Who Should I Start? Sterling Shepard or River Cracraft

Monday, August 26, 2:35 PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers released veteran wide receiver Sterling Shepard on Monday, according to a source. The 31-year-old pass-catcher signed with Tampa with the hopes of rekindling his rapport with old teammate Baker Mayfield. It may still happen, though, as the Bucs are holding a practice spot for him. The former second-round pick by the New York Giants in 2016 out of Oklahoma had a career-high 872 receiving yards in 2018, but injuries pretty much derailed what was once a promising career. Shepard was unable to play in more than 12 games from 2019-22. In 15 games (two starts) last year in New York's terrible offense, he caught just 10 of 22 targets for 57 yards and one touchdown. An undisclosed injury also kept Shepard out of all three preseason games with the Buccaneers. If he re-signs with the team, he'll merely be providing depth at the position behind Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan and others.

Monday, August 19, 1:02 PM

Dolphins wide receiver River Cracraft (upper-body) is sidelined with an upper-body injury and is expected to miss some time in the regular season. Cracraft had a strong summer in his third season with Miami and seemed likely to start as the third receiver behind Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, especially with Odell Beckham Jr. (undisclosed) still on the PUP list. However, Cracraft's injury raises the possibility that he could be placed on injured reserve when the Dolphins finalize their 53-man roster. By August 27, the Dolphins will have three options for handling Cracraft: keep him on the 53-man roster until he recovers, initially include him on the roster and then place him on IR on August 28, or put him on IR immediately, which would count as one of the two IR moves allowed on cutdown day under new NFL rules. This situation simplifies the roster decisions and opens up a spot for Erik Ezukanma, who had an impressive preseason debut against Washington. If the Dolphins keep six wide receivers, Ezukanma could join Hill, Waddle, Beckham, Braxton Berrios, and rookie Malik Washington, who will secure a spot on the roster. With these receiver injuries, Hill and Waddle will likely see even more targets, boosting Hill's value as the top overall pick in redraft leagues.