Who Should I Start? Sterling Shepard or Irvin Charles

Monday, September 22, 11:16 AM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Sterling Shepard caught 4-of-5 targets for 80 yards in Sunday's 29-27 win against the visiting New York Jets. Shepard sneakily climbed up to Tampa Bay's second-leading receiver with his second straight four-catch outing -- trailing only rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka in yards. He's also second on the team in receptions (11), though Egbuka, Mike Evans, and running back Bucky Irving are all tied ahead of him (14). Despite this, his 15 targets on the season thus far are quite a bit behind Evans (27) and the rookie (21). Moreover, Tampa Bay is attempting a pass at the ninth-fewest rate through three weeks, meaning the passing pie won't be big enough to support him when veteran Chris Godwin (ankle) returns. Shepard still may have some productive outings, but his floor could soon be alarmingly low.

Friday, March 28, 9:10 PM

The New York Jets re-signed exclusive-rights free-agent wide receiver Irvin Charles (knee) to an undisclosed deal on Friday. Charles will return to the Jets in 2025, although it's highly unlikely he'll be ready for training camp this summer or the start of the regular season after tearing his ACL in Week 14 of last year. The 27-year-old former undrafted free agent appeared in 13 games (no starts) in 2024 and was unable to catch his only target on offense. In his two NFL seasons, he has yet to catch a pass on just two targets over 25 games (no starts), mainly contributing on special teams. Charles logged 212 special-teams snaps last year and will likely resume a similar role at some point next year when he's cleared from his knee injury. He's nowhere near the fantasy radar.