Who Should I Start? Josh Downs or Brock Bowers

Thursday, December 4, 4:07 PM

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs (hip, knee) was upgraded to a full participant in practice on Thursday after he was held out on Wednesday with hip and knee injuries. It looks like Downs will be able to play in a crucial divisional game this weekend on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he's become very hard to trust in weekly fantasy football lineups. The 24-year-old former third-rounder in 2023 out of North Carolina has seen a healthy 12 targets the last two games, but he has turned that into only four receptions for 54 yards and no touchdowns while he continues to see fellow wideout Alec Pierce take on a bigger role in the passing attack. Downs is still an integral part of Indy's offense, but he ranks just inside the top 50 receivers in half-PPR points this year on 40 catches, 370 yards, and three touchdowns. He hasn't done much outside of a three-week stretch from Oct. 12 through Nov. 2, where he caught all three of his TDs on the season.

Saturday, December 6, 7:02 PM

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers is coming off an awesome two-touchdown game against the Los Angeles Chargers last week. Bowers hauled in all four of his targets for 63 yards and two trips to the end zone in the loss. This marked the first time that Bowers has scored a touchdown since Week 9. Fantasy managers are finally getting the elite tight end that they drafted at the beginning of the season. The expectation is that Bowers will see heavy usage this weekend. The Raiders only have three healthy wide receivers, so there's not a ton of competition for Bowers. The 22-year-old is by far the best receiving option on the team. He was held in check during his last outing versus the Denver Broncos in Week 10, catching one of three targets for 31 yards. Bowers will seek revenge in a home matchup this weekend. Fantasy managers should plug in Bowers as a high-end TE1 for this weekend.