Who Should I Start? KaVontae Turpin or Devaughn Vele

Monday, December 29, 11:55 PM

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver/kick returner KaVontae Turpin caught just one pass in last Thursday's Christmas Day win over the Washington Commanders, but it was a big one in the 30-23 victory in D.C. Turpin's one catch was an 86-yard touchdown hookup with quarterback Dak Prescott in the second quarter. The 29-year-old speedy receiver also returned five kickoffs on the day for 115 yards. The one catch for Turpin was a season-low, but his 86 receiving yards were a season-high in Week 17. Turpin now has 26 receptions on the year for 396 yards and two touchdowns on 37 targets in 14 games in his fourth year in the NFL. The former undrafted free agent has only two games in 2025 with more than two receptions, though, so fantasy managers still playing for a championship in Week 18 should consider Turpin a major liability in starting lineups in Sunday's divisional rematch against the New York Giants. Ironically, Turpin's first TD of the year came against the G-Men back on Sept. 14.

Friday, December 19, 2:45 PM

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Devaughn Vele (shoulder) has been placed on injured reserve, ending his season before the team's Week 16 matchup with the Jets. Vele suffered the season-ending shoulder injury during the fourth quarter of a Week 15 win over the Panthers and had already been ruled out for Sunday. Vele had established a strong rapport with rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, regularly seeing target shares in the high-teens to mid-20s, and his absence should see tight end Juwan Johnson step in as the team's number two pass-catching option behind Chris Olave. Olave, who has seen double-digit targets only once since Shough took over as starter, but has found the endzone in three of his last five games, could once again see the type of heavy volume that defined his early season and is RotoBaller's WR11 for Week 16.