Who Should I Start? Ja'Tavion Sanders or Colston Loveland

Friday, October 3, 1:31 PM

The Carolina Panthers have officially ruled out tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders (ankle) for the Week 5 matchup on Sunday against the visiting Miami Dolphins, per The Athletic's Joe Person. Sanders will miss his second straight game after suffering the dreaded high-ankle sprain back in Week 3. High-ankle sprains can keep players out up to four to six weeks, so Sanders could end up missing a third straight contest next week against the Dallas Cowboys. Even before his injury, Sanders wasn't much of an option for fantasy managers in 12-team leagues. With Sanders sidelined in last week's loss to the New England Patriots, Tommy Tremble stepped up for five catches on eight targets for 42 yards and his first touchdown of the year. Tremble is known as more of a blocking TE, though, so expecting more relevant fantasy production might be a mistake. Still, he'll at least be in play as a TE2 streamer this weekend in a good matchup against Miami. Head coach Dave Canales said the hope is that Sanders is ready to go next week.

Sunday, September 28, 3:21 PM

Chicago Bears tight end Colston Loveland (hip) is officially inactive for Sunday's game against the Las Vegas Raiders. The rookie had been listed as questionable. He missed two practices before being able to log a limited session Friday, but it evidently wasn't quite enough for him to play this week. Loveland has operated in a depth role this season, catching just three of his six targets through three games. On the other hand, Cole Kmet has played at least 90 percent of the snaps in all three contests so far, so he remains an interesting fantasy option whose value will only increase with Loveland sidelined. Kmet should be viewed as a mid-range TE2 for the duration of Loveland's absence.