Who Should I Start? Devaughn Vele or Dont'e Thornton Jr.

Wednesday, October 29, 12:38 AM

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Devaughn Vele caught one of his five targets for 10 yards in their Week 8 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Vele played a season high 51.4% of the snaps and had his most targets in a game since Week 12 of last season with the Broncos. The 27-year-old was traded to the Saints for a fourth-round pick in late August and has mostly held a depth role through eight games, catching five of 10 targets for 39 yards and a touchdown. Barring a trade to either Chris Olave or Rashid Shaheed, Vele is unlikely to be relevant for fantasy purposes this season.

Tuesday, October 21, 9:11 PM

Las Vegas Raiders rookie wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. has largely been phased out of the team's offense in recent weeks. Thornton Jr. has recorded five catches for 94 yards on 19 targets across seven games this season. However, he has been held without a reception in each of his last four games played. For the time being, Thornton Jr. appears to be firmly behind Jakobi Meyers, Tre Tucker, and Jack Bech on the wide receiver depth chart in Las Vegas. That could change in the coming weeks, as Meyers has reportedly been seeking a trade away from the 2-5 Raiders. With Meyers (knee, toe) inactive in Week 7 due to injury, Thornton Jr. played a season-high 86% of the team's offensive snaps. Even if Meyers is traded, Thornton Jr. will be tough for fantasy managers to trust given his lack of production so far. Still, he's a name to monitor in deeper leagues if the Raiders deal Meyers at some point before the NFL trade deadline.