Who Should I Start? Luke McCaffrey or Jaylin Noel

Friday, October 3, 10:19 PM

Washington Commanders wide receiver Luke McCaffrey will have another opportunity for more playing time in Week 5. Washington continues to deal with multiple injuries at wide receiver, with Terry McLaurin (quadriceps) and Noah Brown (groin) both ruled out again for Sunday. McCaffrey has now scored touchdowns in back-to-back games without those two players, finding the end zone for the first time in his career on a 43-yard catch and run against the Raiders in Week 3. The second-year wideout, however, hasn't run a high number of routes in any game this season, despite injuries to the top of Washington's receiver room. He ran a season high of just 13 routes this past week against Atlanta. That signals that the coaching staff prefers not to use him on the outside, as journeyman receiver Chris Moore stepped into that role and ran close to a full number of routes against Atlanta. McCaffrey's role could expand this week against a stingy Chargers defense, but he's likely only playable in deeper leagues.

Tuesday, October 7, 9:59 PM

Houston Texans rookie wide receiver Jaylin Noel had the best game of his young NFL career in Week 5 against the Baltimore Ravens, recording two catches for 13 yards and a touchdown on three targets. Noel has played a limited role so far this season, logging just five catches for 23 yards and a score on seven targets across five games. Noel has also yet to play more than 31% of the Texans' offensive snaps in any games and currently appears buried on the wide receiver depth chart behind Nico Collins, Xavier Hutchinson, Jayden Higgins, and Christian Kirk. The 23-year-old Noel has some long-term appeal and could be a stash candidate in deep redraft leagues. Still, in the short term, he's a long shot to provide consistent fantasy production.