Who Should I Start? Sterling Shepard or Xavier Restrepo

Sunday, December 28, 11:51 AM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Sterling Shepard (coach's decision) is a healthy scratch for Sunday's Week 17 contest against the Miami Dolphins. Shepard has now been inactive for back-to-back weeks and is the odd man out in a receiver room that also features Mike Evans, Chris Godwin Jr., Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan, Tez Johnson, and Kameron Johnson. Even if one of those receivers were to suffer an injury, Shepard would still be too far down the pecking order to make a fantasy impact next week. He can be dropped in all fantasy leagues.

Tuesday, November 25, 10:00 PM

After spending the first 11 weeks of the 2025 season on the Tennessee Titans' practice squad, rookie wide receiver Xavier Restrepo finally made his NFL debut in Week 12 against the Seattle Seahawks. The 23-year-old earned six targets from Titans quarterback Cameron Ward and hauled in two receptions for 26 yards. Restrepo's path to game action was aided by injuries to Titans wideouts Calvin Ridley (leg) and Elic Ayomanor (hamstring). Ridley will miss the rest of the season, while Ayomanor could return as soon as Week 13 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. However, if Ayomanor remains sidelined, Restrepo could have another chance to prove himself against Jacksonville. While fantasy managers will need Restrepo to play more than the 19 offensive snaps he played in Week 12, in some ways, it's encouraging that he was able to log six targets despite the limited playing time. Restrepo can't be trusted as a fantasy starter yet, but he could be worth monitoring for deep-league fantasy managers if the wide receiver injuries in Tennessee persist.