Who Should I Start? Kyle Philips or Colton Dowell

Tuesday, February 18, 8:54 PM

The Las Vegas Raiders signed free-agent wide receiver Kyle Philips to an undisclosed deal on Tuesday. Philips, a former fifth-round selection by the Tennessee Titans in 2022 out of UCLA will head to the AFC West after spending all of the 2024 campaign on the practice squad of the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2022 and 2023, he caught only 23 of 35 targets for 259 yards and no touchdowns in 13 games played (no starts). The 25-year-old pass-catcher also saw time on special teams as a kickoff and punt returner, which will probably be his best path to a roster spot with the Raiders. Philips will be reuniting with his old head coach at UCLA in Chip Kelly, who is now the Raiders' offensive coordinator under new head coach Pete Carroll. Philips's familiarity with Kelly won't guarantee him a roster spot out of training camp, though.

Tuesday, May 20, 11:33 PM

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Colton Dowell (knee) has been taking part in organized team activities this week after missing the entire 2024 campaign following a torn ACL and meniscus in Week 17 of 2023. Dowell was the team's seventh-round selection (228th overall) in the 2023 NFL draft out of UT Martin. He appeared in only 10 games (one start) in his rookie season and hauled in one of his two targets for three yards. Most of his playing time that year came on special teams. Dowell is once again healthy, though, so he'll be gunning for a bigger role on offense heading into the 2025 campaign this fall. He'll be facing an uphill battle to even make the 53-man active roster out of training camp, though, as he's currently buried on the receiver depth chart behind Calvin Ridley, Tyler Lockett, Van Jefferson, Treylon Burks, rookies Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike, and James Proche II.