Who Should I Start? Sterling Shepard or Calvin Ridley

Monday, October 13, 9:40 AM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Sterling Sheppard should be in line for an increase in workload moving forward, with Mike Evans (hamstring), Chris Godwin (fibula), Bucky Irving (shoulder/foot), Jalen McMillan (neck), and now Emeka Egbuka (hamstring) all injured and expected to miss some time. Sheppard remains one of the few healthy Buccaneer receivers, and his competition for targets includes rookie Tez Johnson, Cade Otton, and Kameron Johnson. Sheppard is the most proven and experienced in that pass-catching room, and heading into what is expected to be a high-scoring affair against the Detroit Lions (53.5 point total according to sportsbooks), should be a solid low-end WR2 play and prioritized on the waiver wires this week.

Friday, October 17, 2:54 PM

When the Tennessee Titans welcome former coach Mike Vrabel and his New England Patriots back to Nashville on Sunday, they will be without top wide receiver Calvin Ridley (hamstring). Ridley has dealt with knee and elbow injuries over the past two weeks, but it is the hamstring injury sustained in the team's Week 6 loss to the Raiders that held him out of practice this week, and he has now been ruled out. In a week with headlines already swirling around Vrabel's return, the Titans fired head coach Brian Callahan after less than a season and a half at the helm and could have used a steadying presence on offense. While rookie Elic Ayomanor should see an increase in target share with Ridley sidelined, it's hard to trust any Titans pass catchers. However, for fantasy managers in a pinch, Chigoziem Okonkwo, coming off a six-catch game, could be a sneaky start against a Patriots defense that has struggled to defend tight ends.