Who Should I Start? Tyquan Thornton or Jaylin Noel

Wednesday, December 24, 3:39 PM

The Kansas City Chiefs placed wide receiver Tyquan Thornton (concussion) on Injured Reserve on Wednesday, according to Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team. Both Thornton and fellow wideout Rashee Rice (concussion) will miss the final two games of the regular season due to head injuries. The 25-year-old Thornton had some fantasy relevance earlier this season with Xavier Worthy injured and Rice out due to a suspension, but once both pass-catchers returned, he fell down the depth chart as a hard-to-trust deep threat in KC's offense. The former second-rounder will finish his first year in Kansas City with 19 catches on 37 targets for a career-high 438 yards and three touchdowns in 14 games (four starts). Worthy and Marquise Brown will have more opportunities to close out the year, but expectations must be tempered for fantasy managers with third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun set to run KC's offense.

Tuesday, January 6, 11:47 AM

Houston Texans rookie wide receiver Jaylin Noel showed flashes at times this season, ending with 26 catches for 292 yards and two touchdowns while playing all 17 games. Noel's snap share never climbed above 50% in a game this season, though, and he only cleared 30% in six contests. The rookie third-rounder doesn't project to be a significant piece of Houston's passing game heading into Monday night's Wild-Card matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. With Noel's role in the offense not expanding, he doesn't profile as a reliable option for fantasy managers in playoff leagues.