Who Should I Start? Curtis Samuel or Mack Hollins

Wednesday, November 19, 2:46 PM

The Buffalo Bills will be without both Mecole Hardman Jr. (calf) and Curtis Samuel (elbow/neck) as they face off against the Houston Texans on Thursday night. The Bills will once again lean on wide receivers Keon Coleman and possibly Josh Palmer in the passing game with the sudden plague of injuries hitting the team. Tight end Dalton Kincaid (hamstring) also remains out, and leading receiver Khalil Shakir (personal) is yet to practice this week. The Bills face an uphill battle against a stingy Texans defense on the road with short rest, meaning it will largely be up to quarterback Josh Allen and running back James Cook to carry the load this week.

Saturday, November 22, 10:42 AM

New England Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins has been a pleasant surprise lately, catching 19 passes for 268 yards over his last four games. He ranks as the WR23 in PPR leagues during that span, but a portion of his contributions came with Kayshon Boutte (hamstring) sidelined. Boutte returns to action this Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 12, raising questions about Hollins' expected role. Fortunately, the veteran receiver was able to carve out a consistent role even before Boutte suffered his injury. In his final game before Boutte got hurt, Hollins played 72% of the snaps with seven catches for 89 yards. For comparison, last weekend, the 32-year-old had an 85% snap share with four catches and 64 yards. Even if Hollins' snap share drops a few percentage points with Boutte back, he should still maintain a sizable role in New England's offense. Managers should be wary of the fact that Cincinnati has allowed the second-fewest fantasy points to receivers playing out wide this season, but Hollins still has upside given his possession skills, as well as his occasional reps in the slot (21.2% rate). He ranks as RotoBaller's WR45 this week and could be a decent flex play.