Who Should I Start? Darren Waller or Ja'Tavion Sanders

Thursday, December 18, 11:46 AM

Despite having to deal with a new quarterback in Week 16, Miami Dolphins tight end Darren Waller (knee, rest) is expected to maintain a critical role in the team's passing game when they line up with the Cincinnati Bengals at home. The 33-year-old is fresh off his best outing of the campaign, hauling in a season-high seven passes and two more touchdowns, giving him six scores in seven appearances. Unfortunately for Waller, any rapport he'd built up with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa won't translate when rookie signal-caller Quinn Ewers takes the field for his first NFL start. With the current state of Miami's offense, there's little reason to believe the veteran's role would shrink, although it's fair to expect diminished production. Favorably, Cincinnati's defense has allowed the most fantasy points per game to TEs (22.66), leaving Waller as a back-end TE1 for the outing.

Saturday, December 13, 12:36 PM

Ja'Tavion Sanders did not see a single target in Week 13 against the Los Angeles Rams. In that game, Sanders was mainly utilized as a blocker and played on 48% of the snaps. In 10 games played this year, Sanders has averaged 4.3 PPR Points Per Game. New Orleans ranks 12th in Fantasy Points Per Game allowed to the TE position. Notably, Sanders had his second-best performance of the season against the Saints in Week 10, when he totaled 8.2 PPR points with five receptions on 32 receiving yards. Still, Sanders does not see enough consistent volume to warrant being rostered during the fantasy playoffs. Sanders has been targeted 5+ times in a game only twice this season, and he has no receiving touchdowns.