Who Should I Start? DeAndre Hopkins or Christian Kirk

Saturday, September 13, 7:47 AM

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins proved why he's a three-time All-Pro with an amazing one-handed grab against the Buffalo Bills for a touchdown. While his days of 100+ targets per season are in the rearview mirror, he can still play that outlet role whenever called upon. The biggest issue for fantasy managers is that it's nearly impossible to predict which games he'll be more involved in compared to the others. In Week 2, he'll go up against the Cleveland Browns, who do have a better and more aggressive defensive unit. Hopkins might be viable in very deep leagues, but he likely won't receive more targets than Mark Andrews again, which would leave him around fourth in the target pecking order. So managers in 12-team leagues can safely leave him on the bench.

Tuesday, September 16, 3:24 PM

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said on Tuesday that wide receiver Christian Kirk (hamstring) is expected to return in Week 3 against the division-rival Jacksonville Jaguars after he missed the first two games of the year with a hamstring injury. Houston will welcome Kirk back with open arms after opening the season 0-2. While Kirk should operate as the starter out of the slot, he'll be a pretty shaky flex play in fantasy in his Texans debut this Sunday, especially since quarterback C.J. Stroud has been under pressure on 39% of his dropbacks through two weeks -- seventh-most among starting QBs. The return of Kirk should only help Houston's offense, though, and take some attention off All-Pro wideout Nico Collins. Rookies Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel will have an even harder time standing out with Kirk back in the fold.