Who Should I Start? Geno Smith or Jameis Winston

Monday, December 15, 2:59 PM

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith (shoulder, back) has a chance to return to practice this week and play in the team's Week 16 game against the Texans, according to head coach Pete Carroll. Smith was unable to practice in any capacity leading up to the Raiders' Week 15 contest with the Eagles and was officially ruled out on Saturday, leaving Kenny Pickett to make his first start for Las Vegas. Pickett was unable to throw for even 65 yards in the shutout loss to the Eagles, rendering all Raiders players unusable for fantasy. Carroll noted that the team will know more about Smith's status on Wednesday. Whether or not he's able to suit up carries major fantasy implications for managers who were able to slip into the semifinals with Brock Bowers or Ashton Jeanty and are now wondering if they'll need to make the difficult decision to leave them on the bench.

Sunday, November 23, 5:24 PM

New York Giants quarterback Jameis Winston completed 18 of his 36 pass attempts for 366 yards, two passing touchdowns, and one interception during Sunday's Week 12 win over the Detroit Lions. He also got involved in some trickery, adding a third touchdown on a 33-yard reception that was thrown to him by wide receiver Gunner Olszewski. Winston's turnover and low completion rate were unfortunate, but his high yardage and three total touchdowns made him a valuable fantasy option once again. Unfortunately for fantasy managers who were relying on him as a streamer, Winston will head back to the bench in Week 13 if Jaxson Dart (concussion) clears concussion protocol, as expected. The offense belongs to Dart once again, but at least we've seen that Winston can be a fringe top-12 fantasy quarterback if he ever gets thrust back into the starting role.