Who Should I Start? Lamar Jackson or C.J. Stroud

Friday, July 26, 1:52 PM

The Baltimore Ravens announced that quarterback Lamar Jackson (illness) will remain sidelined due to his illness and will not take part in Friday's training camp practice. Jackson will continue to undergo further evaluation and receive care from the medical staff. The 27-year-old two-time MVP returned to the practice field on Wednesday but apparently is still under the weather from an illness that he first came down with last weekend. He should be fully recovered well before the start of the 2024 regular season, so fantasy managers should have nothing to worry about. When healthy, Jackson is one of the most dangerous dual-threat signal-callers in the league and is a top-five fantasy QB. What he lacks with his arm, he more than makes up for with his rushing ability. Jackson had a career-high 3,678 passing yards with 24 touchdown passes and seven picks in 16 regular-season starts in 2023.

Thursday, July 18, 2:03 PM

Houston Texans second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud, who won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2023, said he thinks there are "a ton of things" he can do better in his second year in the NFL, starting with "owning the offense more" than he did a year ago. Stroud also hopes to improve his footwork in Year 2 and focused on his desire for the team to put more "on my plate" in terms of directing the offense. "I want to definitely attack down the field more this year and press guys back, but also take what the defense gives me," Stroud said. "If it's a boring play, stick with the boring stuff and just be efficient with that. Those are all things I can get better at." Fantasy managers shouldn't consider the 22-year-old to be a high-end QB1 just yet, but he's no doubt going to be a popular midrange QB1 target after the phenomenal rookie season he had.