Who Should I Start? Sterling Shepard or Michael Thomas

Tuesday, December 16, 3:05 PM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Sterling Shepard was active for the team's Week 15 Thursday night loss to the Falcons, but he did not log a single snap. With Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan both available, Shepard failed to get off the sidelines for the first time this season. Already finding himself pushed down the depth chart in recent weeks, Shepard had topped 25 receiving yards only once in his last seven games before Thursday night's blanking, while being held to single digits in three of those contests. The return to health of Evans and McMillan has now made him a non-factor for fantasy purposes, and the 32-year-old can be comfortably dropped in all league formats.

Wednesday, September 11, 8:40 PM

The National Football League on Wednesday announced that it has lifted the suspension of free-agent wide receiver Michael Thomas. Thomas was suspended for the first game of the 2024 NFL season for an incident with a construction worker near his home last year. The fact that the 31-year-old remained without a team all offseason is a sign that he may struggle to latch on with an organization despite the fact that he's past his one-game suspension. Just several years ago, Thomas was the best receiver in the league, but injuries have limited him to 20 games since the start of the 2020 campaign, and he played in just 10 games with the New Orleans Saints last year before a knee injury ended his season. He caught 39 passes for 448 yards and one touchdown in 2023. Thomas belongs on the waiver wire in all leagues and is unlikely to be on the fantasy radar in 2024.