Who Should I Start? Mike Evans or Jaylen Waddle

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.

Wednesday, October 22, 5:59 PM

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports that the Miami Dolphins are getting calls on wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, but don't "have plans to trade him at this point." With Tyreek Hill (knee) out for the season with a torn ACL, Waddle is a "building block who can translate to any offense." He is due $36 million over 2025-26, which represents a reasonable price for a player of his caliber at his position. ESPN's Dan Graziano writes that Waddle's contract makes him a bit difficult to trade, so the odds are that he'll stay put in Miami this season as their top wideout without Hill in the fold. Miami's offense went off the rails in Week 7 against a tough Cleveland Browns defense, and Waddle had only one catch for 15 yards on four targets. However, the two weeks prior, he went off for 12 catches (17 targets) for 205 yards and a touchdown as quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's top target. Waddle will remain a volume-based WR2/3 in fantasy if he sticks with the Dolphins through this year's trade deadline.