Who Should I Start? DeVonta Smith or Rashod Bateman

Friday, December 5, 10:18 PM

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith failed to impress last week against the Bears, finishing with a mediocre five catches for 48 yards on eight targets. He and A.J. Brown both racked up a hefty majority of looks from Jalen Hurts, but while Brown turned those into a dominant showing, Smith fell behind on the stat sheet. Another problem is that Smith has now matched his longest scoreless streak of the season, going three straight games without finding the end zone. In Week 14 he's up against a Chargers defense allowing just 168.3 passing yards per game-good for second-best in the league. Philly already totes a lackluster passing game-averaging 196.3 yards per game-so there may not be enough to go around for Smith and Brown, not to mention the other weapons on the Eagles offense. It's a scary week to rely on him, so Smith should hover around a low-end WR2/FLEX spot versus Los Angeles.

Saturday, December 6, 12:07 PM

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman popped up as a limited participant on Thursday's practice report, but has since registered a full practice on Friday and is good to go against the Pittsburgh Steelers. While he'll be suiting up, his consistency hasn't been conducive to deploying him into fantasy lineups very often. He's only finished in WR3 territory or better twice, and he hasn't received more than two targets since Week 9 or more than two receptions since Week 3. The Steelers have given up the third-most fantasy points to opposing receivers this season, which gives Bateman a bit more value, but he's still projected as the WR70 on RotoBaller's rankings in Week 14.