Start? Cooper Kupp or Rashid Shaheed

Wednesday, May 28, 10:14 PM

The Athletic's Michael-Shawn Dugar writes that new Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp could work underneath in the middle of the field in his first year with the team, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba serving as the big-play threat deeper down the field. Kupp and Smith-Njigba have overlapping skill sets, and general manager John Schneider said the use of tight splits will make the two wideouts hard to defend. Seattle could align JSN more out wide as opposed to in the slot, where he spent 77.4% of his snaps last season. Smith-Njigba led all receivers in yards (956) and catches (79) from the slot in a breakout campaign. It will be interesting to see how offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak uses both Kupp and Smith-Njigba in 2025. Kupp is on the wrong side of 30 and has missed five or more games three seasons in a row due to injuries. JSN has the higher ceiling, and we can't count on a ton of volume from Kupp at this point in his career.

Thursday, October 17, 4:42 PM

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed (knee) will miss the remainder of the 2024 season, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Shaheed was placed on the injured reserve earlier on Thursday but now faces a four-to-six-month recovery, which will keep him out for the remainder of the season. This is a significant loss for the New Orleans passing attack, as Shaheed was enjoying a breakout campaign. Across the first six weeks, Shaheed eclipsed 15.0 PPR points four times and averaged 58.2 yards per game. Fantasy managers should expect Chris Olave to be the top option once he returns from his concussion. On Thursday evening against the Denver Broncos, Bub Means and Mason Tipton will likely operate as the top two pass catchers.