Who Should I Start? Kalif Raymond or Zachariah Branch


Week 1 Projections

Fant.
Pts.
Rush.
Yds.
Rush
TD
Rec. Rec.
Yds.
Rec
TD
3.4 1.0 0.0 1.4 15.0 0.1

Kalif Raymond News

Kalif Raymond Is Becoming More Interesting in Deep Leagues

Thursday, August 13, 11:44 AM

Chicago Bears wide receiver Kalif Raymond has probably earned a bigger offensive role than most expected when he signed in March. Ben Johnson has praised him throughout the offseason, and Raymond has backed that up in camp, including a 54-yard touchdown from Caleb Williams during an 11-on-11 period. Chicago still lists him behind Rome Odunze on the depth chart, with Luther Burden III starting at the other receiver spot, so the path to steady targets is not especially clean. Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet will be involved too. Raymond also sits atop both return jobs, which guarantees he will have a weekly role even if the offensive touches come and go. He caught 24 passes for 289 yards and one touchdown with Detroit last season, so there is not much recent fantasy production to lean on. RotoBaller has him at WR94, which feels about right for normal redraft leagues. He is more interesting than he was a month ago, but that mostly matters in deep formats or leagues that reward return production.


Week 1 Projections

Fant.
Pts.
Rush.
Yds.
Rush
TD
Rec. Rec.
Yds.
Rec
TD
4.4 0.0 0.0 1.7 20.7 0.1

Zachariah Branch News

Zachariah Branch Buried in Falcons' Depth Chart

Tuesday, August 18, 7:33 PM

Atlanta Falcons rookie wide receiver Zachariah Branch is currently in a reserve role and is not expected to carry a heavy workload early in the season. In the Falcons' preseason loss to the Denver Broncos, Branch caught two of four targets for six yards and added three rushing yards on his lone carry. The third-round pick saw just one of eight first-team snaps against the Broncos, with Drake London (2), Jahan Dotson (8), Olamide Zaccheaus (6), and Chris Blair (5) all playing more snaps with Tua Tagovailoa. While Branch has been amid hype this training camp, his role with the first-team offense was very limited in their first game action. His best chance to contribute will be to pass Zaccheaus and handle the slot workload while London and Dotson work the outside. Otherwise, fantasy managers should pivot to better options with higher opportunity than Branch.


Kalif Raymond vs. Zachariah Branch

Still trying to decide between Raymond and Branch? Check on the latest news to make sure both players are active and healthy. Our PPR projections show that Kalif Raymond is projected to score 3.4 points this week while Zachariah Branch is projected to score 4.4 points.