Who Should I Start? Michael Mayer or Terrance Ferguson

Sunday, January 4, 7:54 AM

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer should continue to operate in a high-volume role during Sunday's Week 18 contest against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Raiders recently placed Brock Bowers (knee) on injured reserve, ending his season and putting Mayer into the starting role for the final two games of the year. Last weekend, he exploded as the top target in Geno Smith's offense, catching nine of 10 targets for 89 yards. In total, throughout the three games that Bowers has missed and Mayer has played this year, the latter tight end has 15 catches, 149 yards, and one touchdown. A quarterback change is expected in Week 18, though, as Kenny Pickett steps in for the injured Smith (ankle). Pickett struggled to the tune of 64 yards and one turnover in his lone start this year, but he should still be able to support a fantasy-relevant role for Mayer on Sunday. At worst, Mayer will operate as a security blanket in case Pickett struggles to throw the ball deep or needs to get the ball out quickly. As it stands, he ranks as the overall TE8 in RotoBaller's latest fantasy football rankings for Week 18.

Wednesday, January 14, 6:41 PM

Los Angeles Rams rookie tight end Terrance Ferguson (hamstring) was a full participant in the first practice of the week on Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Daily News' Adam Grosbard. A hamstring injury kept Ferguson from playing in the Week 18 regular-season finale against the Arizona Cardinals and the Wild-Card win over the Carolina Panthers last Saturday. Now that the 22-year-old is practicing in full again, though, he should be ready to play on Sunday against the Chicago Bears in the Divisional Round. For fantasy purposes, managers should be looking in another direction. Ferguson scored in each of his last two games, but that was before Tyler Higbee returned from Injured Reserve. The Rams also have Colby Parkinson, who has been involved since Higbee's return. Ferguson had only 11 catches during the regular season and will most likely struggle to produce this weekend.