Who Should I Start? Rashod Bateman or Jameson Williams

Monday, July 28, 4:25 PM

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman (illness) was sent home on Monday due to an illness, according to Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. There's no reason to think this will be a long-term absence for Bateman, but he could conceivably miss the next few days of practice as well. The 25-year-old is coming off the best season of his career in 2024 when he recorded 45 catches for 756 yards and nine touchdowns in 17 games. Baltimore added some talent to the wide receiver room with the offseason addition of DeAndre Hopkins, but Bateman still profiles as an important piece of the team's offense. The Ravens' low-volume passing offense limits Bateman's fantasy upside, but he has some boom/bust appeal as a flex option in deep leagues due to his ability to make plays down the field.

Thursday, July 24, 7:06 PM

Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams has noticed new offensive coordinator John Morton's aggressiveness in his approach to taking deep shots down the field, and it's one of the major areas that Williams thinks he has improved since a year ago, writes ESPN's Eric Woodyard. "My route running -- coach Johnny Mo is letting me run more routes," Williams said. "I knew I could run more routes, but he's putting me in position to run more routes so I'm getting better with cuts and angles and how to run this route and that route, so I would say I'm more polished in my route game." There is a lot of pressure on Morton after Detroit's offense averaged 29 points per game over the last three seasons under Ben Johnson, who is now in Chicago. Williams broke out in 2024, but there are a lot of mouth to feed in this offense, making him a boom/bust WR2/3 target in fantasy.