Who Should I Start? Keenan Allen or Mike Gesicki

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.

Tuesday, December 30, 3:00 PM

Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki has seen his snap share drop steadily over the past three games. Now, with nothing but divisional pride on the line in a Week 18 matchup with the Browns, there is no guarantee of playing time for the 30-year-old veteran in the first year of the three-year deal he signed this offseason. For fantasy managers still playing into Week 18, there are more alluring names to be found on the waiver wire, with a pleasant number of NFL teams still playing for something in the final week of the regular season. Gesicki did finish as the TE2 as recently as Week 14, so he does represent a ceiling uncommon to the waiver wire, but with an unclear picture of how the Bengals are approaching the end of the season, he is best viewed as a desperation-only play in deeper leagues.