Who Should I Start? Sterling Shepard or Tez Johnson

Friday, October 3, 5:14 PM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Sterling Shepard (foot) is ready to go for this weekend despite missing practice on Wednesday. Shepard returned to a full practice on Thursday and will be ready for the upcoming Week 5 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. However, Shepard hasn't really done much on the field this season. He posted an 80-yard performance in Week 3, but has been quiet outside of that. The 32-year-old was held to two receptions for 14 yards last week. The assumption is that Shepard would be more involved with Mike Evans (hamstring) and Bucky Irving (foot) both sidelined. However, Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin both saw double digit targets last week. Possibly, Shepard sees more action this weekend, but shouldn't be viewed as anything more than a desperation option.

Wednesday, October 8, 12:47 AM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie wide receiver Tez Johnson had his best game of his young career in Week 5 at Seattle, catching all four of his targets for 59 yards. Johnson nearly doubled his previous high in route participation, running a route on 53% of dropbacks in Week 5 after being at 27% the previous week in the first game Mike Evans missed. The rookie out of Oregon is very small at 5'10" and 154 pounds, but he is super shifty and quick in and out of his breaks. He looked the part out there in his first game with a significant snap share. He's a fairly specific type of player and won't ever run a full number of routes, but he is an intriguing waiver wire option in deeper leagues to consider in the short term while Evans is out.