Who Should I Start? River Cracraft or Marquez Valdes-Scantling

Monday, August 19, 1:02 PM

Dolphins wide receiver River Cracraft (upper-body) is sidelined with an upper-body injury and is expected to miss some time in the regular season. Cracraft had a strong summer in his third season with Miami and seemed likely to start as the third receiver behind Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, especially with Odell Beckham Jr. (undisclosed) still on the PUP list. However, Cracraft's injury raises the possibility that he could be placed on injured reserve when the Dolphins finalize their 53-man roster. By August 27, the Dolphins will have three options for handling Cracraft: keep him on the 53-man roster until he recovers, initially include him on the roster and then place him on IR on August 28, or put him on IR immediately, which would count as one of the two IR moves allowed on cutdown day under new NFL rules. This situation simplifies the roster decisions and opens up a spot for Erik Ezukanma, who had an impressive preseason debut against Washington. If the Dolphins keep six wide receivers, Ezukanma could join Hill, Waddle, Beckham, Braxton Berrios, and rookie Malik Washington, who will secure a spot on the roster. With these receiver injuries, Hill and Waddle will likely see even more targets, boosting Hill's value as the top overall pick in redraft leagues.

Monday, October 21, 6:44 PM

Veteran free-agent wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling signed an undisclosed deal with the New Orleans Saints on Monday, according to sources. It's a bit surprising that the Chiefs didn't lure Valdes-Scantling back given all their injuries at the receiver position, but New Orleans has needs of their own at the position after they lost deep threat Rashid Shaheed (knee) to a torn meniscus last week. In addition, Chris Olave (concussion) could be in danger of missing a second straight game in Week 8 against the Los Angeles Chargers. If Olave doesn't clear the concussion protocol in time to play this Sunday, MVS will likely just be serving as receiving depth behind rookies Mason Tipton and Bub Means and Cedrick Wilson Jr. The Buffalo Bills released MVS after he caught only two of his nine targets for 26 yards in six games to begin this season.