Who Should I Start? Jared Goff or Taylor Heinicke

Friday, December 19, 8:25 PM

Across 14 games this season, Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff has completed 69.3% of his passes for 3,672 yards, 29 touchdowns, and five interceptions. The 31-year-old has thrown for at least 255 yards in seven straight games and has topped 300 passing yards in each of his last two contests. With the Lions' defense struggling, Goff has been forced into more pass-heavy game scripts in the second half of the season. After attempting more than 29 passes in just one of Detroit's first seven games, he's thrown fewer than 33 passes in the team's last seven games. Goff and the Lions have a favorable matchup on paper in Week 16 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Entering Sunday, Pittsburgh ranks 29th in the NFL in passing yards allowed (3,649). The Steelers' pass rush also looks a little less fearsome this week, as star edge rusher T.J. Watt (lung) will miss a second straight game while recovering from surgery to repair a collapsed lung. Given his recent pass volume trends and the opponent, Goff profiles as a low-end fantasy QB1 in Week 16.

Tuesday, August 26, 8:05 PM

The Los Angeles Chargers have released quarterback Taylor Heinicke, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Heinicke was outplayed in the preseason by Trey Lance, who has made the team and will serve as the backup to Justin Herbert in Los Angeles. The 32-year-old Heinicke has played seven seasons in the NFL and made 29 starts. He's been a capable backup for stretches of his career and should be able to find a new home rather quickly. For fantasy purposes, a Herbert injury would now make Lance a priority waiver-wire addition due to his dual-threat ability at the quarterback position.