Who Should I Start? Mike Evans or Curtis Samuel

Wednesday, October 22, 7:47 PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers officially placed veteran wide receiver Mike Evans (collarbone) on Injured Reserve on Wednesday after he broke his clavicle in Monday night's loss to the Detroit Lions, according to Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com. Evans will be forced to miss at least four games while on IR, but his absence is expected to be much longer than that. However, he reportedly suffered a clean break of his collarbone and could return to the team in under eight weeks if his rehab goes well. Head coach Todd Bowles said it would be "touch and go" as to whether Evans will be able to get back on the field before the end of the regular season. Fantasy managers can go ahead and drop the future Hall of Famer in redraft leagues. It's a tough blow for Evans, who had just returned from a three-game absence due to a hamstring strain. He will finish shy of 1,000 receiving yards in 2025 for the first time in his 12 NFL seasons.

Monday, October 13, 6:21 PM

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Curtis Samuel (neck, ribs) is officially inactive for the Monday night contest on the road against the Atlanta Falcons, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. In addition to Samuel, the Bills' offense will be missing tight end Dalton Kincaid (oblique) against what has been a much-improved Atlanta defense so far in 2025. The 29-year-old Samuel hasn't been on the fantasy radar to begin with, but his absence on Monday means less depth in the wideout corps for Buffalo behind Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, and Joshua Palmer. The Bills have their bye coming in Week 7, so hopefully Samuel will be ready to go for a Week 8 contest against the Carolina Panthers. Samuel has only been active for two games so far in 2025 and has caught three of his four targets for 35 yards and one touchdown. He had just one TD in 14 games a year ago for Buffalo and should remain on the waiver wire.