Who Should I Start? Sterling Shepard or John Ross

Friday, January 10, 6:16 PM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Sterling Shepard (foot) upgraded to a full practice on Friday and was removed from the final injury report for wild-card weekend. Shepard was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday but will be active on Sunday evening to face the visiting Washington Commanders. The 31-year-old veteran pass-catcher will be looking for a better performance after catching one of his two targets for 11 yards in the Week 18 win over the division-rival New Orleans Saints. Although the Bucs had one of the best passing offenses in the league in 2024, Shepard has struggled to maintain any kind of fantasy value with limited targets on a weekly basis. He'll continue to serve as the No. 3 behind Mike Evans and rookie Jalen McMillan, giving him minimal upside as a flex play in postseason leagues. Shepard's only touchdown of the year came back on Oct. 3.

Tuesday, December 3, 6:33 PM

The Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday released veteran wide receiver John Ross (undisclosed) from their practice squad. Ross was active for one game with the Eagles this year and caught one of his two targets for a six-yard pickup and had been on the practice-squad injured list due to an undisclosed ailment since Oct. 21. The 29-year-old speedster will now go back on the open market and he's unlikely to sign with another team with only five weeks remaining in the 2024 season. The former ninth overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals back in 2017 out of Washington played in 10 games (one start) with the New York Giants back in 2021 and had 11 receptions on 20 targets for 224 yards and one touchdown. Ross did have seven scores in his second season in 2018 with Cincy and had a career-high 506 receiving yards the following year, but that was the extent of his production in the NFL.