Who Should I Start? Hayden Hurst or Terry McLaurin

Saturday, January 11, 3:09 PM

According to the team, Los Angeles Chargers tight end Hayden Hurst and rookie running back Kimani Vidal are both inactive for Saturday's playoff game against the Houston Texans. Both Hurst and Vidal were not on the injury report but will sit out during the opening game of the NFL playoffs. Hurst has appeared in only nine games this season and averaged a mere 1.4 targets per game. Fantasy managers should expect Will Dissly to operate as the clear TE1 on Saturday afternoon. With Vidal sitting out, fantasy managers should expect J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards to lead the backfield. Dobbins carries RB1 upside in this match, while Hurst should be viewed as a TE2.

Wednesday, September 10, 4:01 PM

Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin was slow out of the gate in Week 1 against the Giants, catching two of his four targets for 27 yards. A slow start to the season could have been somewhat expected for McLaurin after limited practice time amidst his contract negotiations. The talk of a slow start could have been mitigated if he and Jayden Daniels were able to connect on a deep shot where McLaurin had his man beat badly on a double move. With the new acquisition, Deebo Samuel Sr. making his team debut, play caller Kliff Kingsbury made an emphasis to get Samuel involved, and he has established a good connection with Daniels after McLaurin missed a lot of time in training camp. A positive, at least for McLaurin, is that he did not face any restrictions regarding his snap count and routes. The star receiver started slow last season as he built rapport with Daniels, and should be expected to bounce back against an exploitable Green Bay secondary. McLaurin has faced the Packers three times in his career and has put up strong numbers, catching 16 of 27 targets for 252 yards and three touchdowns. He should be viewed as a mid-range WR2 with upside in a projected high-scoring Week 2 matchup against the Packers.