Who Should I Start? Keenan Allen or Adam Thielen

Thursday, January 8, 12:08 PM

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen was the team's leading receiver in the Week 18 regular-season finale against the Denver Broncos and he caught seven passes, his most since a season-high 11 grabs back on Oct. 19. However, Allen had just 36 yards on Sunday with backup quarterback Trey Lance getting the starting nod with the Bolts resting Justin Herbert. The week prior, the 33-year-old Allen had just one catch for 17 yards in the loss to the Houston Texans. Allen has not scored since Week 7 and hasn't gone over 50 receiving yards in a contest since Week 11 against the Jaguars. He is a trustworthy security blanket for Herbert, the problem is that L.A.'s beat-up offensive line doesn't give Herbert much time to find his receivers. All of the Chargers' wideouts are shaky fantasy options going into the postseason against a Patriots defense that has allowed the sixth-fewest half-PPR points per game to WRs in the last five weeks.

Wednesday, January 14, 1:25 PM

Wide receiver Adam Thielen announced his retirement from professional football on social media on Wednesday, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Thielen played 13 years in the NFL and was a two-time Pro Bowler with the Minnesota Vikings. The 35-year-old originally went undrafted before latching on with the Vikings in 2014. He played 10 years in Minnesota before two years with the Carolina Panthers in 2023 and 2024. Thielen began the 2025 campaign with the Vikings before latching on with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He had 19 receptions for 186 yards and no touchdowns during the regular season in 16 games with Minnesota and Pittsburgh. Thielen will wrap up his NFL career with 704 catches for 8,497 yards and 64 touchdowns in 178 regular-season games played. His two Pro Bowl seasons came in back-to-back years with the Vikings in 2017 and 2018.