Who Should I Start? Jermaine Burton or Xavier Hutchinson

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.

Saturday, October 4, 11:56 AM

Houston Texans wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson continues to be the most involved receiver on the outside across the field from Nico Collins, with Christian Kirk playing in the slot. He hasn't had much production in the Texans' ineffective passing game, but he's getting enough work to be worth monitoring coming into this week's matchup with the Ravens, who have allowed the third-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season. Hutchinson played 68% of the team's snaps in Week 4, ahead of both rookie Jayden Higgins (44%) and rookie Jaylin Noel (24%). Hutchinson also had three targets, converting two into catches for 17 yards, while Higgins and Noel only had one target each. Higgins made the most of his catch with a touchdown, but it still looks like Hutchinson is ahead of him on the depth chart. Even with his bigger role and good matchup, Hutchinson is only the WR74 in the RotoBaller rankings, so he is best left on the bench or waiver wires until something changes.