Who Should I Start? Devaughn Vele or Luther Burden III

Friday, December 19, 2:45 PM

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Devaughn Vele (shoulder) has been placed on injured reserve, ending his season before the team's Week 16 matchup with the Jets. Vele suffered the season-ending shoulder injury during the fourth quarter of a Week 15 win over the Panthers and had already been ruled out for Sunday. Vele had established a strong rapport with rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, regularly seeing target shares in the high-teens to mid-20s, and his absence should see tight end Juwan Johnson step in as the team's number two pass-catching option behind Chris Olave. Olave, who has seen double-digit targets only once since Shough took over as starter, but has found the endzone in three of his last five games, could once again see the type of heavy volume that defined his early season and is RotoBaller's WR11 for Week 16.

Thursday, December 18, 3:12 PM

Chicago Bears rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III (ankle) has officially been ruled out for Saturday's divisional matchup against the Green Bay Packers. The rookie second-rounder was unable to practice this week and will be forced to miss his second game of the season with an ankle injury. The Bears will be short-handed at receiver for a critical Week 16 game, with Rome Odunze (foot) ruled out for the third straight week as he manages a stress fracture in his foot. Burden was surging in Odunze's absence, posting his two highest yardage totals since his 101-yard performance in Week 3. He led the Bears in receiving in both games, hauling in four of six targets for 67 yards in Week 14 versus the Packers, and six of seven targets for 84 yards last week against the Browns. DJ Moore, Olamide Zaccheaus, and Devin Duvernay will likely see the bulk of the snaps at wide receiver, with rookie tight end Colston Loveland also in line for more targets on Saturday.