Who Should I Start? DeMario Douglas or Rome Odunze

Friday, January 23, 9:40 PM

New England Patriots wide receiver DeMario Douglas scored in the Divisional Round win over the Houston Texans last weekend, but he had only two catches and 36 yards otherwise. Douglas never had more than four catches in a single game during the regular season, and he hasn't caught more than two passes in a contest since the Dec. 1 win over the New York Giants. The 25-year-old had a total of 31 receptions (46 targets) for 447 yards and three touchdowns in 17 regular-season games. Douglas finished fifth on the team among receivers in last Sunday's win with just 17 snaps on offense. He has played over 34% of the snaps in a game just once, and that was all the way back in Week 1. With Douglas not seeing the field much and quarterback Drake Maye spreading targets around, it seems unlikely that Douglas will have breakout potential in the AFC Championship against a Denver Broncos team that allowed the fifth-fewest half-PPR points per game to WRs. During the regular season, Douglas averaged just 5.0 half-PPR points per game.

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.