Who Should I Start? Sterling Shepard or Curtis Samuel

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.

Monday, October 13, 6:21 PM

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Curtis Samuel (neck, ribs) is officially inactive for the Monday night contest on the road against the Atlanta Falcons, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. In addition to Samuel, the Bills' offense will be missing tight end Dalton Kincaid (oblique) against what has been a much-improved Atlanta defense so far in 2025. The 29-year-old Samuel hasn't been on the fantasy radar to begin with, but his absence on Monday means less depth in the wideout corps for Buffalo behind Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, and Joshua Palmer. The Bills have their bye coming in Week 7, so hopefully Samuel will be ready to go for a Week 8 contest against the Carolina Panthers. Samuel has only been active for two games so far in 2025 and has caught three of his four targets for 35 yards and one touchdown. He had just one TD in 14 games a year ago for Buffalo and should remain on the waiver wire.