Who Should I Start? Josh Downs or Rome Odunze

Tuesday, December 16, 12:43 PM

In 44-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers' first NFL game in five years with the Indianapolis Colts in Sunday's 18-16 loss to the hosting Seattle Seahawks, wide receiver Josh Downs caught his lone touchdown pass. Downs played a season-high 72% of the offensive snaps in Week 15 in Rivers' first game replacing Daniel Jones, who is out for the year with a torn Achilles. The 24-year-old wideout was tied for second on the team with five targets, catching three of them for only 13 yards and his fourth touchdown of the year. All in all, it wasn't anything special for fantasy football production, but it was notable that Downs tied Michael Pittman Jr. in targets, with Alec Pierce seeing just one look from Rivers. With Rivers shotputting balls to his receivers, Downs could become a more attractive short-area target over Pierce to close out the season, making him worth a look off the waiver wire as WR depth. Downs is rostered in 43% of Yahoo leagues.

Wednesday, December 17, 3:30 PM

Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze (foot) missed another practice on Wednesday, according to Scott Bair of the Marquee Sports Network. Odunze also missed Tuesday's session and looks to be on track to miss a third straight game due to a stress fracture in his foot. Head coach Ben Johnson hinted earlier this week that the 23-year-old second-year pass-catcher could be shut down in the final three weeks of the regular season so that the team can have him closer to full strength for the playoffs. After a strong start to the season, Odunze has been a disappointment to fantasy managers in the second half, and he's likely to be ruled out for Saturday's divisional tilt against the Green Bay Packers unless he returns to practice on Thursday. Rookie Luther Burden III (ankle) has yet to practice this week, either, so Olamide Zaccheaus and Devin Duvernay, in addition to rookie tight end Colston Loveland, could be in for bigger roles this weekend behind DJ Moore if both Odunze and Burden cannot play.