Who Should I Start? Cooper Rush or Michael Pittman Jr.

Saturday, December 21, 12:09 PM

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush is set up with a friendly matchup on Sunday Night Football against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 16 as he looks for a second straight strong performance. Rush had one of his better performances of the year in last week's win over the Carolina Panthers, throwing for 214 yards and a season-high three touchdowns in the 30-14 win. He'll now take on a Buccaneers defense that is tied with the bad Cincinnati Bengals defense for the second-most fantasy points allowed to opposing signal-callers. They've allowed 23 touchdown passes on the year with only seven interceptions, and they've also surrendered the fourth-most passing yards overall. The 31-year-old veteran backup's ceiling obviously isn't a high one, but Rush has the potential to be a very serviceable QB2 in superflex leagues in a primetime game at home on Sunday evening.

Friday, December 20, 10:52 PM

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. was a full participant in practice on Friday. The 27-year-old did not practice on Wednesday, but was back to a full participant the following two sessions to close out the week. The 6-foot-4 wideout has dealt with back issues seemingly all season long, but it has cost him just one week of playing time. The former second-round draft pick has been Anthony Richardson's preferred target in the passing game over the last four weeks since being reinstated as the starting QB, averaging over five catches per contest, albeit for just 60 yards per game. The fifth-year pro hasn't scored a touchdown since Week 6, which happened to be against his Week 16 opponent, the Tennessee Titans. Although he found paydirt in that first meeting, he did so on just three catches for 35 yards. With the Titans allowing the fifth-fewest fantasy points to opposing receivers and with Richardson completing less than 50% of his passes on the season, expectations for Sunday's divisional showdown should be tempered. While the Colts are 3.5-point favorites in this one, there is a low expected total of 42.5 and Pittman Jr. projects as a WR4 this week, so hopefully fantasy managers have other options.