Who Should I Start? Sterling Shepard or Christian Kirk

Sunday, December 28, 11:51 AM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Sterling Shepard (coach's decision) is a healthy scratch for Sunday's Week 17 contest against the Miami Dolphins. Shepard has now been inactive for back-to-back weeks and is the odd man out in a receiver room that also features Mike Evans, Chris Godwin Jr., Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan, Tez Johnson, and Kameron Johnson. Even if one of those receivers were to suffer an injury, Shepard would still be too far down the pecking order to make a fantasy impact next week. He can be dropped in all fantasy leagues.

Friday, December 26, 9:03 AM

Houston Texans wide receiver Christian Kirk is coming off one of his best games of the season last week against the Raiders, as the veteran played his most snaps (39) since Week 9 and had his most targets (5) since Week 12. He'll have a tougher matchup this week against the Chargers on Saturday and is a high-risk play for fantasy purposes since his role is still extremely shaky. He finishes second on the team in receiving yards and tied for second in targets last week, though, so it's possible he'll continue to trend up as the Texans continue their playoff push. Since he only has 25 catches for 241 yards and a touchdown this season, Kirk is a high-risk option in this tough matchup in Los Angeles, and he's just the No. 67 WR in RotoBaller's rankings. He can be left on the bench or waiver wire in most leagues, but it is worth monitoring his involvement to see if last week's performance was a matchup-based outlier or the start of a trend.