Who Should I Start? Jordan Addison or Zay Flowers

Friday, October 31, 4:48 PM

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison remains a quality WR3/flex option when his team takes on the Detroit Lions in a Week 9 meeting of NFC North foes. It remains to be seen how the USC product meshes with starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy, with whom Addison has never appeared in a regular-season game. McCarthy has played in just two games since the start of 2024, and Addison was suspended for both of them. Addison has a decent matchup against a Lions team that has surrendered 14 passing touchdowns in seven games, which is one of the worst marks in the league, but Minnesota has had major issues protecting the quarterback. The Vikings rank 31st in sack rate and managed a miserable 47 plays last week in a loss to the L.A. Chargers, though Addison accounted for the team's only touchdown. Addison has shown steady fantasy appeal this season, giving managers reason to believe he can perform even in the midst of the Vikings' struggles.

Thursday, October 30, 9:56 AM

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers gets his starting quarterback back on the field for the Thursday night contest with the Miami Dolphins. While he posted a low-level WR2 performance in Week 8, his best games came during Weeks 1, 2, and 4. One of the reasons why Flowers isn't projected as a WR1 is that the Dolphins are the number-one ranked unit against opposing receivers in fantasy football this year. They allow 25.84 points to opposing receiver groups on average, and when Jackson is on the field, he tends to spread the ball around to his pass-catchers a lot more than any of their backups. So, even with the firepower returning to the offense, Flowers projects to be around WR16 this week.