Who Should I Start? Justin Jefferson or DeVonta Smith

Wednesday, October 23, 12:32 AM

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson continues to rank as a high-end WR1 for fantasy football heading into Week 8 against the Los Angeles Rams. While Jefferson's volume has taken a step backward in the Vikings' Sam Darnold-led offense (he's averaging a relatively modest 5.5 catches per game and has not caught more than seven passes in a single game this year), he's a major scoring threat in the Minnesota offense. Not only does he have a touchdown in five of the Vikings' six games this year, but he's also facing off against a Rams defense allowing the ninth-most touchdowns to opposing wide receivers in 2024. All in all, Jefferson has the highest upside among all players in the Vikings' offense and should be treated as high-end WR1 for Thursday night's clash against the Rams.

Sunday, October 20, 8:36 PM

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith caught one of his two targets and lost two yards during the team's 28-3 win over the New York Giants. While this stat line is going to look terrible to those who did not watch this game, there is no real reason to panic here. The Eagles leaned heavily on running back Saquon Barkley in this game and he tallied 187 total yards. Quarterback Jalen Hurts only needed to attempt 14 passes and all of the starters were out of the game in the early fourth quarter. It would have been nice to see the former Heisman winner get more of the target pie with such a low volume of pass attempts, but this was a week we can move on from because of the heavy Barkley reliance. Smith will still be considered a WR2 when the Eagles take on the Cincinnati Bengals.