Who Should I Start? Jacob Cowing or Darius Cooper

Monday, January 5, 7:45 PM

The San Francisco 49ers will open the 21-day practice window for wide receiver Jacob Cowing (hamstring) this week, according to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area. Cowing will practice with the team on Wednesday, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan. The 24-year-old is getting closer to returning from Injured Reserve, but he could still be unlikely to be activated to play in the Wild-Card playoff game this Sunday against the hosting Philadelphia Eagles. If Cowing does end up playing against the Eagles, he will most likely only have a role on special teams after missing the entire 2025 regular season. The former fourth-round selection in 2024 out of Arizona caught four of his six targets for 80 yards in 15 games last year in his first season in the NFL. Cowing will be a long shot to surface as an option in playoff fantasy formats.

Sunday, January 4, 9:17 AM

Philadelphia Eagles rookie wide receiver Darius Cooper could handle a much larger workload than usual during Sunday's Week 18 contest against the Washington Commanders. Head coach Nick Sirianni indicated that he will rest several starters on Sunday, and although he didn't specifically list which players will be resting, it's fair to speculate that wide receivers DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown could be among the group. If so, Cooper would likely step into the No. 2 wide receiver role behind Jahan Dotson. Cooper hasn't ascended higher than third on the depth chart this season, so we don't know exactly what his role would look like if he earns the start opposite Dotson. With that being said, he has flashed potential lately. He caught two passes for 29 yards on a 30% snap share in Week 15, and he caught one pass for four yards on a career-high 31% snap share just last Sunday. There's a strong chance that the 24-year-old rookie plays more than half of the snaps if Brown and Smith are sidelined, and that could give him low-end WR3/flex appeal in very deep leagues. Once the Eagles announce which starters are resting, managers could consider adding Cooper to be a desperation WR3/flex play in fantasy leagues with at least 14 teams.