Who Should I Start? Kevin Austin Jr. or Xavier Smith

Sunday, January 4, 8:27 AM

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. is expected to have an expanded role in Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons. The Saints will be without Chris Olave (illness) and Mason Tipton (groin) for the regular-season finale. The absence of those players should push Austin into the No. 1 wideout role in this offense. With all the injuries to the Saints' wideouts, Dante Pettis should also see an increase in target share on Sunday. Austin made himself known to the league when he hauled in four receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown in Week 17's win over the Tennessee Titans. Austin was able to do that with Olave healthy for that game, which means he should be able to produce more without him this weekend. Fantasy managers with something on the line this week can use Austin as a FLEX play, or in DFS contests, might want to target Austin as he's priced at only $3,400 on DraftKings.

Saturday, August 16, 11:52 PM

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Xavier Smith caught all four of his targets for 48 receiving yards during Saturday's preseason victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. He also rushed for five yards. Smith has been quite productive this summer. He paced the team with 55 receiving yards last week, and he now has a total of eight touches and 108 scrimmage yards through two preseason contests. NFL opportunities have been few and far between for the 27-year-old Florida A&M product, but he did total six receiving yards, 36 rushing yards, and a pair of first downs in 2024. Los Angeles' first four wide receiver spots are essentially locked up, which means they only have two or three spots to divide over seven remaining receivers (Smith, Tru Edwards, Mario Williams, Konata Mumpfield, Drake Stoops, Britain Covey, and Brennan Presley).