Who Should I Start? Jermaine Burton or Dont'e Thornton Jr.

Sunday, September 14, 11:42 AM

For the second straight week to begin the 2025 season, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Jermaine Burton is a healthy inactive for the Week 2 contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Burton had a pretty rough rookie season in 2024 that involved some maturity issues, but he got rave reviews during training camp in the summer. For now, though, Charlie Jones is ahead of him as the team's WR4 behind Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Andrei Iosivas. The 24-year-old former third-rounder caught four passes for 107 yards on 14 targets in 14 games in his rookie season. Burton isn't anywhere close to the fantasy radar in redraft leagues right now.

Tuesday, October 21, 9:11 PM

Las Vegas Raiders rookie wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. has largely been phased out of the team's offense in recent weeks. Thornton Jr. has recorded five catches for 94 yards on 19 targets across seven games this season. However, he has been held without a reception in each of his last four games played. For the time being, Thornton Jr. appears to be firmly behind Jakobi Meyers, Tre Tucker, and Jack Bech on the wide receiver depth chart in Las Vegas. That could change in the coming weeks, as Meyers has reportedly been seeking a trade away from the 2-5 Raiders. With Meyers (knee, toe) inactive in Week 7 due to injury, Thornton Jr. played a season-high 86% of the team's offensive snaps. Even if Meyers is traded, Thornton Jr. will be tough for fantasy managers to trust given his lack of production so far. Still, he's a name to monitor in deeper leagues if the Raiders deal Meyers at some point before the NFL trade deadline.