Who Should I Start? Randall Cobb or Ja'Marr Chase

Thursday, December 28, 7:14 PM

New York Jets wide receiver Allen Lazard (illness) is inactive for the Week 17 game on Thursday night against the Cleveland Browns after coming into the game listed as questionable to play. As a result of Lazard being too ill to play, veteran Randall Cobb will be active for just the 10th time this season. He'll still be behind Garrett Wilson, Jason Brownlee and Xavier Gipson in the receiving pecking order and probably won't be on the field all that much on offense. The 33-year-old has only four catches on 16 targets for 35 yards and a touchdown in his first year in New York. Lazard has been even more of a bust for the Jets in his first year in 2023, catching 23 of his 49 targets for 311 yards and a touchdown in 14 games. He was expected to be a solid No. 2 next to Wilson, but it hasn't worked out that way.

Wednesday, April 24, 2:05 PM

The Cincinnati Bengals exercised the fifth-year option for wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase on Wednesday, as expected. Chase is now officially locked up through the 2025 season. The 24-year-old former fifth overall pick in 2021 out of LSU has made the Pro Bowl in each of his three seasons in the NFL and set a career-high with 100 catches on 145 targets for 1,216 yards and seven touchdowns in 16 games in 2023, despite the fact that quarterback Joe Burrow (wrist) missed considerable time with a season-ending injury. Chase's seven touchdowns in 2023 were a career-low, but he should bounce back in that department in 2024 as long as Burrow can stay healthy all year. Chase's fantasy arrow continues to point up and he should be considered a top-tier WR1.