Who Should I Start? Marcus Mariota or Pat Bryant

Thursday, December 18, 5:29 PM

Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota has a tough matchup in Week 16 against his former team, the Philadelphia Eagles. Mariota will remain Washington's starter for the remainder of the regular season after the team shut down Jayden Daniels (elbow) after aggravating his elbow injury in Week 14. The 32-year-old signal-caller has been solid all season while filling in for Daniels, completing 62% of his passes for 1,600 yards, 10 touchdowns, and seven interceptions while adding 49 carries for 298 yards and a touchdown as a runner in 10 games (seven starts). Mariota is averaging 18.4 fantasy points per game in his seven starts, which would be tied for QB11 on the season among quarterbacks with at least six games. Mariota profiles as a QB2 on Saturday against an Eagles defense that has allowed the 10th-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks.

Wednesday, December 17, 6:03 PM

Denver Broncos rookie wide receiver Pat Bryant (hamstring) was a full participant in Wednesday's practice, according to Zac Stevens of DNVR Sports. A hamstring issue kept Bryant from playing in the Week 15 win over the Green Bay Packers. Head coach Sean Payton said the 23-year-old could have played if it were a playoff game. Now that Bryant is back to practicing in full, he should be active this Sunday versus the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars, barring a setback in the next two days. Bryant's impending return is bad news for second-year wideout Troy Franklin, who caught all six of his targets for 85 yards and a touchdown against Green Bay. Before his hamstring injury, Bryant was seeing more involvement in Denver's passing attack, catching 12 of 17 targets for 156 yards in Weeks 11, 13, and 14. If he's back this weekend, Bryant profiles as a WR4/flex option in deeper fantasy formats. He has just one trip to the end zone in his first 13 NFL contests.