Who Should I Start? Deebo Samuel Sr. or Rome Odunze

Thursday, February 12, 7:35 AM

Washington Commanders wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. continued to deliver decent contributions in the passing game last season, which was his first with the team. He finished the year with 72 catches, 727 receiving yards, and five receiving touchdowns, his highest marks in those categories since 2021. He also rushed for 75 yards and an additional touchdown on the ground. Although it was a good but not great year by Samuel's standards, he still finished as the overall WR25 in full-PPR leagues, cementing himself as a low-end WR2 or high-end WR3/flex on a weekly basis. Samuel restructured his contract with the Commanders to become a free agent this offseason, so he'll hit the open market in March. A return to Washington seems possible, but he'll presumably explore all of his options before putting pen to paper. Samuel fits best on a team with an established No. 1 wide receiver, so that he can operate as the No. 2 receiver with contributions as a gadget-type player behind the line of scrimmage or in the short-to-medium passing game. His 2026 fantasy outlook will depend on his landing spot and his eventual quarterback pairing, but for now, we'd expect him to remain a top-30 fantasy receiver.

Thursday, January 29, 12:00 PM

Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze was a popular preseason breakout candidate in fantasy football going into his sophomore campaign in 2025, mainly because of new head coach Ben Johnson. Fantasy managers who drafted Odunze were stoked early on, as he caught 20 of his 35 targets for 296 yards and five touchdowns in the first four weeks. That's where the good news last season ended, as the 23-year-old second-year pass-catcher only had one 100-yard game and scored just one more touchdown all year to finish with a 44-661-6 line in 12 games. Odunze missed the final five games of the regular season due to a stress fracture in his foot, and he caught four of his 12 targets for 88 yards in two postseason contests. It was a disappointing end to what could have been a second-year breakout. The good news is that he won't need surgery on his foot, and his chemistry with rising young quarterback Caleb Williams is strong. There's still a lot of upside with Odunze, but the emergence of young receiver Luther Burden III and tight end Colston Loveland could cap his ceiling in the years to come.